Profile:
Full name:Giuseppe Signori
Nickname:Beppe
Born: 17 February 1968
Born in: Alzano Lombardo (BG)
Nationality: Italian
Height/Weight:1.71m,68 Kg

Biography :
Beppe is born in Bergamo, he begun his career as a youth team player in Inter. But he was found too light by the Inter youth team managers , so at an age of 17 he moved to a nonleauge side called AlbinoLeffe to find his way back to a top club. At Albino Leffe he was very fast recognised as a talentful player and he scored 5 goals in his first season on 8 matches wich helped his club to gain promotion to Serie C2.

But unfortunately for him his left foot was very fast recognised as one of the best in the lower divisions, and therefore the manager decided to use him as a left wing, because Beppe had some beautiful crosses, and the teams strikers could take advantage of this. Beppe did as the manger told him, and soon he had attracted the interest of Piacenza, who were in the Serie C1 at the time. In 1986 he moved to Piacenza but the competition was to tough for the young Signori and he only got to play 14 matches , most of them as a substitute. The season after he moved on loan to a smaller club called Trento , but still in the same leauge (Serie C1 ) , and once again he was one of the best left wingers in Serie C.

More matured and with more confidence he came back to Piacenza who had gained promotion to Serie B while Beppe was away , this time he managed to be one of the teams key figures. Foggia , a team on it's way up decided to buy this talented left wing. Foggias manager was Zeman who had returned after spending two seasons away from the club. Zeman quickly understood what kind of legend he just had bought when he saw Beppes qualities on training sessions , he told Signori that he could kiss his days as a left wing good bye, because Zeman was going to turn him into a striker. Signori didn't hesitate because it was striker he always wanted to be, or atleast a forward. In his first season with Foggia, Beppe scored 14 goals and became the big hero among Foggia fans.

During Signori's second season with Foggia he contributed 11 goals for his squad and helped them gain promotion to Serie A.The next year still under Zeman's wing he scored 11 goals once more this time in Italy's top flight. Before the end of the season Beppe had already caught the eye of Italian national team coach, Arrigo Sacchi. Signori began his national team career just after Italy had failed to qualify for the European Championship in 1992. Beppe played for Italy consistently during the following 2 year World Cup qualification period scoring three goals helping Italy qualify for the 94 World Cup.

During this time Lazio bought Signori as their owner Sergio Cragnotti was looking to turn his club into a great force. Along with Signori, eventually Zeman also moved to Lazio continuing their strong player-coach relationship. At Lazio Signori turned heads scoring 26 goals in his first season with his new club. The following year he netted 23 goals in 24 games which earned him the title of Italian goal scoring champion for the second year in a row. In 1994 Italy participated in the World Cup. Signori played in every game for his country excluding the final match. Sacchi's choice to exclude Beppe for the final game in which Italy lost to Brazil, led to friction between the two that continued into the following years. Signori set up 2 goals in the 94 World Cup both in situation where Italy faced elimination.

For the next few years Beppe continued to be the hero of Lazio even reclaiming the scoring title in 1996. During the prior summer rumors had risen that Signori was being transferred to Parma. This encited riots by Lazio fans who did not want to see their beloved captain leave. As a result the transfer was halted and Signori continued playing with the biancoceleste. In the fall of 97 Signori decided to leave Lazio after he felt excluded from the plans of new coach Sven Goran Eriksson. Beppe moved to Sampdoria playing in 17 games for Samp before he picked up a season ending leg injury. With his time away from the game he decided to look for a new club to rejuvenate his career.

Signori chose to move to Bologna after watching friend Roberto Baggio similarly resurrect his own career at the club. Signori entered the new season in better physical shape that he had been in years. In only his first year with the club Beppe became a major icon with Bologna fans and netted 15 goals in the championship. Apart from that, Beppe also scored crucial goals during Bologna's run through the Uefa Cup where they were only minutes away from the final before losing on the away goal rule due to a Marseille penalty kick. Signori continued with Bologna the following season scoring another 15 goals and remaining a fan favorite. This year in his 3rd season with the club Signori has been named captain and is continuing to impress.

*Biography is written in cooperation with Thomas Scarlett.

From Signori's World