THEItaly is one of the European nations where the phenomenon of "brains on the run". This is not only true for academia or business, but for it as well sports. When it comes to football, there are many Italian champions who play in foreign championships (think for example of Verratti e Donnarumma al Paris Saint Germain o Balotelli atAdana Demirspor in Turkey). Likewise, dozens of Italian CT they have coached foreign teams, often with excellent results. Among the best, at the moment they are found Carlo Ancelotti al Real Madrid, Antonio Conte al Tottenham e Dominic German al Leipzig in Bundesliga. In addition to these big names, there are also other Italian coaches very appreciated abroad, which unfortunately they are little known to the general public, like Stephen Sanderra. Like their more famous colleagues, they too succeed in big business and are celebrated by fans as real heroes.

Carlo Ancelotti: the man of records in Europe

Carlo Ancelotti is the ne plus ultra among the Italian coaches who have won abroad. Indeed, thanks to the excellent result of the Real Madrid, Ancelotti is the first coach in history to have won a championship in five major leagues in Europe. In 2004 the technician won the Serie A Milan, in 2009 the Premier League English with the Chelsea, in 2011 the Ligue 1 French, at the helm of the Paris Saint Germain, in 2016 the Bundesliga German with his Bayern Munich and finally the Liga spagnola Real Madrid. After Ancelotti, the other Italian coach who has won more titles in different European championships is Giovanni trapattoni. In fact, the former Juve and Inter coach won three foreign championshipsin Germany, Portugal e Austria. The first with the Bayern Munich (1997), the second with the Benfica (2005) and the third with the Salzburg (2007)

Stefano Sanderra - Carlo Ancelotti at the press conference in 2016
Photo: © Светлана Бекетова - Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

However, Italian football reserves some small pearls, which at times go almost unnoticed in the most important leagues, but which abroad know how to reserve great surprises. One of these is certainly Stephen Sanderra, coach with a long career (he started at 27) in the Italian minor leagues, today coach of theHibernians di Paula (Paola) Of Malta. The adventure on the island began in 2018, immediately bringing excellent results to the team. In the last four championships, in fact, the Hibernians have managed to rank seconds (for two years), tailor and now Primi. All without ever missing the European appointment for the qualifiers for theEuropa League or to Conference League. With the Scudetto won this season (the 13th in the history of the Hibernians), Sanderra and him will also play for the qualifiers of Champions League.

Stefano Sanderra: from the Italian Serie D to the Scudetto in Malta

Sanderra is a man of great football experience, who made the history of the Italian minor leagues. Already in his first assignment, as coach of theAquila, managed to win the championship of D series (1997-98 season). In the following years he then changed several teams, including theIsernia, Potenza, Frosinone, the spring of Messina and the Gela. Between 2010 and 2013 as a coach of Latina, From Series C2 manages to get the team a promotion to first First Division, the victory in Italian Cup Serie C (beating Viareggio) and a historic promotion in Serie B. For this reason Sanderra is still very much loved by the Latina fans today, so much so that it has earned the nickname of "Mister Legend". It is not clear whether Sanderra will take over the reins of the Hibernians again next year or will leave Malta on a journey towards new experiences. Certainly the fans would not mind seeing the Italian manager still at the helm of Pawla's team.

Stephen Sanderra

Italy abroad often manages to be a winner (even if this is not true as regards the Champions League). Whether it's Ancelotti or Sanderra, our technicians have always managed to impress with theirs tactical style and get the team they train to high levels, sometimes performing real miracles (think for example of Ranieri Leicester in the Premier League). Will this also be the case in the future?

Italian coaches who win abroad: Ancelotti and Sanderra last edit: 2022-05-15T12:26:00+02:00 da Antonello Ciccarello

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