Gianluca Zambrotta (; born 19 February 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right-back or as a wide midfielder, on both the left and right wings.
Throughout his career, Zambrotta played for several different Italian clubs. He began his career with local club Como in 1994, and gained prominence while playing for Bari, which earned him a transfer to Juventus in 1999. During his seven seasons with the club, he won two consecutive Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2002 and 2003, also reaching the 2003 UEFA Champions League final. He also later spent two relatively unsuccessful seasons with Barcelona between 2006 and 2008, where he won the 2006 Supercopa de España, before returning to Italy to play for AC Milan, where he won his third Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2011. He ended his career after a season with Swiss club Chiasso in 2014, whom he later went on to coach.
At international level, Zambrotta won 98 caps for the Italy national team, playing at three FIFA World Cups, three UEFA European Championship, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2000 Summer Olympics. He was part of their side that reached the Euro 2000 final, and he was also selected to the Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament. He was most notably a key member of the starting lineup of the Italian squad that won the 2006 World Cup, and he was selected in the Team of the Tournament for his performances.
Club career
Como
Of Campanian descent, Zambrotta began his professional career as a striker with his hometown club Como at age 17 in 1994. In his first season in Serie B, he played only one match. In 1995, however, Como were demoted to Serie C1 and Zambrotta started to play more regularly for the first team, as a winger or as a wide-midfielder. In the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons, he made 47 appearances and scored 6 goals, playing in Serie B and Serie C1.
Bari
In 1997, Zambrotta's Serie A career began when his great potential was spotted by Bari boss Eugenio Fascetti. Zambrotta was snapped up by Fascetti after Bari had won promotion to Serie A. He made his Serie A debut on 31 August 1997 in a 2–0 home defeat to Parma, and in his first year in the top flight, he played on the left wing and scored 2 goals in 27 appearances. In the 1998–99 season, following the departure of Nicola Ventola, Zambrotta exploded on to the scene. In matchday one, he scored the only goal of the match against Venezia after just nine minutes into the first half. Zambrotta continued to shine and was the key figure for Bari's surprise start to the campaign, demonstrating his technical attributes and tactical intelligence and versatility. On matchday seven, he scored the opening goal at the San Siro and helped Bari to win the game 3–2 against Internazionale.
On 10 February 1999, at age 22, the Italian under-21 international was rewarded by the coach of the senior team, Dino Zoff, for his displays. He earned his first cap in a 0–0 friendly against Norway in Pisa, Italy. He became the first player of Bari to play for the national side in 50 years. Throughout the 1998–99 season, he made 32 appearances and scored four goals. Halfway through this season, he was brought to Juventus, by Carlo Ancelotti for reported 30 billion Italian lire (€15,493,707, but 3 billion lire paid via Simone Perrotta's 50% rights) and would play in the black-and-white jersey starting the season after.