Football legend Gianluca Pagliuca celebrates his 57th birthday today. Known for his serious demeanour amidst Sampdoria’s joyous spirit, Pagliuca always had a penchant for wearing colourful and vibrant goalkeeper kits, often contradicting with his personality and the sobriety of the number 1 players. In his conversation with La Gazzetta dello Sport, he revealed, “I was never displeased with the shirt I wore on the field.” Quietly implying his pursuit of perfection, he enjoyed the colourful designs he personally chose, suggesting this preference might be a quirk of the great goalkeepers, or even a necessity.
Pagliuca has left behind powerful images in football fans’ collective memory. Above all, the standout moment that fans recall fondly is his penalty save against Lothar Matthaus. The renowned goalkeeper described the match to La Repubblica, saying “Everyone remembers the penalty I saved from Matthaus. That was a championship-winning save, although my best save of the season was against Parma, on a header from Grun. I studied Matthaus well, I knew his approach. So, I stayed still until the last moment and saved it.”
The Sampdoria era was a significant time in football history, with Italy getting an understanding of friendship among players when they saw Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini celebrate the national team’s victory at Wembley during the European Championship.
Possessing an innate understanding of what a mistake can mean for a goalkeeper, Pagliuca has, in the past, passionately defended Gigio Donnarumma. Speaking to Libero, he argued that Donnarumma is a “great goalkeeper victim of a defamatory press campaign. Especially by some Milanese paper. They are tearing him apart because they want him to pay for preferring PSG’s money over Milan.”
Earlier, he had spoken about his rival at the French club, quirky, saying, “Navas is good, but with all due respect, he can only lace Gigio’s boots.” Pagliuca, seemingly, is a fervent supporter of the Italian school of goalkeepers and has expressed this perspective in several interviews.
However, the image of his protests in the notorious Juventus-Inter match of Ronaldo-Iuliano is likely to remain fresh in the minds of football fans. Speaking this year to Resto del Carlino, Pagliuca did not mince words, saying “For me, this is a story that has been dragging on for twenty-five years. Then they say: Pagliuca has it in for Juve, he’s anti-Juve. I confirm this: but I’ve become this because of circumstances. If I line up the facts, how can I not be anti-Juve?”
Beginning his 20-year career at Sampdoria and spending time at Inter and Bologna before ending his stint at Ascoli, Pagliuca comments on his career, stating, “I believe I’ve left a mark everywhere, and that is evidenced by the affection and respect that I have earned over time from fans who retain fond memories of me.” This indeed paints a clear image of a goalkeeper who, through his distinguished career, left a memorable imprint on football history.