Full Name :Gianluca Pagliuca Date Of Birth:December 18, 1966 (age 40) Place of Birth:Bologna, Italy Height:190 cm Position:Goalkeeper National Career:1991-1998 Caps:39 (0)

Gianluca Pagliuca (born December 18, 1966 in Bologna) is an Italian football goalkeeper. He is rated along with Dino Zoff, Walter Zenga, Angelo Peruzzi, Gianluigi Buffon and Francesco Toldo as one of the greatest Italian keepers of the past 30 years.
In his club career, Pagliuca has played for Sampdoria (1987-94), Inter (1994-99), Bologna (1999-2006), and currently plays at Serie A club Ascoli . He won the Cup Winners' Cup and one Scudetto with Sampdoria and the UEFA Cup with Inter, when he captained the side to a 3-0 win over Lazio in 1998. Pagliuca was also in the Sampdoria's team that lost 1-0 to Barcelona in the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley. He was first choice goalkeeper for Italy at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
He became the first goalkeeper to be sent off in a World Cup match, when he was dismissed for handling outside his area against Norway at the 1994 tournament in the USA. However, he returned after suspension to feature from the quarter-finals onwards with his team losing to Brazil in a dramatic penalty shootout in the final. One of the most enduring images from that World Cup came from Pagliuca himself, in the final. After spilling a shot which bounced off a post and back in to his grateful grasp, Pagliuca turned and blew the post a kiss, puffing out his cheeks in relief that the ball hadn't gone in.