Alessandro Nista (born 10 July 1965) is a former Italian football goalkeeper. A talented goalkeeper in his youth, he was once thought to be the heir of Walter Zenga for the Italy national team, although he failed to live up to his reputation, despite a successful club career.[2]

Alessandro Nista
Nista with Inter Milan in 2012
Personal information
Full name Alessandro Nista
Date of birth (1965-07-10) 10 July 1965 (age 58)
Place of birth Collesalvetti, Italy
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1982–1985 Pisa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1986 Sorrento 3 (0)
1986–1990 Pisa 38 (0)
1990 Leeds United 0 (0)
1990–1995 Ancona 139 (0)
1995–1999 Parma 2 (0)
1999–2001 Torino 1 (0)
International career
1988 Italy U21 3[1] (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Nista has played with Sorrento, Pisa, Leeds United, Ancona, Parma, and Torino in his career, serving mainly as a backup goalkeeper in later years. With Pisa, Nista won the Serie B title in 1985, and the Mitropa Cup in 1987, also winning the English Football League Second Division Title with Leeds in 1990. With Parma, Nista won a Coppa Italia and an UEFA Cup double in 1999, although he was mainly a reserve behind goalkeepers Giovanni Galli, Luca Bucci, and Gianluigi Buffon during his time at the club.[2] In total, he made 66 career appearances in Serie A, 114 in Serie B, and 3 in Serie C1.[3] Marco van Basten scored both his first and final goals in Serie A against Nista, in 1987 and 1993, respectively.[4]

International career edit

At international level, Nista also represented the Italy national under-21 football team on 3 occasions in 1988.[1]

Coaching career edit

Following his retirement in 2001, Nista worked as a goalkeeping coach with his former club, Torino. He later moved to work with Reggina, in 2007,[5] and Grosseto, in 2008, before moving to work at Juventus in 2009, training his former Parma teammate Gianluigi Buffon.[6] He worked as the goalkeeping coach for Serie A side Internazionale between 2010 and 2013.[7] He is currently the goalkeeping coach for Serie A side Napoli.

Honours edit

Club edit

Pisa[2]
Leeds United[2]
Parma[2]
Torino[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Nazionale in cifre: Nista, Alessandro". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Andrea Chiavacci (2 April 2014). "Numeri 1: Alessandro Nista, l'erede (mancato) di Zenga". tuttopisa.it (in Italian). Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  3. ^ "Alessandro Nista - Carriera". tuttocalciatori.net (in Italian). Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Maradona commenta l'addio al calcio di Van Basten". sportreview.it (in Italian). Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Staff tecnico stagione 2007-08: Reggina". corriere.it (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Sandro Nista va ad allenare Buffon". gelocal.it (in Italian). La Repubblica. 20 July 2009. Archived from the original on 1 December 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Staff". Inter.it. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

External links edit