When Andrea Anastasi played for the Italian Junior National Team, his trainer called him "Dwarf" because of his 181-cm frame was overshadowed by a team of giants.
Over the years the "Dwarf" has grown. First into a well-respected and successful international player, and then as a well-respected and successful Head Coach.
Anastasi had a long career as a player. As a part of the Italian National Team he played 141 matches (his first was February 8, 1981, against All Stars).
He won the FIVB World Championship in 1990, the European Championship in 1989 and the FIVB World League in 1990, ending his career as a National Team player in Athens in 1991 when he won the Mediterranean Games.
In 1994, he started his training career in the Italian Championship, Serie A2, with the Bipop Brescia Team. From 1995 to 1999, he coached the Gabeca Montichiari Club.
He first began training the Italian team in the 1999 World League.
His first season as Head Coach was a triumph: first place in the World League, first place in the European Championships and third place in the FIVB World Cup in Japan.
In 2000, his second season as Italian National Team trainer, he won the World League in Rotterdam and the bronze medal at the Sydney Games.
The year 2001 was a significant one for Anastasi with two silver medals, the first in the World League the next in the European Championship in Ostrava.
He then quit his Italian job in 2002, after the National Team finished fifth in the Argentina World Championships.
From 2006 to 2007 he coached the Spanish National Team, leading them to European Championship glory in Moscow in 2007.
On October 16, 2007, the Italian Volleyball Federation called him back to coach the Men's Italian Team and he is set to work with them until the 2010 World Championships.
Anastasi was born in Poggiorusco, a province of Mantova, on October 9, 1960. He is married and he has two children.