Back in the 1990s, Parma had some of the best players in the world in their ranks. Some would go on to be World Cup winners whilst others would go on to have success at other clubs in Italy and around the world.
In the 1998/1998 season, Parma had an outstanding campaign, picking up two trophies and finishing 4th in a highly competitive Serie A. Not only did they have one of the best seasons, but also they took Europe by storm winning the UEFA Cup. But whatever happened to the side?
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Here is the starting XI from that victory over Marseille that day, and what they got up to later in their careers.
Gianluigi Buffon
One of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, Gianluigi Buffon made his name as a young goalkeeper at Parma. Heralded as a great talent, the Italian showed maturity beyond his years. Buffon spent his entire youth career with Parma and made his debut against a fierce AC Milan side as a 17-year-old and he even managed to keep a clean sheet.
The goalkeeper was at Parma from 1991 to 2001, making 168 appearances in Serie A and came away with this UEFA Cup, the Italian SuperCup and the Coppa Italia.
He then joined Italian giants Juventus for a world-record fee for a goalkeeper and has remained at the club ever since including a year in Serie A after the club was relegated following the Calciopoli scandal. At the age of 39, Buffon is bidding to win his first ever Champions League and is on the verge of winning six straight Scudetti with the Old Lady. The veteran is also considered as one of the greatest goalkeepers to have ever played the game.
Lillian Thuram
At 25, Lillian Thuram had established himself as one of Europe’s top defenders, and winning the UEFA Cup with Parma further established himself as one of the best. In and around the same time, Thuram was part of the France squads who won the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championships.
It wasn’t long until an elite club came in for the Frenchman, and when he moved over to Juventus in 2001. However, he did leave Turin in 2006 following the Calciopoli scandal and found a new home at Barcelona, where he played out the rest of his career before retiring in 2008. In 2010, Thuram became a UNICEF ambassador and has stood out for his attempts to stop racism in football.
Roberto Sensini
Argentinian Sensini arrived at Parma with a huge reputation of being a serial winner, and clearly, his experience in big games came good for this Parma side. In addition to his experience in the Serie A with Udinese, the veteran was a regular for the Argentine national team and he helped mould Parma into a dominant unit as well.
Following the UEFA Cup win, Sensini joined Lazio and won the Scudetto, the UEFA Super Cup and the Coppa Italia in his first season at the club. However, he was back at Parma the following season before rounding off his career at Udinese.
He has since then pursued a career in management. His most recent job was at Argentinian outfit Atletico de Rafaela in 2015 but has been out of work ever since.
Fabio Cannavaro
Generally considered one of the greatest defenders of all time, Fabio Cannavaro has had a career where he has won nearly everything including leading the Azzurri to the World Cup in 2006. Starting out at Napoli, Cannavaro made his name at Parma, playing 212 games for the club. He would then go on to enjoy a storied career that involved stints with Intern Milan, Juventus and Real Madrid.
After retiring in 2011 at Al-Ahli, Cannavaro took up management in China – currently working as the manager of Tianjin Quanjian.
Dino Baggio
Despite sharing the same name and nationality, Dino Baggio is NOT related to Roberto Baggio, but did have a fairly successful career in Serie A and internationally. Baggio came through the Torino youth academy and eventually found his way to Parma via the Torina first team, Inter and Juventus. Juventus were, in fact, so keen to keep Baggio that they offered Parma a young attacker called Alessandro Del Piero instead (I wonder what happened to him).
Baggio, however, soon left Parma after this UEFA Cup final and joined Lazio alongside fellow Parma star Roberto Sensini before spending time out of loan at Blackburn Rovers, Ancona and ending his career at Tombolo. He is currently enjoying his retirement and occasionally spends time with his non-brother Roberto Baggio.
Alain Boghossian
Frenchman Boghossian was at Parma in the twilight of his career, but that didn’t stop him having a good spell with the Italian club. Coming through at Marseille, Boghossian played for some big clubs before joining Parma, although he very rarely settled for a long stay at a club.
He had spent time with Marseille, Napoli and Sampdoria before his move to Parma, and after four years with Parma, Boghossian left to join Espanyol in Spain. The Frenchman was assistant manager of the French national side for a number of years, but when Didier Deschamps took over, he was moved upstairs to become a technical director.
Diego Fuser
The right-winger had been around the block for about a decade before he arrived at Parma and brought with him bags of experience both in terms of playing at the highest level as well as winning trophies. Fuser spent two spells at Milan with time at Fiorentina sandwiched in between. He then went on to make 188 appearances for Lazio before joining up with Parma for a three-year spell.
Following his retirement in 2012, he has been out of the limelight.
Juan Sebastian Veron
One of the most gifted midfielders of the 90s, Veron grabbed everyone’s attention at Sampdoria, but really stood out on his own in this Parma side. It wasn’t too long after this UEFA Cup final that Lazio snapped him up and he eventually made his way to Manchester United, Chelsea and the back to Italy – this time with Inter.
Despite being widely seen by many in England as one of the worst signings in Premier League history, Veron will be remembered as one of the best Argentine midfielders in modern times. He has recently come out of retirement to play for Estudiantes, but it doesn’t look like a full-time deal.
Paolo Vanoli
A relative journeyman in Italian football, Vanoli was a steady player for multiple teams across the divisions, playing for five sides including Venezia and Verona before finding his home in Parma, albeit it for two years.
When Vanoli moved on from Parma in 2000, he spent time with Fiorentina, Bologna and most notably with Rangers between 2003 and 2004. He has kept a low profile since his retirement and was last seen playing in Greece with lower division side Akratitos FC. In terms of coaching, Paolo Vanoli was in charge of the Italian Under-19 squad and is regarded as a very good coach for youth.
Hernan Crespo
One of the deadliest strikers Argentina has ever produced, Hernan Crespo can claim to be a legend at multiple Italian clubs including Lazio, Parma and both the Milan clubs. He arrived at Parma from River Plate in 1996 and left to join Lazio in 2000 after leading them to UEFA Cup glory. After scoring just under 200 league career goals in 453 games, Crespo can look back at his career with glee after winning a number of trophies at some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
Crespo eventually ended his career back at Parma and even took over their primavera side but when the club folded, Crespo took over at Modena where he was sacked on March 26th, 2017.
Enrico Chiesa
Chiesa was signed by Parma back in 1996 and scored 14 Serie A goals as they finished 2nd behind Juventus, and that goes to show how important Enrico Chiesa was to this team. Chiesa had spent time at a number of other Italian clubs before his spell at Parma, including time with Modena and three spells with Sampdoria. The Italian managed to hit the back of the net 33 times in 92 games for Parma before joining Fiorentina and Lazio (like most of this Parma side).
After his retirement, Chiesa was announced as head coach at lowly Figline for the 2010-2011 season, but after the club was excluded from the Italian leagues, it left Chiesa without a job. His son Federico is currently starring at Fiorentina, much like his father.
