Giancarlo Marini played for Lazio from 1982 to 1985.
He was born in Rome, on September 16, 1964.
He joined Lazio at 10 years old and went through the whole youth sector.
In the 1982-83 season he made his debut for the first team. Lazio were in Serie B and desperately trying for promotion after two years in the "purgatory", boosted by the return of Bruno Giordano and Lionello Manfredonia (after the betting scandal). Marini played 4 games and contributed with a decisive goal in the last match, a 2-2 draw away with Cavese which gave Lazio promotion.
The following year he made his Serie A debut. There was great enthusiasm with the return of "Long John" Giorgio Chinaglia as President. Lazio however had a difficult season but managed to stay up in a dramatic last game at Pisa. Marini had a good season despite Lazio's problems. He made 19 league appearances.
The 1984-85 season was a nightmare for Lazio. They changed manager twice; from Paolo Carosi (first 2 games) to the disastrous choice of Juan Carlos Lorenzo (3-20) and finally to Giancarlo Oddi/Bob Lovati (21-30) when it was already too late. Lazio got relegated. Marini made another 12 league appearances and 5 in Coppa Italia.
With Lazio relegated Marini was sold to Genoa in Serie B. He played 15 league games under Tarcisio Burgnich (legendary Inter and Italy defender). The "Grifone" finished 7th.
In 1986 he moved down a league to Campania Puteolana in C1. He played 25 games with 4 goals.
In 1987 he joined Catania, by now back in C1. He played 91 games for the "Etnei" over three seasons and scored 9 goals.
In 1990 he moved to Empoli in C1. He played 31 games with 1 goal.
In 1991 he was in Umbria with Gubbio in C2. He played 13 games with 1 goal but the Rossoblu were relegated.
In 1992 he was back in Sicily with Catania in C1. He played 16 league games. The "Elephants" were his last big team, in all senses.
His next seven years were spent with minor teams; Monterotondo near Rome (78 games-19 goals), L'Aquila (17-1), Terracina (34-7), Fano (24-1), Terracina again (1-0), Cassino (2-0) and finally Guidonia (9-1).
At 36 he retired and went into coaching. He started off as Bruno Giordano's assistant at Reggina in Serie C1 in 2004-05. He was then manager of Monterotondo for two years and Guidonia for one, both at regional level. In 2008-09 he was assistant to Eusebio Di Francesco at Lanciano in Lega Pro (old C1). In 2010-11 he collaborated with Parma as a technical advisor. In 2011-12 he was assistant coach at Fondi at regional level. In 2012 he teamed up with Di Francesco again in his technical staff and followed him to Roma, Sampdoria, Cagliari and Verona, all in Serie A.
Marini as a player was a left-footed midfielder. He is 1.74 tall but with 68 kilos he was not a very physical player. He was more of an offensive player with good technique. At the beginning of his career, he was considered to have good potential and expected to have a high-level career. It did not really materialize and after Lazio his career went downhill.
At Lazio he is remembered well as he was there for eleven years. He did not fulfil his potential but played a key role in Lazio's promotion in 1983. He scored the momentary 2-1 goal in the decisive 2-2 draw at Cavese so has his name in the Lazio history books. It's a pity his career did not go as well as everyone hoped. On the positive side he won a promotion and played in Serie A for the team he supports and had joined as a ten- year- old boy.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1982-83 | 4 (1) | - | 4 (1) | - |
1983-84 | 20 | 19 | - | 1 |
1984-85 | 17 | 12 | - | 5 |
Total | 41 (1) | 31 | 4 (1) | 6 |
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