Where are they now: Fiorentina 2001-2002
The 2001 season was full of promise for Fiorentina. Roberto Mancini had taken over an outfit that finished 9th the previous season but won the Coppa Italia. Getting thumped 3-0 by Roma in the Supercoppa stung but 7 losses in the first 10 Serie A outings heralded doom, a doom which was soon confirmed by reports of Vittorio Cecchi Gori’s financial idiocy. The Viola couldn’t pay wages and carried hidden debts worth more than the organization. The ensuing chaos resulted in the dissolution of the club.
You know that story and I don’t need to rehash it. Instead, we’re going to see what happened to every player that made at least one competitive appearance for that cursed edition of Fiorentina. Unless otherwise mentioned, they all left at the end of that season. Unfortunately, that means we’ll skip e.g. 15-year-old Emiliano Viviano, a budding Primavera superstar who made the senior bench for a game. Hat tip to drew t, who is (I think) the one who suggested this topic.
GK Mario Cassano: Just 17 in this season, the young goalie got 3 appearances. He bounced around Serie B for another decade, over half of that with Piacenza. His career ended abruptly in 2012, when he was banned for 5 years by the FIGC for his part in a match-fixing scandal. I’m not sure but I think he’s now a personal trainer in Empoli.
GK Alex Manninger: The Arsenal loanee had quite a career, representing 15 different clubs and earning 33 caps. After his retirement, he went into business as a real estate investor and, way more charmingly, as a carpenter; he’d apprenticed as a furniture-maker in his youth and went back to it. He died tragically this past April after getting hit by a train aged just 48.
GK Giuseppe Tagliatela: The journeyman played with Siena, Benevento, and Avellino before retiring in 2006. After taking some time off with his family, he returned to the game as a goalkeeping coach with hometown club Ischia, where he’s since climbed the ranks into the C-suite. Fun fact: Tagliatela (alias Pipistrello) has the highest career penalty save percentage of any goalie in Serie A history, having stopped 12 0f 28 spot kicks he faced.
CB Daniele Adani: The rock solid centerback moved to Inter Milan after the season but didn’t break through and moved around a bit before hanging it up in 2011 following a couple years with amateur outfit Sammartinese. He dabbled in coaching before finding his calling in media, working as a commentator on live broadcasts as well as featuring prominently in print.
CB Luca Ceccarelli: The 18-year-old academy graduate broke into the first team and earned a move to Inter. He never made a competitive appearance for the Nerazzurri but enjoyed a long career that ended in 2022 with amateur outfit Nebbiano. He went straight into coaching as part of Moreno Longo’s staff and helped Como jump up two divisions to Serie B. Most recently, he was with Longo at Bari.
CB Filippo Fedeli: Another academy product, he spent most of his career in the lower leagues. I can’t find much on him since his retirement in 2015 but he seems to be frequently shirtless (and in pretty good knick) and hugging his daughter, which is pretty funny. I’ve found two guys with the same name (an Amazon data scientist in Spain and a cancer researcher in Florence) but I don’t think they’re the same person.
CB Daniele Ficagna: Another youngster who made a couple cameo appearances, he went into management upon retirement as Carrarese’s U17 manager. After an apprenticeship with Massimo Maccarone at Ghiviborgo and Piacenza, he returned to the youth ranks and currently runs Cagliari’s U17s.
CB Emiliano Moretti: The promising youngster went to Juventus (boo) and stuck around Serie A forever, hanging up his boots in 2019 with Torino. When he earned his first cap in 2014, he became Italy’s oldest-ever debutant at 33. He dove straight into management at Toro and has risen through the ranks to become DS Gianluca Petrachi’s right-hand man.
CB Alessandro Pierini: The big money signing from Udinese was a key part of the Viola for years. He struggled with injuries in the latter stages of his career, which he concluded in Spain. Upon retiring in 2009, he joined Lucas Alcaraz’ staff for a couple years before striking out on his own for a bit. His last full-time coaching gig was the Spezia U19s under Vincenzo Italiano. His son Nicholas has carved out a good career of his own and is currently with Sassuolo.
CB Tomáš Řepka:The legendarily combustible Czech retired from the professional game after in 2012. His only non-player role ended after 3 months amidst a falling out with management and he’s since played amateur ball, including a season with his son, and is currently registered with Sokol Kamberk; imagine rocking up to Sunday league and there’s 53-year-old Řepka on the other side. It hasn’t all been fun stuff, though, as he’s also had a fair amount of legal trouble, including convictions for advertising sex online in his ex-wife’s name, drunk driving, and fraud.
LB Alessandro Agostini: The promising youngster eventually established himself as a Serie A regular at Cagliari, Torino, and Hellas Verona. He stuck with the Isolani after his playing days as a coach, rising through the youth levels to take over as interim boss of the first team after Walter Mazzari got sacked in 2022 but led the side to a single point through its final 3 games, resulting in relegation. He lasted 10 games at Pontedera the following year but hasn’t managed since.
LB Paolo Vanoli: Well, well, well.
RB Giovanni Bartolucci: An academy graduate, he spent most of his career in Serie C and Serie D, retiring in 2015, and has kept a pretty low profile since then as far as I can tell.
RB Niccolò Guzzo: Another academy product, another lower league career, another quiet subsequent life according to the internet.
RB Andrea Tarozzi: The journeyman retired in 2008 and went into management at Sassuolo. He’s become a competent right hand man, best known for his work with Roberto D’Aversa at Parma, Sampdoria, and Lecce, which earned him the trust of Stefano Pioli, who hired him at Fiorentina. Whoops. Tarozzi’s since caught on with Domenico Tedesco at Bologna.
RB Moreno Torricelli: Geppetto moved onto Espanyol for a couple years after Fiorentina before taking his swan song at Arezzo. He worked for a year in the Viola academy before trying his hand with Pistoiese and Figline but quit to be with his wife, who died in 2010 of leukemia. He understandably took a few years away from the game and currently does some work for RAI and the Juventus media machine.
DM Amaral: The peripatetic Brazilian went to Beşiktaş for a couple years but played until 2015, bouncing between his native country and Qatar, Poland, Australia, and Indonesia before spending a few years at amateur level back home and finally retiring in 2015 with boyhood club Capivariano before turning to reality TV with the show A Fazenda. He also competed in The Masked Singer Brasil, which is a surreal thing to type out.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Amaral como Cachorro no The Masked Singer pic.twitter.com/qmn7Yz1913
— Humor Esportivo (@humoresportivo) March 20, 2022
DM Roberto Baronio: The Lazio loanee stayed on the Celesti books until 2009 but was usually farmed out on loan before finally concluding his playing career with Atletico Roma in the lower leagues. After a year working under Paolo Vanoli for the Italy U19s, Baronio joined Andrea Pirlo’s staff in the Juventus academy and has followed him to every job since, including his current post at United FC in the UAE.
DM Sandro Cois: The linchpin of the midfield moved to Sampdoria but struggled for fitness and retired at 31. He recently spent some time coaching in Pisa’s academy but seems to prefer spending his time shirtless and near water. He’s in fantastic shape for anyone, much less a 54-year-old, and seems to be doing great. He’s also buddies with Riccardo Sottil, which is weird. Last I saw of him, he was having a grand time at the centenary game.
DM Marco Franceschetti: Closed out his playing career at Legnano in 2003 and tried his hand as an assistant to Angelo Gregucci at Venezia but found his stride a couple years later as the founder and chairman of amateur club France Sport on the shores of Lake Maggiore on the Swiss border, which he still runs.
DM Angelo Palombo: Angel Dogfish went on to become a Sampdoria legend, of course, one of the Fabrizio Miccoli/Cristian Maggio “What if he’d stayed” vintage, but of course you can’t hold it against him. When he went into management after retiring, he naturally stuck with the Blucerchiati but linked up with Christian Chivu at Parma and followed him to Inter Milan, where things seem to be going just fine.
CM Christian Amoroso: Spent the better part of a decade at Bologna before winding down his playing career at Ascoli and Pisa. He’s headed up a number of teams in Serie C and Serie D since then, most recently Viareggio, and has demonstrated a laudable desire to stay close to his native Cascina.
CM Fabio Rossitto: Moved back to boyhood club Udinese before spells at Beerschot in Belgium, Venezia, and Sacilese rang down the curtain on his playing days. He’s done a lot of coaching since then: Pordenone, and Triestina, Cremonese in the third tier are the standouts, but he’s currently leading amateur side Sanvitese while his sons embark on their professional careers.
RM Angelo di Livio: We all know what il Soldatino did after this accursed season and that’s why we love him as much as we do. It’s why he’s the greatest ex-Juve player in Viola history. Since retiring, he’s dabbled in coaching but mostly seems to be enjoying life. His son Lorenzo turns out for Triestina in midfield while his daughter Alessia makes her mark as an EDM DJ and producer, which is particularly weird because she looks a lot like him.
RM Marco Rossi: Spent a year at Como before moving to Genoa, where he was a fixture for a decade before moving upstairs, first as an interim sporting director, then as a scout, and has been the Team Organizer since 2019. I’m not entirely sure what that job entails but he’s outlasted several coaching regimes so he’s clearly in there for the long haul. Good on him.
AM Mirko Benin: A fringe player for Fiorentina, he went on to play at Como, Cremonese, and Pro Vercelli before injuries curtailed his playing time and he dropped down to amateur level. His online footprint is vanishingly small but as far as I can tell, he’s coaching kids at the grassroots level and hasn’t shown any real interest in working at a higher level because he enjoys his current work-life balance.
AM Ezequiel González: The promising playmaker went back to Boca and then Rosario before returning to Europe with Panathinaikos, where he spent 4 seasons and eventually became club captain before heading back across the Atlantic to Rosario, Fluminense, and LDU Quito and retiring at 31. He briefly did some scouting but has since said that he never enjoyed the game and is much happier in his current profession: raising corn, soybeans, beef, pork, and eucalyptus trees.
AM Domenico Morfeo: One of the great unfulfilled talents, his post-Viola career took him to Inter, Parma, Brescia, and Cremonese before he retired age 33, citing his lack of desire to continue playing. He opened Dolcevita in downtown Parma in 2014 and as far as I can tell is still running it.
LW Anselmo Robbiati: Already a prominent part of those beloved 1990s teams, his career was winding down during this, his second stop in Florence. He kept at it in the lower leagues, including his final season at Figline in 2009, before joining Torriccelli’s staff there for a couple years. He’s been knocking around the youth levels since then and is currently running the youth sector for Montevarchi.
LW Riccardo Taddei: Carved out a solid career despite a bunch of injuries in Serie B and C before ending his playing days in 2016. He joined Luca D’Angelo’s staff and rose to become his top lieutenant at Bassano, Casertana, Pisa, and Spezia. Unfortunately, he then linked up with Tarozzi as part of Pioli’s doomed staff and hasn’t found a job in the game since.
CF Adriano: O Imperatore is one of the sport’s most tragic figures and you already know the trajectory of his career. He resurfaces in the news occasionally as an object of morbid interest and it just bums me out. Guy clearly isn’t well.
CF Enrico Chiesa: Spent a year with Lazio and then 5 with Siena before closing his career at Figline alongside Robbiati. He’s been back in the Viola eye since 2018, when his son Lorenzo joined Fiorentina’s academy, but his association with the club ended when Lorenzo moved to Sampdoria in 2023.
CF Lorenzo Crocetti: An academy prospect from Bagno a Ripoli who enjoyed a prolific career in the lower leagues. He had his final double-digit scoring season as a professional in 2016-2017 and fully retired in 2020 after playing for Scandicci, Poggibonsi, Samgimingano, and Montalcino. He’s a freelance technical coach who runs skills camps in Florence. Someone put him in touch with Beto, please.
CF Orlando Fanasca: Another teenage academy product, he mostly played in the lower leagues. Sorry, plays. At 43, he’s going strong in the Promozione with amateur outfit Cynthia. It’s a homecoming, sort of, because he played for them back in 2012-2013, which is just nuts.
CF Maurizio Ganz: I completely forgot he was on this team. He helped fire Ancona to Serie A then moved to Lugano before wrapping up at Pro Vercelli in 2007. He coached in the lower tiers for a bit before hitting the headlines as the mister for Milan Femminile in 2019, a position he retained until 2023. He jumped back to Serie D last year and is currently in charge of Magenta.
CF Nuno Gomes: Batistuta’s putative heir returned to Benfica and spent a decade there, winning a bunch of trophies before ending his career with seasons at Braga and Blackburn. Benfica immediately appointed him to a management role in the youth setup but has since moved to non-coaching roles with Portugal and FIFA but took time off a couple months ago to hit the Franchi for the centenary game. He stuck around Italy, too, and turned out for Fabrizio Miccoli’s testimonial in Palermo last week too.
CF Predrag Mijatović: The 1997 Ballon d’Or runner-up was washed when he arrived in Florence, scoring 9 goals in 2 years, and hung up his boots a year after he departed Florence. After spending a couple years as a registered agent, he became Real Madrid’s sporting director in 2004, lasting 3 seasons before returning to player representation, reportedly working with Anzhi Makhachala for a bit. More recently, he worked as DS of Partizan but fell out with the board and resigned amidst fan protests.
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