Lazio Squad of 1999/2000: Where Are They Now?

Perhaps one could talk about a ‘manager boom’ from the Lazio side who won the 1999/2000 Scudetto. It is widely known that Swedish coach Sven-Göran Eriksson of Lazio – from 1997 to 2001 – did not have too much to do with the tactics or the style of play during his time at Lazio; it was actually the players and mainly Roberto Mancini that organized and led the squad. Eriksson’s role was more to make the players feel good off the pitch and to handle their great egos. He, however, found success at the Roman club winning 4 titles during his tenure: the Coppa Italia in 1998, the Supercoppa Italiana in 2000, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999, and the Serie A title – also known to known as the Scudetto – in 2000. Although possibly some controversy regarding this style of management, it seemed to work, and this ‘player-managed side’ perhaps led to many of the footballers within the team being able to learn about tactics and coaching skills early on. This, in turn, possibly led to an interest in aspiring to become a manager after their playing careers came to an end. Below, an overview of what has happened to each of the players since retirement, that were a part of the squad when Lazio won the 1999/2000 Scudetto. Those who stand out are obviously Nedvěd, Simeone, Mancini, Conceição, Mihajlović, and Inzaghi; while not everyone has succeeded at the highest level yet, how many other teams can say that they have produced this many aspiring managers, experts or directors?

Pavel Nedvěd: Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of Juventus;

Alessandro Nesta: The first Manager of Miami FC (August 2015 to November 2017), ad the previous Manager of Perugia (May 2018 to May 2019); the current Manager of Frosinone (June 2019 to Present);

Matías Almeyda: The previous Manager of Argentine clubs River Plate (July 2011 to November 2012) and Banfield (April 2013 to August 2015), Mexican club Guadalajara (September 2015 to July 2018); the current Manager of Major League Soccer side San Jose Earthquakes (October 2018 to Present); 

Diego Simeone: The previous Manager of Argentine clubs Racing Club (February 2006 to May 2006, June 2011 to December 2011), Estudiantes La Plata (May 2006 to December 2007), River Plate (December 2007 to November 2008), and San Lorenzo (April 2009 to April 2010), and Italian side Catania (January 2011 to June 2011); the current Manager of Atletico Madrid (December 2011 to Present);

Fernando Couto: The former Director of Football and Assistant Manager of Portuguese side S.C. Braga (2010 to 2014). It is  reported that he wants to pursue a future career as a Sporting Director;

Roberto Mancini: The former Manager of Serie A sides Fiorentina (2001 to 2002), Lazio (2002 to 2004), and Inter (2004 to 2008, 2014 to 2016), Premier League side Manchester City (2009 to 2013), Turkish Super Lig club Galatasaray (2013 to 2014), Russian Premier League team Zenit Saint Petersburg (2017 to 2018); the current Manager of the Italy National Team (2018 to Present);

Attilio Lombardo: The previous Manager of Italian sides Sampdoria Reserves (2002 to 2006), U.S. Castelnuovo (2008), A.C. Legnano (2008 to 2009), and Spezia Calcio (2009), Swiss Challenge League side FC Chiasso (2006 to 2007), and Manchester City Reserves (2012 to 2013); the previous Assistant Manager of Premier League side Manchester City (2010-2012), Turkish Super Lig club Galatasaray (2013 to 2014), Bundesliga side Schalke 04 (2014 to 2015), and Serie A side Torino (2016 to 2018); the current Assistant Manager of the Italy National Team (2019 to Present);

Alen Boksic: The former Assistant Manager of the Croatia National Team (2012 to 2013);

Siniša Mihajlović: The former Assitant Manager of Inter (2006 to 2008); the former Manager of Italian sides Bologna (2008-2009), Catania (2009 to 2010), Fiorentina (2010 to 2011), Sampdoria (2013 to 2015), Milan (2015 to 2016), and Torino (2016 to 2018), the Serbia National Team (2012-2013), and Portuguese side Sporting CP (2019); the current Manager of Bologna (2019 to Present);

Dejan Stanković: The former Assistant Manager of Udinese (2014 to 2015), Club Manager of Inter, and Ambassador of UEFA; the current Manager of Red Star Belgrade (2019 to Present);

Marco Ballotta: The former Goalkeeper Coach and Manager of Italian amateur team Castelvetro (2014);

Marcelo Salas: The former Sporting Director of Unión Temuco; the President of Deportes Temuco;

Sérgio Conceição: The previous Assistant Manager of Belgian side Standard Liège (2010 to 2011); the former Manager of Portuguese clubs S.C. Olhanense (2012 to 2013), Académica (2013 to 2014), S.C. Braga (2014 to 2015), and Vitória Guimarães (2015 to 2016), and Ligue 1 side Nantes (2016 to 2017); the current Manager of Porto (2017 to Present);

Nestor Sensini: The former Manager of Serie A side Udinese (2006), Argentine side Estudiantes de La Plata (2007 to 2008), Newell’s Old Boys (2009 to 2011), Colón (2012 to 2013), and Atlético de Rafaela (2014 to 2015).

Guerino Gottardi: The former Youth Manager of Lazio;

Simone Inzaghi: The previous Manager of the Lazio Primavera (2010 to 2016); the current Manager of Lazio (2016 to Present);

Juan Sebastián VerónThe Chairman of his home club Estudiantes de La Plata;

Fabrizio Ravanelli: The ormer Youth Manager of Juventus (2011 to 2013); the former Manager of Ajaccio (2013) and Arsenal Kyiv (2018); a Football Pundit for Sky Italia, Fox Sports, and Mediaset;

Giuseppe Pancaro: The previous Manager of Juve Stabia (2014-2015), Catania (2015 to 2016), and Catanzaro (2018); the current Manager of Pistoiese (2019 to Present);

Giuseppe Favalli: Studied to become a Manager at Coverciano in 2013, but has not pursued a job since;

Dario Marcolin: In recent years, the Manager of Catania and Avellino; before that, the Manager of clubs such as Modena and Padova;

Paolo Negro: Manager of lower league teams and the Former Primavera Manage of Latina Calcio 1932;

Luca Marchegiani: Football Pundit for Sky Italia; features in the Pro Evolution Soccer series from 2012-2015 as a Technical Commentator.

Tags Alen Boksic Alessandro Nesta Attilio Lombardo Biancocelesti Dario Marcolin Dejan Stankovic Diego Simeone Fabrizio Ravanelli Giuseppe Favalli Giuseppe Pancaro Guerino Gottardi Juan Sebastian Veron Luca Marchegiani Marcelo Salas Marco Ballotta Matias Almeyda Nestor Sensini Paolo Negro Pavel Nedved Roberto Mancini S.S. Lazio Scudetto Sergio Conceicao Simone Inzaghi Sinisa Mihajlovic Sven-Göran Eriksson