Sampdoria Greatest All-Time Team
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.
This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.
Sampdoria have won the scudetto only once in their history, in the 1991 season. The club has also won the Coppa Italia four times (1985, 1988, 1989, and 1994) and one Italian Super Cup. Their biggest European success came when they won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. They also reached the European Cup final in 1992, losing 1–0 to Spanish side FC Barcelona after extra time.
Team
GK: Gianluca Pagliuca (Italy)
He made his name with Sampdoria, winning the league in 1990-1991 and reaching the European Cup's final in 1992. In 1994, Inter Milan broke the world transfer record for a keeper to sign him. While at Inter, he reached UEFA Cup Final twice, winning it in 1997-1998. For the national team, he was the starting keeper at both USA 1994 and France 1998.
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| Gianluca Pagliuca |
During his Serie A career from 1970 to 1989, he played for Inter Milan (1970–83), winning two Serie A titles in 1971 and 1980, as well as two Coppa Italia titles; he also reached the 1972 European Cup final with Inter Milan, where they were defeated by Cruyff's Ajax side. He later played for Sampdoria (1983–86), where he won another Coppa Italia in 1985. Capped 21 times. He was a member of the Italian team that won the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
GK: Pietro Battara (Italy)
Started with Vicenza before moving to Sampdoria in 1961. He spent 10 seasons there. He left in 1972, joining Bologne.
RB: Moreno Mannini (Italy)
Mannini joined Sampdoria in 1984 and played 15 seasons there. In the late 80's/early 90's he was part of a defensive sector which also included Gianluca Pagliuca, Luca Pellegrini, Pietro Vierchowod and Amedeo Carboni, with Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli providing the goals.
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| Moreno Mannini |
Pari played for Inter Milan, Parma, Sampdoria, Napoli, etc. With sampdoria, he played with their great team in the late 1980's and early 1990's. He won a league title and a Cup Winners' Cup in 1990.
CB: Pietro Vierchowod (Italy)
Born in Italy, he was the son of an Ukrainian Red Army soldier. Nicknamed "The Tsar", he was widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian centre-backs of all-time, and one of the best of his generation. His first successes came when he moved to Roma, winning a Serie A scudetto in 1983. With Sampdoria, he won four Italian Cups, one European Cup Winners' Cup and another scudetto in 1991. In 1995 he signed for Juventus and won his only UEFA Champions League in 1996 at the age of 37. He held the 5th all-time appearance record in Serie A. Capped 45 times. He was the youngest member of Italy's WC winning team in 1982.
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| Pietro Vierchowod |
Pellegrini played for 11 seasons (262 games, 3 goals) in the Serie A for U.C. Sampdoria, Hellas Verona and Torino, With Sampdoria, he won the European Cup Winners' Cup and another scudetto in 1991.
CB/LB: Sinisa Mihajlovic (Yugoslavia)
Sinisa Mihajlovic was capped 63 times between 1991 and 2003 for Yugoslavia. He won the European Cup with Red Star Belgrade. In 1992, he moved to Italy and became was one of the best defender in Serie, notably played for Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio and Inter Milan. With Lazio, he won UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1998–99. He was part of the golden generation of Yugoslav players who won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile.
CB: Francesco Morini (Italy)
He played for clubs such as U.C. Sampdoria and, most notably, Juventus F.C., with which he achieved great success. He won five Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia and an UEFA Cup, also reaching the European Cup final during the 1972–73 season, and the semi-final of the European Cup Winners' Cup during the 1979–80 season. Capped 11 times. He went to the 1974 WC Finals in West Germany.
LB: Amedeo Carboni (Italy)
Carboni played for a number of Italian clubs before joining Roma in 1990. He stayed there for 7 seasons mainly as a starter before he went to Valencia in 1997. With Valencia, his team made it to the Champions' League Finals twice and won the UEFA Cup/League Double in 2003/2004. He played 9 seasons with them. He represented Italy at Euro 1996, where he earned two of his 18 caps for Italy.
LB/CB/DM: Hans Peter Briegel (Germany)
Briegel's original sport was Decathlon. From 1975 to 1984, he played with FC Kaiserslautern before he moved on to Hellas Verona in Italy. With Hellas Verona, he surprisingly capturing the Serie A title in 1985. The same year Briegel was named Footballer of the Year in Germany, remarkable as he was the first foreign-based awardee in the history of the award. With West Germany, he won the European Championship in 1980. He played in the WC Finals of both 1982 and 1986.
DM: Angelo Palombo (Italy)
Born in Ferentino, he has played in Serie A for Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Internazionale. Palombo won 22 caps for Italy at full international level, and represented his nation at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, also winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
DM: Srečko Katanec (Slovenia)
Katanec is regarded as one of the greatest Slovenian footballers of all time and represented Yugoslavia at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games, UEFA Euro 1984 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. After Slovenian independence, Katanec made five appearances for the newly formed Slovenian national team before retiring from professional football.
DM: Gaudenzio Bernasconi (Italy)
He played for 13 seasons (388 games, no goals) in the Serie A for Atalanta B.C. and U.C. Sampdoria. He currently has third-most appearances for Sampdoria with 334, after Roberto Mancini and Moreno Mannini. He made his debut for the Italy national football team on 25 April 1956 in a game against Brazil.
DM: Toninho Cerezo (Brazil)
Throughout his career, Cerezo played as a defensive midfielder with Atlético Mineiro, Roma, Sampdoria, São Paulo and the Brazilian national team. He was a legend at Atlético Mineiro. With São Paulo FC, he was the two-times winner of the Intercontinental Cup and Copa Libertadores. He went to Argentina 1978 and Spain 1982. During his time in Italy, Cerezo won the Coppa Italia four times; in 1991 he won the Serie A with Sampdoria, but lost the Coppa Italia final to A.S. Roma.
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| Toninho Cerezo |
Jugovic was a member of Red Star Belgrade that won the European Cup in 1990. He won another one with Juventus in 1996. He also played for Sampdoria, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Lazio, LR Ahlen, AS Monaco FC and VfB Admira Wacker Mödling. He warned 41 caps. He played at Euro 2000 and the World Cup 1998 for Yugoslavia.
CM: Ernst Ocwirk (Austria)
He is regarded as one of the greatest Austrian footballers of all time. He was probably the best centrehalf of his generation. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1954, where Austria finished 3rd. He spent the majority of his playing and coaching years between Austria Wien and Sampdoria in Italy. He was the second Austrian to play in Italy. He served as the captain of Sampdoria at one point.
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| Ernst Ocwirk |
He played for 14 seasons (392 games, 7 goals) in the Serie A for Calcio Como, A.C. Milan and U.C. Sampdoria. He made his debut for the Italy national football team on 5 December 1954 in a game against Argentina.
RW: Attilio Lombardo (Italy)
Lombardo is best known for his two spells at Sampdoria, and is one of the few players that has won the Serie A title with 3 different teams: Sampdoria, Juventus, and Lazio. At international level, he represented the Italy national football team on 19 occasions, although he was never called up for a major tournament. Capped 19 times.
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| Attilio Lombardo |
Lennart Skoglund is regarded as one of Sweden's greatest players. He played in Italy from 1950 to 1963. His best stint was probably with Inter Milan. He also played for Hammarby IF, Sampdoria and Palermo. He only had 11 caps because Sweden's ban on professional players. He was a star in the World Cup Finals in 1950, where Sweden finished 3rd behind Uruguay and Brazil. He also played in 1958, where they finished 2nd.
FW: Antonio Cassano (Italy)
He was controversial figure known to have clashes with managers, teammates, etc. He made a big move to Roma as a 19 years old as one of Italy's brightest young players. Initially, he found successes with the club, but clashes with Fabio Capello. He would play for Real Madrid, Sampdoria, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Parma with mixed results. He gained his caps in 2003, but he was in and out of the players' pool.
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| Antonio Cassano |
He was the iconic captain of Holland 1988. In 1987, he moved from PSV Eindhoven to A.C. Milan for a world record transfer fee. He was an important player for AC Milan during the 1980's where they won two straight European Cups. He was the European Footballer of the Year in 1987 and the World Soccer Player of the Year in 1987 and 1989. He spent one season with Sampdoria winning the Italian Cup in 1994.
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| Ruud Gullit |
FW: Roberto Mancini (Marche)
He started his career with Bologna, but probably best remembered for his years with Sampdoria. He formed a great partnership with Gianluca Vialli there, winning the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990 and the scudetti in 1991. He only played 36 times for Italy because of fierce competition from Gianfranco Zola, Giuseppe Signori, Roberto Baggio and Alessandro Del Piero.
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| Roberto Mancini |
He first made his name with Sampdoria, helping them to win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. In 1992, he made a world record breaking transfer to Juventus. In 1996, he helped Juventus to win their first ever Champions' League. He went to Euro 1988, where he was named in the team of tournament. However, at Italia 1990, he was unimpressive and lost his starting spot to Roberto Baggio and Salvatore Schillaci. After the WC Finals, he had a feud with manager Sacchi that forced him out of the national team.
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| Gianluca Vialli |
Montella played for Italian clubs Empoli, Genoa, Sampdoria and Roma, and also had a spell on loan in England with Fulham. His best years were spent with Roma, where he scored many, important goals, despite having conflicts with Coach Fabio Capello. He won won the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana during the 2000–01 season. For Italy, he went to Euro 2000 and the WC Finals in 2002, but saw limited action.
Honorable Mention
Giovanni Invernizzi, Marco Lanna, Guido Vincenzi, Giovanni Lodetti, Michele Serena, David Platt, Giovanni Invernizzi, Francesco Flachi, Giuseppe Baldini, Juan Sebastian Veron, Alberigo Evani.
Squad Explanation
-- I dropped Flachi for his personal issues with drugs and gambling.
-- The team lacked a good left wing. So I took Lennart Skoglund despite the fact that he only spent two seasons there.
-- Sampdoria's greatest victory was the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. They also captured the Serie A title during the 1990–91 season and eached the Final of the 1992 European Cup. Gianluca Pagliuca, Moreno Mannini, Toninho Cerezo, Attilio Lombardo, Pietro Vierchowod, Luca Pellegrini, Fausto Pari, Srečko Katanec, Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini were on that team. The Vialli/Mancini attack duo was the club's greatest ever.
-- The team lacked a great left back. Carboni won a Cup Winners' Cup with them. And Hans Peter Briegel was a famous player in his time. I admitted not knowing much about them when they played for Sampdoria.
-- Ruud Gullit's career bounced back while with Sampdoria. He led led them to victory in the Coppa Italia in the 1993–94 season. Even AC Milan bought him back briefly.
-- Cassano had a resurgence while with Sampdoria. He even became their captain. However, I still have some question mark over him.
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| Vialli and Mancini |
Formation
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