Stefano Tacconi

Stefano Tacconi was one of Italy’s finest goalkeepers, and certainly the finest of his generation. He spent 15 seasons playing in Serie A with U.S. Avellino (1981-83), Juventus (1984-92) and finally with Genoa (1992-95).

The highlights of his career were during his time with the “Bianconeri” (Black and Whites) of Juventus. With them he won the Italian League in 1984 and 1986, Italian Cup in 1990, and the European Cup in 1985 when Juve beat Liverpool at the Heysel Stadium, Bruxelles, in a match marred by the death of 39 people before the start of the game. Tacconi also won the UEFA Cup-winners’ Cup (1984), the UEFA Cup (1990), the European Super Cup (1984), and Intercontinental Cup (1985), During that period in the second half of the 1980s, Juventus was regarded as one of the best teams in the world, and Tacconi, one of the best ‘keepers.

After nearly 10 years with Juventus, and 254 Serie A appearances, Tacconi moved to Genoa in 1992, but they were relegated to Serie B at the end of the season, and Tacconi eventually retired from professional football in the 1994/95 season.

Despite his successes at Juventus, Tacconi was not able to find a regular place in the Italian international squad under coach Azeglio Vicini, because other excellent goalkeepers, such as Giovanni Galli, Walter Zenga, and the promising newcomer Gianluca Pagliuca, were all staking a claim for the No. 1 shot. Being around at the same time as such other notable goalkeepers, notably Zenga, Tacconi won just seven full caps, starting with a 3-1 win over Argentina in a friendly at Zürich in 1987.

As coach to the 1988 Olympic squad, the 1982 World Cup-winning goalkeeper Dino Zoff chose Tacconi as the first choice ‘keeper for the qualifying matches, and at Seoul, he retained his place under the new manager Francesco Rocca. Tacconi and Mauro Tassotti were the only two members of the Italian squad to play in all six matches, for a total of 600 minutes, as Italy finished fourth.