Top Facts About Gianluca Pagliuca

Fri 09 April 2021 | 13:30

Gianluca Pagliuca was one of the best goalkeepers of his generation. The Italian goalkeeper is one of the key players of legendary Sampdoria team in the late 80s. Read on to find out more facts about Gianluca Pagliuca.

Gianluca Pagliuca was born in 1966 in Bologna. Throughout his career, Pagliuca played for






, and


for a short while. He has 36 caps for Azzurri. Pagliuca was the number one for Arrigo Sacchi's line-up in the 1994 World Cup. Pagliuca was known for his quick reflexes and diving saves. He is one of the five goalkeepers winning Guerin d'Oro award. He the last and only multiple winner goalkeeper of the awards.

Italy always has a bunch of top class goalkeepers. From Dino Zoff and Walter Zenga to

Gianluigi Buffon

and even

Gianluigi Donnarumma

. Pagliuca was an iconic player and comparable with the bests in the business. He spent the entire of his 20 years of football career in Serie A. Buffon is the only goalkeeper with more appearances than Pagliuca in Serie A history.

The followings are some facts about Gianluca Pagliuca:

Gianluca Pagliuca's career started in 1987 and lasted up to 2007. After seven years of protecting his hometown team, Bologna, he joined Ascoli and announced his at the end of that season. Pagliuca was 40 years old when he retired.

Gianluca Pagliuca Early Life

Gianluca was born on the 18th of December, 1966 in Bologna.

Gianluca Pagliuca's parents

separated when He was a child and he experienced a tough childhood as a divorced kid. He developed a very strong and deep relationship with his mother.

Despite all hardships on

Gianluca Pagliuca’s childhood

, he's known for his great personality. Lately, he had a chance to recover his relationship with his father. Pagliuca lived in Bologna until 1986. He joined Bologna's juvenile team in 1984. Two years later, he moved to Genoa to sign his first senior contract with Sampdoria.

Gianluca Pagliuca Personal Life

There is no record or any mention about

Gianluca Pagliuca’s wife

or her name. He has a son named Mattia. Mattia was born in April 2002. Mattia also is a football player and now is playing as a winger in Bologna. He made his first debut for the team in December 2020 against


as a substitute for Emanuel Vignato.

After retirement from being a player, Gianluca Pagliuca embarked on a career as a pundit for the Sky and Mediaset Premium broadcasters, and in 2009 he obtained the coaching license. Later, Pagliuca coordinated the training of the goalkeepers of the Bologna youth teams, and then coached, in the 2014-2015 season, the Giovanissimi Nazionali of the Bologna team. Since 2016 he has been the goalkeeper coach of the rossoblù Primavera. He also played again as a goalkeeper in the Italian beach soccer national team.

Gianluca Pagliuca Club Career

In 1980s, Sampdoria had a golden generation, which made the club one of the best teams in Italy and even Europe for a period. The fact about Gianluca Pagliuca career in the Genova team is that their golden generation was already forging when he arrived.


At Sampdoria Gianluca Vialli formed an awesome partnership with his childhood friend Roberto Mancini. The Goal Twins helped Sampdoria win Coppa Italia in 1984-85. They had former Inter goalkeeper Ivano Bordon in the goal. Bordon's departure came across with Pagliuca's arrival.

Pagliuca was 20 years old when he experienced his first season in Serie A. In 1986–87, he didn't get any caps for Sampdoria. He had to wait for his debut until the second season. In 1987–88 Pagliuca made his debut in Serie A. He had two caps for the club in league and five in Coppa Italia, including two-legged final against


. In the first leg on home ground, Pagliuca kept a clean sheet and eventually Sampdoria won the game, 3–2 on aggregate.

In 1988-1989, Pagliuca had become the regular goalkeeper of the team. He had 33 appearances in Serie A and only Giuseppe Dossena had one more than Pagliuca. Sampdoria finished in fifth place in Serie A table. Thanks to Pagliuca, only the champions Inter conceded less goal than Sampdoria. In Coppa Italia, they reached the finals again. Pagliuca's goal opened only once in the two legs against


. He kept a significant clean sheet in the second leg ended with a 4-0 victory for Sampdoria. Two consecutive Coppa Italia titles for Pagliuca was a great start. In the same season, they reached a European final.

In 1988-1989 Cup Winners' Cup, Sampdoria reached the final and only


prevented them from winning the trophy. In the 1989-1990 season, Pagliuca protected Sampdoria's goal in all the league matches. His side conceded less goals than any other team. In that season, they reached the Cup Winners' Cup final for a second time in a row. Through the entire tournament, Pagliuca kept the goal shut in all the home matches for Sampdoria.

The final against


ended goalless in the regular time. In extra time, two goals from Vialli earned the first European title for the club. In the first season in 1990s, Pagliuca unlocked a new achievement. Sampdoria won a historic Scudetto for the first and only time. They won the title while they were five points ahead form their closest follower,

AC Milan

. Milan, under Arrigo Sacchi's management, is considered one of the best football teams ever and Sampdoria won the title over them. Pagliuca only missed one match the entire season and had a big role in that glory.

The next season, Sampdoria failed to defend the Scudetto title, but they were busy on another challenge. The challenge was the most important club tournament, named European Cup. Sampdoria made their way to the Wembley Stadium for the final against Barcelona. It was the last time the tournament was branded European Cup before the name change to Champions League.

Johan Cruyff's Barcelona, with all their offensive attributes, could not open Pagliuca's goal in the regular time. It was only eight minutes left before the penalty shootouts that Ronald Koeman scored a goal from a free kick and Barcelona won their first triumph in the competition. After being runner up once again against Barcelona, coach Vujadin Boškov left Sampdoria.

“In addition to being a great coach, he was a great psychologist and a very intelligent person.” Pagliuca's comments on coach Boškov. Sven-Göran Eriksson became the new Sampdoria manager. Eriksson had some fresh ideas in football. He had a specific defensive system, which was based on zonal marking rather than man-marking. With high defensive lines, there's a need for sweeper keeper. Pagliuca's agility made a great rush goalie out of him.

Eriksson's tactics worked well while the team was attacking, but there were difficulties in the defense phase. A season had to pass until Sampdoria found out how to play under Eriksson. Despite Vialli's departure, Sampdoria finished in the third place with Ruud Gullit and Mancini in as forwards. In the 1994 Coppa Italia final, Pagliuca didn't have a hard job because the opponent, a surprise finalist, Ancona. First leg was goalless, but instead, in the second leg Sampdoria won, 6-1. This was the ending of Pagliuca's epic story in Sampdoria.

Inter Milan

In 1994 Pagliuca joined the UEFA Cup winners Inter. Pagliuca left Sampdoria and moved to Inter for £7 million that was the word record for a goalkeeper. On the other hand, Inter's legendary keeper Walter Zenga moved to Sampdoria. Inter's new chairman Massimo Moratti, was planning to build a dominating team. Massimo Moratti's father was also Inter Chairman and his team nicknamed the Great Inter. The debut season of Pagliuca, the team was still adopting the changes. In the 1995–96 season, Inter had three managers and they were far from the goals. The only highlight of the season was sign in two full backs, Javier Zanetti and Roberto Carlos.

In the third season, Inter break the world transfer record for Ronaldo. At the end, Inter improved its place in Serie A by finishing third. UEFA Cup could be Pagliuca's first trophy, but after 120 minutes of keeping the goal, Inter lost in penalty shootout. In 1997–98, Inter finally kept a single coach for the whole season. The new arrival of Diego Simeone made the playground safe for Pagliuca. Ronaldo had a great season, too.

Inter was leading on the table, but after losing to


in one of the most infamous matches of football, the title flew out of Nerazzurri's hands. In the 1998 UEFA Cup final, Inter was facing


under Pagliuca's former manager Eriksson. Pagliuca kept the clean sheet with three goals from Zamorano, Zanetti, and Ronaldo sealed the deal. Pagliuca was the captain in the final and he received the prestigious trophy.

In 1998–99, Inter had four changes in the manager role. Ronaldo had a serious injury and season finished without any significant achievements for Inter and Pagliuca. At the end, Inter had a change of goalkeeper and Pagliuca left the club.


In 1999, Pagliuca moved to his home town club, Bologna. Marcello Lippi appointed as the new Inter manager and he wanted Angelo Peruzzi in the goal. It was time for Pagliuca to leave and Bologna was the next club. Pagliuca became the captain in Bologna, too. After six seasons being in the mid table in 2004–05, Bologna was in the relegation zone.



, and


all had 42 and only one of them had to relegate. By classifica avulsa rule — that is, the table composed solely of the six matches between the three teams, Bologna and Parma had fewer points, and played the relegation tie breaker. Parma was the tie breaker. Bologna won 0–1 away, but losing 0–2 in the home match. This law was abolished after that season. Pagliuca didn't left the team in Serie B, but they failed to promote to Serie A.


In the summer of 2006, Pagliuca returned to Serie A by joining Ascoli. Marco Giampaolo helped Ascoli finish in the tenth position in the previous season. In this season, Pagliuca set the record for most Serie A appearances for a goalkeeper, surpassing Dino Zoff. At the end of the season, Pagliuca announced his retirement.

Gianluca Pagliuca International Career

Pagliuca was called for 1990 FIFA World. Walter Zenga was the number one and Pagliuca didn't receive any play time. After the appointment of Arrigo Sacchi as the new Azzurri manager, Pagliuca became the main keeper of the team. Sweeper abilities of Pagliuca was a great help for Sacchi's tactics.

In 1994 World Cup, they reached the final match. After 120 minutes of keeping the goal shut against Brazilian strikers Romario and Bebeto, Italy gave up in penalty shootout. Pagliuca saved the goal many times, including the first penalty for Brazil. In 1995, Pagliuca had a rival for the number one spot of Azzurri. Angelo Peruzzi was the reason he left Inter, too.

In 1998 World Cup, followed by Peruzzi's injury, Pagliuca stood up in goal for all the matches in the tournament. In the quarter finals Italy faced the host,


. Once again for Pagliuca, after blowing the final whistle without any goals, the winner was decided by penalties. Despite Pagliuca blocked Bixente Lizarazu's shot, Italy lost the match. This was the last chance for Pagliuca because two young stars, Francesco Toldo and Gianluigi Buffon, started to shine after that.

Gianluca Pagliuca Stats

After leaving Bologna, Gianluca Pagliuca began his senior career in Sampdoria, and was in the squad for eight seasons, playing in 198 games in Serie A, 51 in Coppa Italia, 31 in Europe and 280 caps in total. He helped the club to win a Serie A championship, three Coppa Italia titles, a Supercoppa Italiana, and an UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

After that, he joined Internazionale and in five seasons he has caped in 234 games in total. 165 of them was in Serie A, 30 in Coppa Italia, and 37 in Europe, winning an UEFA cup. He returned to Bologna and stayed for seven seasons, playing in 267 games in all competitions. He also played in 25 games in a season for Ascoli. In Italy national team, he caped in 39 games from 1991 to 1998, most notably the 1994 world cup final, which Pagliuca was the starting keeper.

Some Quick Facts About Gianluca Pagliuca


Gianluca Pagliuca's age

, it should be mentioned that he was born on December 18, 1966, so till now he has 54 years of age. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in his generation and one of the best of Italy’s.

He is the fifth player with the most appearances with 592 games, and he is the second best penalty stopper with 24 penalty saves in Serie A behind Samir Handanovic.

The fact about Gianluca Pagliuca's play style is that he was an athletic goalkeeper with excellent diving saves, control of the ball and deep goal kicks with his left foot. Gianluca also had a strong temper, which occasionally had a negative impact on his performances when he let his emotions get the better of him.

Gianluca Pagliuca played for Sampdoria, Inter, Bologna, and Ascoli, winning several cups and trophies. Also, he was Italy national team’s goalkeeper at three FIFA world cups from 1990 to 1998.

As mentioned before, he got his coaching license after retirement and was the goalkeeper trainer in Bologna.

Gianluca Pagliuca Media

About Gianluca Pagliuca media, it should be mentioned that he has an Instagram page (


) and has 26.4k followers on Instagram.

Gianluca Pagliuca Body Measurement


Gianluca Pagliuca's body measurements

, it should be mentioned that there is no information on his body measurements, but he is 1.9m tall.

Gianluca Pagliuca Honors

  • Pirata d'Oro (Internazionale Player of The Year): 1995

  • Guerin d'Oro: 1996–97

  • Guerin d'Oro: 2004–05

  • 5th Class/Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1991

Gianluca Pagliuca Net Worth and Salary

When Gianluca Pagliuca moved from Sampdoria to Inter, his transfer fee was a record for a goalkeeper, with £7.5 million and would stand for seven years until Buffon left Parma for Juventus in a deal worth a whopping £53.5m.

Speaking about 

Gianluca Pagliuca net worth and salary

, it has been estimated that he has a net worth of $1.5 Million - $5.5 Million at the age of 54 and his salary is not known.

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source: SportMob