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Roberto Mancini. Photo By 袙褟褔械褋谢邪胁 –

Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Roberto Mancini   

Roberto Mancini, widely known as Mancio, is a former player and an Italian football manager who is the current manager of the Italy national team. 

Regarded as a cup specialist, Mancini has reached at least a semi-final of a major national cup competition in every season he has been a manager, from 2002 to 2014.  

He is one of the best Italian players of his generation and is one of Italy’s greatest number 10s ever. 

Here are the top 10 remarkable facts about Roberto Mancini. 

1. He Started His Career When He Was A Teenager 

Roberto Mancini was born on 27th November 1964 in the town of Jesi on Italy鈥檚 Adriatic coast, but grew up in Roccadaspide, in southwest Italy. He was the son of Aldo and Marianna Mancini and a big brother to Stephanie Mancini.  

Roberto started his career in 1981 at Bologna, when he was 16 years. In his debut season he scored 9 goals and attracted the attention of Sampdoria, who were one of Italy’s top clubs at the time. Sampdoria paid 4 billion lire that is 2.2 million Euros to have the 17-year-old striker on their team.  

2. He Was An Altar Boy 

Roberto Mancini. Photo By 袙褟褔械褋谢邪胁 – Wikimedia Commons

Born in a Catholic family, Mancini was a devout Christian who also served as an altar boy at the local church, helping the priest in carrying out the daily activities. However, this did not prevent him from playing football.  

One day, Mancini had to attend his First Holy Communion and coincidentally his local team was playing a big match. The boy in his tender age missed the match and went to fulfil his duties in church.  

As the mass was going on, Roberto went missing and when his father couldn鈥檛 find him, he instantly knew that the young guy had gone to play football. Humiliated and embarrassed, his father went to apologize to the priest. 

To his surprise, he found out that it was the priest who asked Roberto to go and help his team out at halftime. The local priest was a football fan, and he couldn鈥檛 let Roberto miss the match. The priest allowed him to go and play after his first holy communion.  

3. He Is A Father Of Three  

Mancini was married to Federica Morelli but the marriage ended with a divorce after 25 years. They have three children, a daughter and two sons.   

His sons, Filippo and Andrea, are professional footballers. He is currently married to Silvia Fortini, a lawyer who likes to keep her personal life private.    

4. Mancini Spent 15 Years At Sampdoria 

As a player, Mancini was a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches in many competitions. He helped the team win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italia titles, and the European Winners’ Cup. 

During his time at Sampdoria, he made a strong partnership with Gianluca Vialli, and the fans nicknamed them The Goal Twins.

The duo won many trophies together with Sampdoria for the eight years they played together and even took Sampdoria to a Champions League final even though they did not win. 

At Sampdoria, he sat on the interview panel that selected Sven-Goran Eriksson as the manager. Mancini also had a say in the club鈥檚 transfer business and was of great influence. 

Mancini left Sampdoria in 1997.   

5. He Retired As A Player At 36 Years

Roberto Mancini. Photo By 袙褟褔械褋谢邪胁 –

After leaving Sampdoria, Mancini joined Lazio where he won his second scudetto and Cup Winners’ Cup titles, as well as two more Coppa Italias.  

He later announced his playing retirement and joined Lazio’s coaching staff as Sven-G枚ran Eriksson’s number two. He finished up his career as a loanee at Leicester City after a player-coach role at Lazio was essentially reduced to a coaching job.  

Mancini made his Premier League debut against Arsenal at the age of 36 but failed to complete a full 90 minutes in his five appearances for the club.  

6. He Started His Career As Team Manager 

Mancini left Leicester City and took a manager job at Fiorentina where he made occasional playing appearances due to the club’s financial problem. He left before one year was over and in May 2002, he became the manager of Lazio.  

In July 2004, he was appointed manager of Inter, and the team won the Coppa Italia title. Inter went on to win three Serie A titles, Coppa Italia title two times, and two Supercoppa Italiana titles.  

In December 2009, Mancini took over as manager of Manchester City for three-and-a-half years, winning one Premier League title, a FA Cup, and 2012 FA Community Shield during his four-year spell. 

He went on to manage Galatasaray and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Now he is the manager of Italy national team. Mancini has won silverware with every single team he has managed and has many trophies and awards. 

7. He Had Leadership Skills Before He Became Manager  

Mancini. Photo By 袙褟褔械褋谢邪胁 –

Some players show their intent and qualities to become successful managers in future, and Mancini was certainly one of them. Even from a young age, Roberto Mancini loved to give team talks to motivate his team to win.  

His leadership qualities became a great addition to his on-field skills and understanding of the game. He had a great winning mentality and could never accept defeat even to the biggest of the teams. 

8. He Picks Fights Easily On The Field  

As humble and quiet as he looks, Roberto Mancini is aggressive on the field. There are many instances of him picking a fight with players and other people in the field if something bothers him. 

One example is when he was a teenager at Sampdoria, Mancini was not someone who liked his authority being questioned. After Trevor Francis was signed, he felt that his place was under threat and he picked up a fight with the new player on the training ground.  

9. He Is Very Fashionable 

Roberto Mancini. Photo By Biser –

Both on and off the field, Mancini has a great sense of fashion. He is certainly the most stylish man in football management. He likes to carry an elegant presence and wear a blazer and a pair of trousers during matches. Mancini is the brand ambassador for Italian sportswear brand Paul & Shark. 

10. He Loves Wearing Scarfs And Has A Tattoo 

Mancini鈥檚 style is wearing a club scarf of the team he is working for. He鈥檚 a man of impeccable taste who has brought the football scarf off the terraces and into the spotlight. 

He has the tattoo of a pipe-smoking sailor, the symbol of Sampdoria, on his right leg.