Walter Mazzarri

Walter Mazzarri

Mazzarri in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Walter Mazzarri[1]
Date of birth	(1961-10-01) 1 October 1961 (age 62)[2]
Place of birth	San Vincenzo, Italy[2]
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1981–1982	Pescara	26	(4)
1982	Cagliari	4	(0)
1982–1983	Reggiana	12	(1)
1983	Fiorentina	0	(0)
1983–1988	Empoli	91	(4)
1988–1989	Licata	8	(0)
1989–1990	Modena	21	(0)
1990–1991	Nola	30	(3)
1991–1992	Viareggio	11	(0)
1992–1994	Acireale	32	(1)
1994–1995	Torres	9	(0)
Total		244	(13)
Managerial career
2001–2002	Acireale
2002–2003	Pistoiese
2003–2004	Livorno
2004–2007	Reggina
2007–2009	Sampdoria
2009–2013	Napoli
2013–2014	Inter Milan
2016–2017	Watford
2018–2020	Torino
2021–2022	Cagliari
2023–2024	Napoli
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Walter Mazzarri (Italian pronunciation: [ˈvalter madˈdzarri]; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian professional football manager and former player.

After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several smaller Italian sides and in 2007 took up a managerial position with Sampdoria. With the help of the attacking partnership of Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini, he led the team to qualify for the UEFA Cup in his first season and subsequently reached the Coppa Italia final the next year. In 2009, he joined Napoli, where he implemented a 3–4–3 formation with which he later became associated. With the attacking trio of Ezequiel Lavezzi, Edinson Cavani and Marek Hamšík, nicknamed I tre tenori ("The three tenors"), he helped the team qualify for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in the club's history in 2011, and won the Coppa Italia the following season, the club's first trophy in over 20 years. In his final season with the team, he managed a second-place finish in Serie A, the club's best league finish in over 20 years. In 2013, he moved to Inter but was sacked halfway through his second season with the club. He later managed Torino in Serie A, and had one year in charge of Watford in England's Premier League in 2016–17. In 2023, after a gap year from his last management for Cagliari, he returned to Napoli but was sacked in February 2024 after three months.He recently signed a 2-year contract with the popular Iranian club Persepolis.