The biggest underdogs in football history? The German who collected second places or the Italian who was not helped to the trophy even by the big clubs

In football, it’s all about the titles won. Despite how many different competitions are played all over the world and in different countries, there are football players who have never lifted a single team trophy in their entire career. Among the biggest underdogs are Bernd Schneider and Luigi di Biagio.

Bernd Schneider

If you think you have some sort of curse in your life so far, or even bad luck stuck on your heels, the German footballer will convince you that it can be far worse. Schneider has primarily linked his career with Carl Zeiss Jena, who currently play in the 3. Bundesliga.

In 1998, he went to Frankfurt for one season and after one season he moved from Frankfurt to Bayer Leverkusen, where he also ended his career in 2009. The German midfielder managed to finish second twice with his team in the Bundesliga. Twice he even lost the German Cup final. To make matters worse, he also came second in the Champions League.

But the list of second places does not end there. He played an impressive 81 games for the German national team. Even with the national team he finished second, specifically at the 2006 World Cup, the home championship for Germany.

Luigi di Biagio

The second underdog in football history is Italian defensive midfielder Luigi di Biagio. He has been through the biggest Italian teams in his career, playing for Inter Milan, Lazio and AS Roma, but he has not added a trophy at any of the aforementioned clubs. He even notched up over 30 national team starts at a time when Italy, along with France and Brazil, ruled the footballing world.

The closest he came to a trophy was clearly in 2000. Before the season, he transferred from AS Roma to Inter Milan, with whom he reached the final of the Italian Cup. However, the final did not go as expected and Inter went out defeated. The same happened to the team from San Siro a few months later when they lost the Italian Super Cup.

In between these two finals, the Italian national team managed to advance to the very final of the EURO 2000 championship, where they faced the favoured France. Italy were seconds away from victory, but in the 4th minute of the second half Wiltord equalised. In extra time, David Trezeguet scored a golden goal to decide the game.

To make matters worse, the Italian midfielder managed to lose several times in the Champions League and UEFA Cup semi-finals. In the 2002/03 season, still in Inter colours, he finished second in Serie A. The question to ask, then, is whether it was Luigi di Baigio or Germany’s Bernd Schneider who had a more unlucky career.

Source: Serie A, Bundesliga, UEFA