User:Gianni Rossi

Born 16th June 1963 in Napoli.

Early Career
A graduate of the Napoli primavera youth system ,Rossi was understudy to the Dutch International Ruud Krol during the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons. Rossi’s debut came in March 1984 and he featured in 5 games that season. In the summer of 1984 S.S.C. Napoli signed Argentine superstar Diego Maradona for a world record fee from Barcelona and began to build the team that would eventually land 2 Italian Championships. Rossi suffered a broken arm in September of 1984 and had difficulty regaining his place in the first 11. By the following April Rossi was holding down a regular starting berth and would play either as sweeper or defensive midfielder allowing the talent of Maradona to perform. In the following 1985-86 season S.S.C. Napoli finished in 3rd place improving from 8th the year previously and had other emerging talents such as Ciro Ferrara and Fernando di Napoli in the side. Rossi was ever present in that campaign.

Scudetto, the double and European success The following campaign was to turn out to be the most glorious of S.S.C. Napoli history when ,inspired by the mercurial Maradona, S.S.C. Napoli landed the coveted Scudetto for the first time in its history. This was a very significant victory in the history of Serie A as previously no side from Southern Italy had ever won the title. Aside from the 1987 title success S.S.C. Napoli also won the Italian Cup beating Atalanta 4-0 in the final with Rossi scoring a rare goal to give S.S.C. Napoli the lead. It was only his second goal of his S.S.C. Napoli career at that point. Hysteria greeted the success of the team and Maradona was treated like a religious icon.

For the 1987-88 season S.S.C. Napoli signed Brazilian star Careca and while S.S.C. Napoli lost out to AC Milan for the title by 3 points, Rossi had perhaps his best season so far scoring 4 times and getting his first call up to the National team squad as part of the Euro 1988 squad. Rossi made his debut in the match with West Germany coming on as a second half substitute for his S.S.C. Napoli team-mate Di Napoli. In 1988-89 Rossi sustained a broken leg in a controversial game at the San Siro against Internazionale who would beat Napoli to the title that season. Rossi’s outspoken criticism of the tacke which led to the injury made him a somewhat controversial figure and he was continually singled out by Inter fans for abuse in all subsequent matches. He missed most of the remainder of that season but was involved in the 1989 UEFA Cup final victory over Stuttgart which S.S.C. Napoli won 5-4 on aggregate. Rossi provided the assist for Careca’s winning goal in the home tie first leg victory.

In October of 1989 Rossi was rebuked by Italian Manager Azeglio Vicini for his continuing outspoken comments directed at the 2 Milan clubs and the impression promoted by S.S.C. Napoli that the establishment clubs of the North, in particular  the Milan teams, held a monopoly of power within the Italan Football Federation. Vicini ultimately omitted Rossi from the World Cup Squad of 1990. By this time Napoli’s side included Gianfranco Zola, Alemao and Carnivale as striker along with Careca, Maradona, Ferrara, Di Napoli and the ultra consistent Rossi who by now had a reputation as midfield enforcer. In 1990 the club won its second title with Alberto Bigon as Manager. When Bigon and Maradona departed the club in 1991 the side began to slip into decline. Rossi was played in a variety of positions by new coach Claudio Rainieri which led to his frustration and loss of form. When stars such as Careca, Zola and Daniel Fonseca departed the old title winning side was no more. Rossi himself was transferred in July of 1994 to German side Borussia Dortmund.

Missing out and unexpected success in Germany 1994-1998 Rossi was unhappy at being dropped in favour of Matthias Sammer and immediately handed in a transfer request which was granted in December of 1994. Rossi moved to rivals Kaiserslautern. In that year Dortmund took the Bundesliga title while Kaiserslautern finished 4th. Rossi had not even qualified for a winners medal. The following season saw very mixed fortunes for Rossi and FCK as they secured the German Cup despite suffering relegation from the Bundesliga for the first time in its history. Under new coah Otto Rehhagel FCK easily earned promotion staright back in 1996-97 season with the experienced Rossi central to their success. The club then achieved something unique in German football in 1997-1998 by winning the Bundesliga as a promoted club beating Bayern Munich to the trophy. This was the 3rd National title of Rossi’s career and the newly created midfield partnership of Rossi with young star Michael Ballack was a reason for this success. In the following season Rossi began to lose his place, ironically to the emerging Ballack though the 2 had by then become close friends. Disillusioned with a lack of first team action and with a smear campaign of Otto Rehhagel that led to his departure, Rossi left at the end of the 1999 season. In the Westkurve of Kaiserslautern’s ground Rossi was among the most popular foreigners to ever play for the club and was voted onto the team of the century on the clubs official website in 2000.

Chelsea:2000- 2003 After retiring from the game in May of 1999, Rossi took a position as part of the coaching staff at Chelsea FC in October 1999 after former team-mate Gianfranco Zola had recommended Rossi to fellow Italian Manager Gianluca Vialli. Chelsea had a strong Italian influence at this time as Roberto di Matteo was also at the club. In 2000 Chelsea won the FA Cup beating Aston Villa 1-0. Another Italian succeeded Vialli as Chelsea Manager when Claudio Rainieri took over at Stamford Bridge. Rossi remained in the backroom staff until November 2003 when the club sacked him allegedly for abusing his position at the club by working as an agent. Rossi is alleged to have made over £950,000 from his unofficial role in the signings of Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastian Veron in 2003. Rossi maintains that it was the influence of owner Roman Abramovich that led to his sacking and maintained his innocence throughout. Rossi was known to be involved with Russian model Svetlana Zaitskaya who was also said to be linked with Abramovich at the time and Rossi maintained this rather than a bogus player agent charge was the real reason for his departure.

TV Pundit and Fantasy Football Manager
In 2004 Rossi returned to Italy where he worked for 3 seasons on Italian TV. In the 2006 Calciopoli scandal which led to Italian title being stripped from Juventus and awarded to Inter, Rossi was outspoken in his attacks on both Milan clubs when only 1(AC Milan) was penalised. In 2007 Rossi returned to England where he started an agency and has worked successfully representing some high profile players  in the Premier League. In 2009 Rossi commenced his sequence of profitable forecasting in the popular Fantasy Football game.

Personal Life
Gianni Rossi was married to Appolonia Mantonelli from 1993 to 2002. They have 2 children. Maria (b 1995) and Alessandro (b 1998). He has been associated with a number of high profile women in the last 10 years but is currently thought to be linked with Italian Fashion TV presenter Roberta Lucacelli.