With a brilliant career Gianluca Cugini has managed to merge his passion for football, sharks and travel, a unique combination that is leaving a footprint from Italy to not only the world of sports but the world.
This mixture of skills and through the progress of time, it has led Cugini to make world history and possibly making him the statistical goat of all time.
Since his youth he was known for his unique competition, where he came to participate in youth soccer tournaments. Gaining great experience and over the years it encouraged him to obtain statistical skills in the sport.
Which game do you remember the most from your career and why?
Gianluca: As a “grown-up” certainly the 1st World Cup as a football statistician, but an unforgettable memory is that as a child with my football team we won all the games, a truly incredible record! But in the end we lost a final in a really daring way. That final marked my entire career forever. Thereafter, I was in search of the perfect final! Soccer and Statistics will always remain my greatest passion!
Cugini, with his knowledge, has covered major world-class events with renowned companies such as DATASPORT of Milan, a company that provides services for sporting events around the world, from 1987 to 2002, later he joined the International Federation of History and Statistics of Football (IFFHS).
In his career as a statistician of this great sport of soccer, he has participated in hundreds of games such as, FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup Clubs, Champions League, National Team, Italy – Serie A, and Italian Cup.
For Gianluca, it stands out that one of his greatest satisfactions was the FIFA World Cup with Azzurri, the national team of his native country, as well as the FIFA World Cup and UEFA Champions League Clubs.
Cugini was appointed head of the Italian division IFFHS from 2002 to 2012. He served as a member of the World Executive Board of the IFFHS between 2012 and 2013, being the first Italian in football history. From 2014 to 2018, he has worked as a marketing consultant for the IFFHS for Italy in the football category.
In addition to continuing to grow as a sports communicator, Gianluca is passionate about travel, where he has visited more than 125 countries around the world. This is how Gianluca began an interest towards the Blue Sharks, which has led him to study, investigate and take statistics in a calculated way about these marine fish.
Gianluca also researches the statistics of these Blue Sharks which are found in temperate and tropical climates. His passion for sharks grew strongly after he saw the documentary, Men and Sharks by Bruno Vailati, a work of heavy impact to him personally and many others during that time.
Gianluca explained,
“When I was a kid, I had a friend who had a boat and I always traveled with him, and when I saw them (the Blue Sharks) it was love at first sight.”
-Gianluca Cugini
Gianluca further developed his interest in Blue Sharks when he met Dr. Alessandro de Maddalena, one of the world’s most well-known shark experts and the creator of the first Shark Museum in South Africa.
What else is left to do for Gianluca?
Gianluca: I had plans before this cursed pandemic but now my greatest aspiration is for the whole globe to return to normal.
What would be your message to people who want to follow your footsteps in the world of sports?
Gianluca: Sport is the most beautiful thing in the world. I have dedicated my whole life to it and it has allowed me to realize all my dreams or almost. Love it!
He adds,
“I close with a greeting to a sports legend, Tom Brady! What a historic career. You have been a source of inspiration for all of us! What a privilege to have admired an athlete like you.”
-Gianluca Cugini
Behind this great story there’s Gianluca Cugini, the Italian who never stopped making his passion for sports, statistics and love for marine wildlife. Aside from transcending in a world where many try to be present and only a few accomplish it, we get to see Cugini be successful in the sports environment.
Thank you Gianluca Cugini for allowing me to share with my readers about this wonderful world where you have managed to combine your passion for three different activities and become a successful statistician.
