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Edoardo "Edy" Reja (born on October 10, 1945 in Lucinico, Gorizia) is an Italian football coach and former player of Slovene[1] origin. He is the current manager of the Croatian First Division football club Hajduk Split
[edit] Career[edit] PlayerReja started his career with the youth team of SPAL, playing in midfield alongside lifelong friend Fabio Capello. Together, they helped the team to the 1963-64 Italian Youth Championship. In 1965-66, Reja joined Capello in Serie A with the first team and also the Italian Under 23 side. Reja played for two more teams, U.S. Città di Palermo and Alessandria in a long career that lasted until 1975, playing a total of 124 Serie A matches.[2] [edit] CoachReja started his coaching career in 1979 serving as boss of Serie D team Molinella. Next year he then coached Monselice of Serie C2. In 1989 he coached his first Serie B team, Pescara, of which he was previously the youth squad boss. He successively gained good successes in the same league with Cosenza, Lecce and Brescia, where he won the championship; however, he opted to give up the opportunity to coach Brescia in Serie A, preferring to accept an offer from Torino, another Serie B team, where he then missed promotion being defeated on the promotion playoffs to Perugia after penalty shootouts. During the 1998-1999 season, he was appointed coach of Serie A club Vicenza, thus making his debut in a top division team, but was unable to save the team from relegation. Next year he remained at Vicenza and led his team back to Serie A, but promptly relegated one more time on 2001. In 2001-2002, he replaced Franco Scoglio at the helm of Genoa (Serie B), but to be fired himself only three months later. On 2002-2003, he was appointed in the mid-season by Catania boss Luciano Gaucci to replace John Toshack. On November 2003, he replaced Giampiero Ventura at Cagliari and guided the rossoblu to second place in the Serie B and promotion to Serie A, but was not confirmed. From January 2005, he is Napoli's boss, appointed at Giampiero Ventura's place (who was curiously replaced by Reja the previous year in Cagliari). He led Napoli to win Serie C1 and obtaining promotion to Serie B on 2006, and promptly guided his team to a second consecutive promotion to Serie A in 2007, which meant the Serie A comeback for Napoli since 2001. In his first Serie A campaign with Napoli, Reja guided the azzurri to a 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup spot, also defeating Inter in the first of their only three losses in the whole league. He was confirmed at the helm of Napoli for the 2008–09 season. In the season start, Napoli were defeated by S.L. Benfica in the first round of the UEFA Cup, but managed to rise up to first place in the Serie A table also thanks to impressive wins against Fiorentina and Juventus, easily increasing fans' interest and support for the Neapolitan side. However, results quickly deteriorated in the second half of the season, with Napoli losing contact with the European Cup spots, with Reja being ultimately sacked on March 10, 2009 after a 0–2 home loss to S.S. Lazio on Week 27, closing abruptly a five-year spell with the azzurri. He was replaced by former Italian team boss Roberto Donadoni.[3] Reja was appointed coach of Croatian side Hajduk Split on 18 August 2009. [4] [edit] PersonalMarried to Livia in 1969, he met his wife while rooming with Fabio Capello in Ferrara. Livia was close friends with Cappello's future wife Laura but the romance only started when he discovered the guy he assumed was her boyfriend was actually her twin brother. [edit] References
Categories: 1945 births | Living people | Italian footballers | Italian football managers | Football (soccer) midfielders | Serie A footballers | U.S. Città di Palermo players | Spal 1907 players | Treviso F.B.C. 1993 managers | Pescara Calcio managers | Hellas Verona F.C. managers | Bologna F.C. 1909 managers | U.S. Lecce managers | Brescia Calcio managers | Torino F.C. managers | Vicenza Calcio managers | Genoa C.F.C. managers | Calcio Catania managers | Cagliari Calcio managers | S.S.C. Napoli managers | HNK Hajduk Split managers | People from Friuli-Venezia Giulia | People from Gorizia | U.S. Alessandria Calcio 1912 players | Italians of Slovene descent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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