Background and career
Alberto Zaccheroni (Italian pronunciation: [alˈbɛrto ddzakkeˈroːni]; born 1 April 1953) is an Italian former football manager, formerly in charge of the United Arab Emirates and Japan national football teams. He has managed a number of top clubs in Serie A, the high point of his career being his stint as manager of AC Milan (1998–2001), with whom he won a scudetto, in his first season in charge (1998–99). Other notable clubs coached by Zaccheroni include Lazio, Inter Milan and Juventus, all as interim coach for part of a season. He won the Asian Cup in 2011 as manager of Japan. Zaccheroni is also renowned for his unconventional and trademark 3–4–3 tactical system.
Zaccheroni played as a full-back on both the left and the right wing, without much success, and his playing career was cut short by injury. He therefore became a manager at the relatively young age of 30 with amateur club Cesenatico. He won the Serie C2 and Serie C1, the fourth and the third highest football leagues in Italy. His managerial career took off when he was in charge of Udinese.
Zaccheroni was appointed manager of Udinese in 1995. The 1996–97 season saw Udinese qualify for the UEFA Cup. In the following season, they managed a third-place finish behind champions Juventus and runners-up Inter Milan, largely thanks to Oliver Bierhoff's 27 goals.
Zaccheroni's results at Udinese attracted the attention of Silvio Berlusconi, owner of Italian giants AC Milan, who appointed him as manager after the club had endured two miserable seasons, despite their expensive, star-studded squad featuring (George Weah, Leonardo, Paolo Maldini etc.). Zaccheroni asked Berlusconi to sign two key players from Udinese to accompany him to Milan: German striker Oliver Bierhoff and Danish right wing-back Thomas Helveg. Berlusconi obliged, and both players joined Zaccheroni at his new club. Zaccheroni delivered instantly, as Milan conquered the Serie A in his first season in charge, overcoming Lazio and Fiorentina to the title, after seven straight wins in the last seven matches, with Zaccheroni employing an attacking 3–4–3 (or 3–4–1–2) formation that made good use of Milan's forwards, attacking midfielders and wing-backs. The following season was less successful for Zaccheroni as Milan crashed out of the Champions League early, and, despite finishing third in Serie A, were never really in the running for the title. The 2000–01 season was even worse for Zaccheroni and would be his last in charge, as Milan had a poor run in the Serie A, at one time finding themselves barely above the relegation zone (eventually they finished 6th); in the Champions League they had a good start in the First Group Stage, topping their group (which included Barcelona, Leeds United and Beşiktaş), but were eventually eliminated in the Second Group Stage. As the Champions League final was about to take place at the San Siro, the backlash was immense, and this led Berlusconi to sack Zaccheroni and replace him with caretaker manager Cesare Maldini on 14 March 2001, one day after Milan's elimination from the Champions League. As manager of Milan, Zaccheroni was successful and prescient in some of his signings; Oliver Bierhoff, Kakha Kaladze, Gennaro Gattuso and, above all, Andriy Shevchenko would become key players for the club. On the other hand, however, transfers like those of José Mari were expensive flops, and he was also criticised for letting top centre-back Roberto Ayala leave Milan and move to Valencia; Ayala was generally unhappy in his two seasons at Milan (making 13 appearances in 1998–99 and 22 in 1999–2000) as there was stiff competition in defence with established players like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta.
Zaccheroni was without a job for a few months before Lazio came calling, after Dino Zoff had resigned. The Rome-based club had endured a terrible start to the 2001–02 season. He changed things around and managed to finish 6th in Serie A, thus earning Lazio a place in the UEFA Cup. Zaccheroni was not without his critics, though, as he played Gaizka Mendieta and Stefano Fiore out of position, thus failing to get the best out of them. He was also held responsible by many for the humiliating 5–1 loss to Roma in the Rome derby that season. Despite Zaccheroni's efforts, he parted company with Lazio, to be replaced by Roberto Mancini.
Zaccheroni was again called upon in the mid-season of 2003–04, this time to try to save Inter Milan after the departure of coach Héctor Cúper from the club. Despite crashing out of the Champions League after a humiliating 5–1 loss to Arsenal at the San Siro, he managed to lift Inter to fourth place in Serie A, thus securing qualification to the Champions League for next season. However, Inter president Massimo Moratti was not convinced of Zaccheroni's abilities, and he was again replaced by Roberto Mancini.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
