Vincenzo Montella

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Montella's nickname during his playing career was 'Aeroplanino', in reference to his small stature and trademark goal celebration, in which he spread his arms like wings. A prolific goalscorer, throughout his playing career Montella played for Italian clubs Empoli, Genoa, Sampdoria and Roma, and also had a spell on loan in England with Fulham. He is mostly remembered for his performances with Roma, where he won the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana during the 2000–01 season, also later reaching the 2003 Coppa Italia final with the club. In 2013, Montella was inducted into the Roma Hall of Fame. At international level, he made 20 appearances for Italy between 1999 and 2005, scoring three goals; he was notably a member of the Italian team that reached the final of UEFA Euro 2000, and he also represented his country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Montella began his managerial career as Roma's caretaker manager in 2011, later coaching Catania the following season. In 2012, he moved to Fiorentina, where he spent three seasons, leading the club to three consecutive fourth-place league finishes, the 2014 Coppa Italia final and the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League semi-finals. After a season-long spell with Sampdoria, he was appointed Milan's manager in 2016, and later that year, he won his first title as a coach with the club, the Supercoppa Italiana. He was sacked by the club in 2017, and was subsequently appointed manager of Spanish side Sevilla. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final and the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history, he was sacked by Sevilla four months after his appointment, following a run that included nine matches without a victory. He returned to Fiorentina in 2019, with the second spell lasting over eight months. After a period managing Adana Demirspor in the Turkish league, he was appointed as coach of the Turkish national team in September 2023, helping the team to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024 and reach the quarter-finals, and also guided them to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking their first appearance at the finals since 2002. Additionally, under his leadership, the team was promoted to League A, the top tier of the UEFA Nations League.

In Their Own Story

The roar of the Stadio Olimpico is a physical force, vibrating through the turf as Montella receives the ball just outside the penalty area in the Rome derby on 10 March 2002. The crowd holds its breath, sensing the inevitable. He doesn't rush; instead, he performs a subtle feint that sends the defender stumbling, creating a sliver of space. With a touch so soft it seems to defy gravity, he guides the ball past the keeper's outstretched legs and into the net. Silence breaks instantly into a deafening chant: 'Aeroplanino! Aeroplanino!' In that moment, the Roma shirt represents more than a team; it is a promise kept. That day he scored four goals in a 5–1 win, a record that still stands for goals scored in a derby match by a single player.

Reader's Guide

Montella began his club career in Serie C1 at Empoli in 1990 before moving to Serie B club Genoa in 1995, where he scored 21 goals in his only season with the club, at the end of which he lifted the Anglo-Italian Cup. He then moved up to Serie A to city rivals Sampdoria, where he remained three years, until 1999. After Sampdoria's relegation, he moved to Roma in a 50 billion lire (about €25.823 million) transfer. Montella made his Serie A debut on 8 September 1996, against Perugia. At Roma, he played under coach Fabio Capello, who disliked short forwards. During the 1999–2000 season, Montella scored 18 goals, being the top scorer of the giallorossi, playing alongside Marco Delvecchio, in front of advanced playmaker Francesco Totti. The following year, Roma signed the Argentinian forward Gabriel Batistuta from Fiorentina, the tall striker wanted by Capello. There was a slight controversy between the two forwards concerning the number 9 shirt, the prior number of both players – Batistuta ultimately chose number 18, although Batistuta was often the coach's first choice, while Montella was usually deployed as a substitute. Despite his lack of starts, he was one of the main protagonists of Roma's third Scudetto in 2000–01 and scored many important goals for the club, including the equalising goal in a 2–2 away draw in Serie A against eventual runners-up Juventus on 6 May 2001, and Roma's second goal in the 3–1 title-deciding victory over Parma on 17 June, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. The controversies between Capello and Montella continued in the following years, as Montella was unhappy at his lack of first team opportunities, and in March 2002, Montella made his sadness clear, stating: 'I would have better expectations with another coach.' Despite his struggle to gain a starting spot, he became a club idol to the supporters, as he had a knack for performing well in the Rome derby against Lazio, scoring a brace in his first derby in 1999, and four goals in a 5–1 win on 10 March 2002; this four-goal haul is still the record of goals scored in a derby match by a single player. 2003 was a difficult year for Montella, as he divorced from his former wife, Rita, and was plagued with many injuries. During the 2003–04 season, he played only twelve games, but still managed a solid scoring record, scoring six goals despite his limited playing time. During the 2004–05 se

Did You Know?

• Montella's nickname 'Aeroplanino' came from his small stature and his goal celebration where he spread his arms like wings.
• He scored four goals in a 5–1 win over Lazio on 10 March 2002, a record for most goals by a single player in a Rome derby.
• Montella was inducted into the Roma Hall of Fame in 2013.
• He led Turkey to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024 and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their first World Cup appearance since 2002.