Francesco Calzona

Francesco Calzona (born 24 October 1968) is an Italian football coach who is currently managing the Slovakia national team.

Playing career
Calzona had a very short career as a player, appearing three times with Arezzo in the Serie B division, and also making a single Coppa Italia appearance.

Coaching career
Calzona worked as an amateur coach and coffee dealer during the 1990s; during the course of the 1999–2000 season, while in charge of Tuscan amateurs Tegoleto, he opted to resign and instead suggest to hire up-and-coming amateur coach Maurizio Sarri as his replacement. Since then, he became part of Sarri's coaching staff, being his main assistant in all of his managerial jobs until Napoli.

In 2020, he joined Eusebio Di Francesco's coaching staff at Cagliari, then returning to Napoli the following year to work alongside new head coach Luciano Spalletti.

Slovak national team
On 30 August 2022, Calzona was hired as the new head coach of the Slovakia national team. Following Pavel Hapal, Calzona became the second non-native coach of the team and the first of non-Czechoslovak origin.

On 16 November 2023, following a 4–2 win against Iceland, Calzona's Slovakia qualified for the UEFA Euro 2024.

Napoli
On 19 February 2024, Napoli announced the appointment of Calzona as their new head coach for the remainder of the season, replacing Walter Mazzarri just two days before the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg against Barcelona. In doing so, Calzona worked as both Slovakia manager and Napoli head coach for the remainder of the 2023–24 season, making him the first Serie A manager ever to also serve contemporaneously as a national team manager for a foreign country during his stay. This was Napoli's third manager of the season, after Mazzarri had previously replaced Rudi Garcia. He completed the season in a lacklustre fashion, ending in tenth place and missing out on European qualification, on the worst-ever Serie A performance for an incumbent national champion.