Cagliari Calcio

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Cagliari
Full name	Cagliari Calcio SpA
Nickname(s)	Rossoblu (Red-blues) Isolani (Islanders)
Founded	August 20, 1920
Ground	Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari, Italy (Capacity 23,486)
Chairman	Massimo Cellino
Head Coach	Davide Ballardini
League	Serie A
2007-08	Serie A, 14th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Cagliari Calcio is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. The club was formed in 1920 and currently plays in Italian Serie A, having spent a large part of recent years mainly in Serie A and Serie B.

They won their only scudetto in 1970, when they were led by Italian national team all-time leading scorer, Gigi Riva. The team's colors are blue and red. The club's stadium is the 23,486 seater Stadio Sant'Elia.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Before Serie A 1.2 First Serie A adventure: 1964-1976 1.3 Up and down again: 1976-87 1.4 There and back: 1987-2000 1.5 Once and again: 2000 onwards 2 Players 2.1 Current Squad 2.2 Retired numbers 3 Notable former players 4 Presidential history 5 Managerial history 6 Colours, badge and nicknames 7 Honours 7.1 National titles 7.2 European titles 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Before Serie A

Cagliari became the first ever out-right champions of Serie C during the 1951-52 season, prior to that in the league the championship was shared amongst more than one team. They spent the 1950s from then on in Serie B, losing a promotion play-off in 1954. After descending to Serie C in the early 1960s, Cagliari's rise would be meteoric- eventually achieving promotion to Serie A in 1964.

[edit] First Serie A adventure: 1964-1976

The squad for the Rossoblu's debut season in Serie A featured players like defender Mario Martiradonna, midfielders Pierluigi Cera and Ricciotti Greatti, and forward Luigi Riva. A poor first half of the season saw Cagliari in last place with 9 points at the halfway mark. An astonishing second half of the season saw Cagliari defeat the likes of Juventus and Milan and finish in 7th place with 34 points. Two seasons later Riva finished Serie A top scorer for the first time while Cagliari finished with the league's best defensive record.

During the summer of 1967, Cagliari played a season in North America as part of a fledgling league called the United Soccer Association. This league from Europe and South America to play in American and Canadian cities, with each club bearing a local name. Cagliari played as the Chicago Mustangs, and finished joint second in the league's Western Division with 13 points, two behind the division champion and eventual league champion Los Angeles Wolves. The league's leading scorer was Chicago/Cagliari's Roberto Boninsegna, who scored 10 goals while playing in 9 of the team's 12 games.

Cagliari first emerged as serious Serie A title contenders in 1968-69 with a three-horse race involving them, Fiorentina and Milan. Fiorentina would win the league, but the following season would bring ultimate glory. With Angelo Domenghini joining the side, Cagliari would win the title in 1970 with only two games lost, 11 goals conceded (the fewest in any major European league to date) and Riva as league top scorer once more. Players like Cera, Domenghini and Riva played in Italy's 1970 World Cup Final team.

The 1970s would see a gradual decline (though were title contenders two years after their one and only scudetto win) Cagliari were finally relegated in 1976 with Riva's career having effectively ended during that season.

[edit] Up and down again: 1976-87

After relegation, Cagliari lost a play-off for promotion the following season and would return to Serie A in 1979. Players like Franco Selvaggi, Mario Brugnera (a survivor of the 1970 team) and Alberto Marchetti ensured a respectable four-year stay in the top flight before a second relegation in 1983. The 80s would then prove to be a darker time compared to the previous two decades with relegation to Serie C1 in 1987.

[edit] There and back: 1987-2000

Cagliari spent two seasons in Serie C1. In the first one it barely avoided relegation in Serie C2. In 1988, Claudio Ranieri was appointed coach, and led the team to two successive promotions, to Serie B in 1989 and to Serie A in 1990. The first two seasons back in Serie A saw Cagliari fight relegation, with safety being achieved by excellent second half runs. But season 1992-93 would see Cagliari fight for a European place and succeed under the management of Carlo Mazzone. The following season saw a run to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, unprecedented for the Sardinian club.

The next few years would see Cagliari return to mid-table anonymity, before a struggle in 1996-97 saw Cagliari relegated after losing a play-off to Piacenza. Once more they bounced back after just one year, but their next stay in Serie A lasted just two seasons.

[edit] Once and again: 2000 onwards

Cagliari spent the next four seasons in Serie B, for most part in mid-table mediocrity. But 2003-04 would see the Rossoblu, led by Sardinian-born Gianfranco Zola, mount a successful promotion challenge and the following season saw Cagliari hold their own in Serie A with a respectable mid-table finish. The following season was a quiet one for the Sardinians, that obtained a good mid-table position (12th place).

The 2005-06 season, the first without Zola, started in the worst way possible for Cagliari, which changed its manager for three times, with Attilio Tesser, Daniele Arrigoni and Davide Ballardini alternating to the position of coach, before Nedo Sonetti, appointed in November, who was able to save the team from a relegation also thanks to goals of Honduran striker David Suazo. For the 2006-2007 season, Marco Giampaolo was signed as head coach, however he was fired after the 17th matchday and replaced by Franco Colomba. However, after a number of poor performances ending in a 2-0 home defeat to Lazio, Colomba was sacked, and chairman Cellino chose to reinstate Giampaolo as head coach. Giampaolo was confirmed for the 2007-08 season, and his contract was extended for two more years.

The 2007-08 season saw the flagship striker David Suazo, Esposito and Langella left for Internazionale, Roma and Atalanta respectively, the experienced goalkeeper Chimenti left for Udinese, and the club reinforced with youngster likes Acquafresca, Matri, Foggia, Magliocchetti, Argentine Larrivey and Slovenian Koprivec . Nedo Sonetti returned to coach the Rossoblu in November 2007 after Giampaolo was relieved of his duties as a result of poor results in the first part of the 2007-08 Serie A season that saw them sink to the bottom of the Serie A standings. In January transfer windows, Cagliari made a great change with squad which goalkeeper Vincenzo Marruocco and Marco Fortin were replaced by Marco Storari and Luca Capecchi, along with experienced striker Jeda.

[edit] Players

[edit] Current Squad

As of 2008-02-01^[1]

No. Position Player 2 MF Davide Marchini 3 DF Cristiano Del Grosso 4 GK Luca Capecchi (on loan from Ravenna) 5 MF Daniele Conti (captain) 6 DF Diego López 7 MF Andrea Cossu 8 MF Davide Biondini 9 FW Robert Acquafresca 10 MF Pasquale Foggia (on loan from Lazio) 12 GK Jan Koprivec 13 GK Marco Storari (on loan from A.C. Milan) 14 DF Francesco Pisano 15 MF Sebastián Rosano (on loan from Montevideo Wanderers) 18 MF Andrea Parola 19 FW Joaquín Larrivey 20 DF Paolo Bianco 21 DF Michele Canini 22 MF Vítor Gomes (on loan from Rio Ave)

No. Position Player 23 MF Michele Fini 24 MF Rijat Shala 25 MF Rafael Acosta 26 MF Marco Mancosu 27 FW Jeda Neves (on loan from Rimini) 28 DF Daniele Magliocchetti (on loan from AS Roma) 29 DF Michele Ferri 30 FW Daniele Ragatzu (from youth team) 31 DF Alessandro Agostini 32 FW Alessandro Matri 33 MF Enrico Cotza (from youth team) 34 MF Davide Meloni (from youth team) 35 DF Davide Puddu (from youth team) 36 MF Alessandro Dettori (from youth team) 37 DF Claudio Herrera (from youth team) 38 DF Giacomo Garau (from youth team) 39 GK Mauro Vigorito (from youth team)

For all transfers and loans pertaining to Cagliari for the current season, please see; 2007–08 transfers.

[edit] Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in football

11 – Gigi Riva, striker, 1963–1978

[edit] Notable former players

Including only players with at least 100 appearances in the club, or an appearance in a FIFA World Cup edition

• Nelson Abeijón
• Enrico Albertosi
• Roberto Boninsegna
• Massimiliano Cappioli
• Pier Luigi Cera
• Julio Cesar Dely Valdes
• Angelo Domenghini
• Mauro Esposito
• Daniel Fonseca
• Enzo Francescoli
• José Oscar Herrera
• Gerry Hitchens
• Antonio Langella
• Alberto Marchetti
• Gianfranco Matteoli
• Patrick Mboma
• François Modesto
• Francesco Moriero
• Roberto Muzzi
• Comunardo Niccolai
• Luis Oliveira
• Fabian O'Neill
• Giuseppe Pancaro
• Gigi Riva
• Franco Selvaggi
• Darío Silva
• David Suazo
• Julio César Uribe
• Waldemar Victorino
• Pietro Paolo Virdis
• Cristiano Zanetti
• Gianfranco Zola

[edit] Presidential history

Cagliari have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary presidents, here is a complete list of them:^[2]

[edit] Managerial history

Cagliari have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team, here is a chronological list of them from when they founded in 1920 onwards.^[3]

[edit] Colours, badge and nicknames

The official red and blue colours of Cagliari mirror those featured on the stemma of Cagliari.^[4] The red parts of the stemma are a reference to the coat of arms of the House of Savoy, a family which was previously the monarchy of Italy and more relevantly to Cagliari in particular, the Kingdom of Sardinia.^[4] The blue part of the stemma features the sky and the sea, also a castle; this is because the old historic center of Cagliari is walled and called the Castello.^[4] Due to the use of these colours on their shirt in halves, the club is commonly nicknamed rossoblu.^[5]

Cagliari have had several different logo designs during their history, all of which feature the Flag of Sardinia.^[6] Usually the badge also features the club colours, if there is a change the main difference has been the colour of the border or the shape.^[6]

Currently the badge features an upright-oval which is coloured in blue and red halves, it features the club's name in black. Inside this is an Old French-shaped escutcheon with red and blue halves, with the colours the opposite way around to the outer layer; inside this is the Flag of Sardinia and the club's foundation date, 1920 in black^[6]. Interestingly, the badge was not changed to match the change in the Sardinian flag in 1992, when the moor's heads were turned to the right; in Cagliari logo the heads still look to the left.

Due to the fact that Cagliari are the main club from the island of Sardinia, they are nicknamed the Isolani.^[7]

[edit] Honours

[edit] National titles

Serie A:

• Champions (1): 1969–70
• Runners-up (1): 1968–69

Serie B:

• Winners (1): 2003–04
• Runners-up (2): 1963–64; 1978–79
• Promoted (2): 1989–90; 1997–98

Serie C / Serie C1:

• Winners (3): 1930–31; 1951–52; 1988–89

Coppa Italia Serie C:

• Winners (1): 1989

Campionato Sardo di I Divisione:

• Winners (1): 1936–37

[edit] European titles

UEFA Cup:

• Semi-finalists (1): 1993–94

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Cagliari's official website
• Cagliaricampione.it Cagliari Champion 1969/1970

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