Marco Simone

Marco Simone (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko siˈmoːne]; born 7 January 1969) is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a striker or winger, and a current manager.

Marco Simone
Personal information
Full name Marco Simone
Date of birth (1969-01-07) 7 January 1969
Place of birth Castellanza, Italy
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Striker, winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1989 Como 36 (6)
1987–1988 → Virescit (loan) 33 (15)
1989–1997 Milan 168 (49)
1997–1999 Paris Saint-Germain 59 (22)
1999–2001 Monaco 69 (28)
2001–2002 Milan 9 (0)
2002–2003 Monaco 5 (0)
2004 Nice 7 (0)
2005–2006 Legnano 1 (0)
Total 387 (120)
National team
1988–1990 Italy U21 16 (7)
1992–1996 Italy 4 (0)
Teams managed
2011–2012 Monaco
2014–2015 Lausanne-Sport
2015–2016 Tours
2016–2017 Laval
2017–2018 Club Africain
2019 Ratchaburi Mitr Phol
2019 SCC Mohammédia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He most prominently played for A.C. Milan, with whom he won four Serie A championships and two UEFA Champions League titles, as well as in France's Ligue 1 for Paris Saint-Germain and AS Monaco. At international level, Simone played four games for the Italian national team.

As a manager, Simone led Monaco, Tours and Laval in Ligue 2. He also had brief spells in Switzerland, Tunisia, Thailand and Morocco.

Playing career

Early career

Simone was born in Castellanza. He debuted in Serie A for Como on 11 January 1987. After a few appearances in the top-flight Serie A, he was put on loan at Virescit Boccaleone in the secondary Serie C1 league. He scored 15 goals for Virescit in the 1987–88 season, and finished as top scorer of the Serie C1 league.[1]

He returned to Como for the 1988–89 Serie A season, in which he scored 6 goals. Como finished dead last in the tournament, and was relegated to Serie B.

Milan

In the summer of 1989, Simone was brought into the squad of third-place finishers A.C. Milan by manager Arrigo Sacchi. His stay at Milan would be long and successful, as he won the 1990 European Cup under manager Sacchi, as well as four Serie A titles in five years from 1992 to 1996 and the 1994 UEFA Champions League under the management of Fabio Capello.[1][2]

His best season for Milan came during the 1994–95 Serie A season, where he scored 17 goals in 30 games, as well as 4 in the Champions League, for a total of 21 goals in all competitions, as Milan reached the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final, only to be defeated by Ajax. He also managed 11 goals in all competitions during the 1995–96 season, 8 of which came in Serie A, finishing as the club's second highest goalscorer behind George Weah as Milan won the Serie A title. Despite competing for the attacking spots at Milan with the three FIFA World Player of the Year award winners Marco van Basten (1992), Roberto Baggio (1993) and George Weah (1995) (as well as the presence of Ruud Gullit, Dejan Savićević, Daniele Massaro, Paolo Di Canio, Jean-Pierre Papin, Christophe Dugarry, and Brian Laudrup), he scored a total of 74 goals in 245 games in all competitions for Milan.[1][3]

International debut

During his time with Milan, Simone also made his senior debut for the Italian national team on 19 December 1992, under then national team manager Arrigo Sacchi, in a 2–1 away win in a 1994 World Cup qualifier against Malta. He would go on to play four games in total for the national team between 1992 and 1996, but did not score any goals for Italy.[1][4]

Later career in France, Monaco and return to Italy

In 1997, Simone moved abroad to play for French club Paris Saint-Germain, with whom he won both domestic cups in his first season. He scored in both the Coupe de la Ligue final and the Coupe de France final against Bordeaux and Lens respectively.[5][6] He transferred to AS Monaco in 1999. He scored 21 goals and made 15 assists in 34 games during the 1999–2000 season, and helped Monaco win the Ligue 1 championship in 2000. He returned to Milan for parts of the 2001–02 Serie A season, scoring his last goal with the Rossoneri in Coppa Italia against Lazio in 2002. He returned to Monaco, but rarely played during the 2002–03 Ligue 1 season.[1]

Following an unsuccessful season playing for OGC Nice, he retired from football in 2004, at the age of 35. He made a short come-back as he played a single game for Serie C2 club Legnano in 2005.[1]

Style of play

Simone was a diminutive forward, gifted with pace, good movement, an eye for goal, and excellent technique. He was capable of playing in several attacking positions, and was best used as a second striker, due to his small stature and slender physical build, although he was also capable of playing in a central role as a main striker, or even as a winger.[1][7][8]

Managerial career

On 12 September 2011, Simone got his first managerial job at former club Monaco, succeeding Laurent Banide at a club 17th in Ligue 2.[9] He was fired at the end of the season with the club having finished 8th and not met their aim of instant promotion, despite the investment of billionaire new owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.[10]

Simone became Technical Director at FC Lausanne-Sport of the Swiss Challenge League in November 2013, and 11 months later he replaced Francesco Gabriele as manager.[11] He was sacked on 24 March 2015 with the team in seventh having earned one point from six games in the calendar year.[12]

On 25 June 2015, Simone returned to France's second tier with Tours FC.[13] He finished the season in 9th, and quit despite having a year left on his contract, due to disputes with the board.[14]

Still in the same league, Simone was hired at 18th-placed Stade Lavallois on 8 November 2016.[15] The following 11 April he was dismissed, with the team in last position.[16]

In July 2017, Simone joined Club Africain in Tunisia.[17] Four months into a two-year contract, he quit the 12th-placed club.[18] Through FIFA, he sued the club for the remainder of his salary, and won €630,000 in July 2019.[19] In April 2018 he was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job.[20]

Simone became manager of the Thai Premier League's Ratchaburi Mitr Phol F.C. on 25 March 2019.[21] He left in July, with a record of eight wins from 18 games, as he said he had an offer from a European club.[22] He instead joined SCC Mohammédia in Morocco's Botola 2.[23] Within another four months, he was dismissed despite the team leading the league, and refused a backroom job with the club.[24]

Career statistics

Club
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Milan1989-90Serie A211315132*13
1990–911446220226
1991–921574100198
1992–931354084259
1993–94253107234*26*2
1994–953017309445*321
1995–9627831513510
1996–97234326433*410
Total 16849277421624573
PSG1997–98Division 12813326441*522*5
1998–99319102137*610
Total 592242857832
Monaco1999–2000Division 13421217645*728
2000–01307106643*816*8
2001–0250000050
Total 69283113129344
Milan2001–02Serie A903130151
Total Milan 17749308451626074
Monaco2002–03Ligue 150000050
Total Monaco 74283113129844
Career Total 3109937116633436150

International

Source:[4]

Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
199210
199300
199400
199520
199610
Total40

Honours

Club

A.C. Milan[2]

Paris Saint-Germain[26]

A.S. Monaco[26]

Individual

References
  1. "Marco Simone" (in Italian). Maglia Rossonera. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  2. "A.C. Milan Hall of Fame: Marco Simone". acmilan.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  3. (in Danish) Marco Simone Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine at ACMilan.dk
  4. "Nazionale in cifre: Simone, Marco" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  5. "PSG – Bordeaux 2-2 (4-2 tab), 04/04/98, Coupe de la Ligue 97-98". archivesparisfootball.wordpress.com. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  6. "PSG – Lens 2-1, 02/05/98, Coupe de France 97-98". archivesparisfootball.wordpress.com. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  7. "L'uomo in più" (in Italian). MilanNews.it. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  8. "Simone appointed at Tours". Football Italia. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  9. "Simone entraîneur de Monaco" [Simone Monaco manager] (in French). BFM TV. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  10. "Monaco fire Simone after second tier flop". FourFourTwo. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  11. "Simone appointed at Lausanne". Football Italia. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  12. "Marco Simone remercié à Lausanne, Celestini nouvel entraîneur" [Marco Simone sacked at Lausanne, Celestini new manager] (in French). RTBF. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  13. "Simone appointed at Tours". Football Italia. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  14. Conte, Pierre-Alexandre (14 May 2016). "Marco Simone quitte son poste d'entraîneur du Tours FC" [Marco Simone leaves his position as manager of Tours FC] (in French). Eurosport. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  15. "Ligue 2. Marco Simone nouvel entraîneur de Laval" [Ligue 2. Marco Simone new manager of Laval]. Le Télégramme (in French). 8 November 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  16. "Laval : Marco Simone limogé" [Laval: Marco Simone sacked]. Eurosport. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  17. "Club Africain appoint AC Milan legend Marco Simone". ESPN FC. 16 July 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  18. "Club africain : Séparation à l'amiable avec Marco Simone" [Club Africain: Mutual separation with Marco Simone] (in French). Kapitalis. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  19. "Marco Simone gagne son litige avec le Club Africain" [Marco Simone wins his lawsuit against Club Africain] (in French). So Foot. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  20. Oluwashina Okeleji (23 April 2018). "77 applicants for vacant Cameroon coaching position". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  21. "Football: Milan great Simone signs on as Ratchaburi manager in trigger-happy Thailand". Straits Times. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  22. Chittinand, Tor (16 July 2019). "Simone says he left on his own volition". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  23. Bounouar, Jalal (24 July 2019). "Former Milan player Marco Simone will coach in Morocco's second tier". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  24. Jaquin, Alexandre (11 November 2019). "Maroc: en tête de la D2, Marco Simone est écarté par le Chabab Mohammedia" [Morocco: at the top of second division, Marco Simone is sacked by Chabab Mohammedia] (in French). BFM TV. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  25. From the 1992–93 season, the European Cup changed its structure and was renamed the UEFA Champions League.
  26. "Marco Simone". Eurosport. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  27. "Lens – PSG 0-1, 30/07/98, Trophée des Champions 98-99". archivesparisfootball.wordpress.com. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  28. "AS Monaco FC 0:0 (6 : 5 P) FC Nantes Atlantique". globalsportsarchive.com. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  29. "Palmarès Trophées UNFP - Oscars du football - Meilleur joueur de Ligue 1" (in French). www.sportpalmares.eu. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  30. Stabile, Adriano (9 July 2018). "Calciomercato, i 10 migliori calciatori italiani in Francia" (in Italian). GQ Italia. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  31. "Marco Simone" (in French). France Football. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Raí		 Paris Saint-Germain captain
1998–1999		 Succeeded by
Éric Rabésandratana
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