Gianluca Pagliuca is a former Italian goalkeeper who spent his entire career in Italy. In a career that spanned over 2 decades, he played for the likes of Sampdoria, Inter Milan, Bologna, and Ascoli. At international level, the Italian was a part of the national side at three FIFA World Cups (1990, 1994, and 1998). His greatest memory with Italy came at the tournament's 1998 edition, which saw him lead Italy all the way till the finals.
Let us now look back at what made him stand out as one of the finest in his position, and his glorious years as a footballer at club level.
Style of play
Pagliuca was outstanding when it came to being agile, athletic, and consistent during his performances. In addition to this, he gained immense praise for his excellent reactions, diving saves, and penalty-stopping abilities. He was a modern player for his era as well, as the Italian possessed fine ball control and accurate distribution skills that are commonly seen in many top keepers of the current generation.
The former Inter goalkeeper was also known for his ability to come off the line for handling crosses, and was equally excellent between the posts as well. All these skills saw him nicknamed as the "The Wall" At the time.
A major downside of Pagliuca however, was his short tempered nature. Which frequently resulted in producing a negative impact in his performances.
The likes of Sven-Göran Eriksson and Arrigo Sacchi, who had coached Pagliuca, were known for their use of high defensive lines. This led to the Italian being used as a sweeper at the time, thus cementing himself as a top goalkeeper who was perhaps ahead of his time.
The glorious Sampdoria years
Born in Bologna, a young Pagliuca joined his hometown club's youth academy to kick start his journey in football. Following 2 years at Bologna's youth academy, he joined Sampdoria in 1987. Pagliuca went on to win the Scudetto and Cup Winners' Cup with Sampdoria, thus experiencing his first taste of silverware success.
Sampdoria had also reached the UEFA Champions League final as well in 1992, but ended up losing to eventual champions Barcelona 1-0.
A world-record move
The year of 1994 saw Inter Milan pay a then world-record goalkeeper for Pagliuca, who joined the Nerazzurri after 7 years at Sampdoria. Pagliuca managed to reach consecutive UEFA Cup finals with Inter, losing the first (against Schalke) and winning the second (against Lazio). It was a memorable cup triumph for Pagliuca in particular, as he was the club's captain when Inter lifted the UEFA Cup.
Following a glorious 5 year spell with Inter, the Italian left the Nerazzurri to return back to his boyhood club Bologna. The decision of then Inter manager Marcelo Lippi to sign goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi was a catalyst that led to Pagliuca's departure.
Final years in football
Pagliuca went on to perform brilliantly in the 2004-05 campaign, but those heroics went in vain as Bologna got relegated to Serie B. Despite this, he stayed at the club for one more year in Italy's second division.
This was followed by a move to Italian side Ascoli, which also marked his return to serie A.
On 17th September 2006, Pagliuca made history by setting the record for most Serie A appearances for a goalkeeper after starting against Messina. This meant that he overtook the legendary Dino Zoff.
Pagliuca eventually retired at the end of that season in 2007, as Italian football bid farewell to one of its greatest ever goalkeepers. He will forever be remembered as one of Italy’s finest ever goalkeepers.
Also Read | Greatest Italian footballers of all time
