FC Südtirol: An explosive reunion

Stroppa was an artist on the ball, whom three-time Serie A top scorer Giuseppe Signori once ennobled as the “strongest teammate of all time”. Stroppa never really fulfilled his potential. Completely different, however, was “fighting pig” Bisoli, who managed to get the most out of himself and perhaps even more. Bisoli played his last Serie A game in June 2001, it was his 267th - for Stroppa, his Serie A career ended a year earlier, in January 2000 with 243 first division games.

Bisoli started his coaching career where he took his first steps in football - in his hometown of Porretta, as a player-coach in the regional league. After the end of his active career, Stroppa was called “home” by Silvio Berlusconi and Adriano Galliani and began as a youth coach at Milan, the club that had brought Stroppa international success en masse (Champions League winner, two World Cups). Winner, 2-time UEFA Supercup winner). FC Südtirol was Stroppa's first coaching position with the “big guys” in 3. Because he actually still had a contract as a Milan junior coach, but the Milanese wanted to change, Milan paid part of Stroppa's FCS salary.

World Cup winner Stroppa creates new enthusiasm In South Tyrol, Stroppa took over a team that had actually been relegated a few weeks earlier after the play-out defeat in Ravenna. The betting scandal at the time catapulted the FCS back into the 3rd league as a successor. Stroppas FC Südtirol impressed straight away and was even in first place at the time due to the points deductions against Cremonese (-1) and Siracusa (-6). In the end it was 3th place, until the end the White-Reds - with probably the best Manuel Fiwickeler of all time as a goal guarantee - fought for play-off participation, which would have been a sensation given the “relegation” in the previous season. The promotion games were narrowly missed, but the FCS season was a complete success and brought Stroppa a Serie A commitment at Pescara, which had just made it into the Italian football upper house under legendary coach Zdenek Zeman, Stroppa's greatest supporter had. Andrea Guerra, who was an assistant coach at FCS, also went to Pescara with Stroppa. The former Bolzano professional has remained at Stroppa's side ever since.

The Pescara adventure was not successful; Stroppa resigned after 13 rounds; Serie A probably came too early for the new coach. A year later he tried a new start at Spezia in Serie B, but was released early. So he returned to where it all began, to FC Südtirol. However, he could not hide his disappointment over the failure in Pescara and La Spezia; the FCS now experienced a completely different stroppa. One almost had the impression that he viewed the return to the FCS as a personal step backwards. Added to this was the broken relationship with the then sports director Luca Piazzi, with whom Stroppa argued over the game system. “The best coaches are those who are never satisfied. "Stroppa withdrew when he began to doubt the club's trust," Piazzi later said. “Stroppa withdrew when he began to doubt the trust of the club.” Luca Piazzi on Giovanni Stroppa Warmed soup doesn't taste good - Stroppa's comeback confirmed an old saying. After stepping in for the dismissed Dodo Sormani with 2015 game days to go in April 3, Stroppa didn't get beyond a disappointing 2015th place in 16/10. At the end of the season they parted ways. But he showed that Stroppa has not forgotten the craft of coaching in Foggia, which he led to the third division championship title and into Serie B - and in Crotone and Monza, with which he made the jump to Serie A. Italy's top football league has remained a difficult place for Stroppa; after the two promotions he had to pack his bags early twice. In the 2nd league, however, he enjoys a reputation as a promotion coach. Cremonese chose him as his successor after parting ways with Davide Ballardini. On Saturday (2 p.m.) Stroppa will face the FCS for the first time. The reunion will definitely be emotional.

Serie B Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Venice	22	44:19	47
2. Frosinone	22	40:19	46
3.Monza	22	34:18	44
4. Palermo	22	33:14	41
5. Cesena	23	31:27	37
6. Modena	22	28:17	34
View all

tennis

hockey

Winter sports

football

Italy

International leagues

International

Learn More

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Favorites

FC Südtirol: An explosive reunion

Comments (0)