A.C. Mantova

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Mantova

Full name

Associazione Calcio Mantova
SRL

Nickname(s)

Virgiliani (Virgilians),
ACM

Founded

1911

Ground

Stadio Danilo Martelli,
Mantua, Italy
(Capacity 14,884)

Chairman

Manager

League

Serie B, 8th





Home colours





Away colours

Associazione Calcio Mantova is an Italian football club, based in Mantua, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1911. AC Mantova played the 2005-06 season in Serie B, after having been promoted from Serie C1 thanks to play-offs won in a double final match against A.C. Pavia (3-0, 3-1; 6-1 on aggregate).

Mantova played in Serie A for 7 seasons (1961/62 - 1964/65, 1966/67 - 1967/68, 1971/72), being nicknamed in its initial period as Little Brazil (Piccolo Brasile). The third team shirt, green and yellow, actually remembers that period, by far the best one in the team history. Mantova also played for 8 seasons in Serie B, and won it in 1970/71.

Mantova was cancelled two times from the Italian football panorama, in 1983 and 1994, both times because of insolvency.

Former famous players include Dino Zoff, Angelo Sormani, Roberto Boninsegna and Karl-Heinz Schnellinger.

Mantova begun the 2005/06 Serie B football campaign introducing itself as a strong potential candidate for promotion to Serie A, despite its lack of players experienced with these levels (almost the same squad which promoted to Serie B the previous season) and a coach, Domenico Di Carlo, on just his second year as first team football trainer. The team led the Serie B table for a long part of the season, gaining a unexpected interest by the media. However, Mantova was not able to maintain the head of the league in the end, and the team concluded its season in fourth place, gaining a spot in the promotion playoffs. Successively, AC Mantova won its playoff semifinal against Modena F.C. after two ties (0-0, 1-1), being qualified thanks to its best placement in the regular season. The first playoff final, against Torino, saw Mantova winning at home 4-2. However, Mantova was not able to maintain this advantage in the return match, lost 3-1 in Turin after extra time, which allowed Torino FC to be promoted in Serie A because of a better placement in the regular season.

During the 2006-07 season, they became the first team to beat Juventus F.C., La Vecchia Signora, in a Serie B match. They ended the season in eighth place, confirming themselves in the top side of the league table. Following Di Carlo's resignations, Mantova appointed Attilio Tesser as new head coach for their 2007-08 Serie B campaign. As part of an ambitious summer transfer market, Mantova signed on 23 August 2007 the former Italian international Stefano Fiore.

1 Current first team squad
- 1.1 Confirmed 2007-08 summer signings
2 Notable former players
3 Notable former coaches
4 Titles
5 References
6 External links

As of August 28, 2007^[1]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Mirko Bellodi
2	DF	Simone Calori
3	DF	Iacopo Balestri
4	MF	Manuel Spinale
5	DF	Mattia Notari
6	DF	Luca Franchini
7	FW	Cristian Altinier
8	MF	Stefano Mondini
9	FW	Giorgio Corona
10	MF	Gaetano Caridi
11	DF	Alessandro Doga
14	MF	Claudio Grauso
16	GK	Gianluca Pegolo

No.	Position	Player
17	MF	Stefano Fiore
18	MF	Giorgio Lucenti
21	DF	Federico Rizzi
22	MF	Fabrizio Avanzini
23	DF	Valerio Di Cesare
28	MF	Dario Passoni
31	GK	Jasmin Handanovič
32	FW	Alessandro Noselli
33	MF	Emiliano Tarana
55	DF	Filippo Cristante
72	DF	Stefano Sacchetti
99	FW	Denis Godeas
---	FW	Pierre Pluchino

Not including loan returns

–	DF	Simone Calori (from Pisa)^[2]
–	GK	Jasmin Handanovič (from Koper)^[2]
–	MF	Dario Passoni (from Livorno)^[2]
–	MF	Stefano Mondini (from Pistoiese, co-ownership resolution)^[3]
–	FW	Giorgio Corona (from Catania)^[2]
–	DF	Iacopo Balestri (from Torino)^[2]
–	MF	Giorgio Lucenti (from Catania)^[2]
–	MF	Stefano Fiore (from Valencia CF)^[2]
–	GK	Gianluca Pegolo (from Genoa, on loan)^[2]
–	FW	Pierre Pluchino (from Caracas F.C, on loan)^[2]