Many international stars began their career at Palermo during Maurizio Zamparini’s presidency and Football Italia takes a look at the Rosanero’s Top XI during his tenure
Zamparini died at Ravenna’s Cotignola hospital last night aged 80.
He was a crucial figure for Italian football, especially between the end of the 90s and the beginning of the new century.
He bought Palermo in 2002 and owned the club for 15 years, reaching unbelievable results.
Palermo qualified for Europe three times during his ownership and Rosanero fans saw some of the best players in the Old Continent begin their career at the Stadio Renzo Barbera.
Italy World Cup winners Christian Zaccardo, Fabio Grosso, Luca Toni and Andrea Barzagli, played for Palermo and the same goes for Edinson Cavani and Paulo Dybala.
Cavani continued his career at Napoli, PSG and Manchester United, while Dybala joined Juventus in a €40m deal in 2015.
It’s probably impossible to mention all the big players that wore the Rosanero jersey over the years, but we’ve tried to put together a top XI to pay tribute to one of the most iconic figures of Italian football of the last 20 years.
Zamparini’s Palermo Top XI (4-3-1-2): Sirigu; Zaccardo, Barzagli, Kjaer, Grosso; Pastore, Vazquez, Ilicic; Dybala; Toni, Cavani
Miccoli > Dybala
Miccoli should be ahead of the likes of Dybala, Pastore, Illicic, and especially Vasquez. He spent 6 years at Palermo, making 179 appearances and scoring a very impressive 81 goals, many of which were beauties.
RIP Zamparini. A couple of midfielders that should make a Palermo 11 in the Zamparini era are Fabio Simplicio and Eugenio Corini, in my opinion.