51 posts tagged 100 word heroes

The time has come, with the half-century racked up, to draw the series to a close. So I’ll self-indulge one last time with a favourite from a Golden Age of Fiorentina.

He will always be Il Portierone.

Snatched from the clutches of a Milan side with a glut of global superstars, he became a Florentine legend.

He formed the foundation of a side which dazzled in the Champions League and used it as a springboard to an Italy career.

The pinnacle with the Azzurri, undoubtedly, a phenomenal match of penalty-saving magic against Holland at Euro 2000.

When the club collapsed in Florence, he moved on to Inter and enjoyed a second life.

The trophies piled up with the Nerazzurri, often in a bit-part role, but always ready to give his all.

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For those of us of a certain vintage, there will only ever be one Ciccio.

He was the work-horse striker who we sometimes wondered why he got in the team.

And yet, without him, a World Cup might never have been won in 1982.

A famous 1970s Scudetto with Torino was probably his club pinnacle but there were good times with Fiorentina and a couple of Coppa Italia triumphs with Roma too.

As a coach he never scaled anything like the same heights, although he did end up enjoying a resurgence of his fame thanks to a reality television show.

Read the rest of the series here.

Image via Old School Panini

He was the flagship figure for Serie A to millions of UK viewers.

The story of Football Italia’s rise is impossible to recount without him.

In just three years in Rome after signing from Spurs, he packed in more experience and entertainment than most do in a lifetime.

It included controversy, legendary dribbles, injury and a famous goal in a derby clash.

A double act with James Richardson raised the Italian game’s profile in Britain through the roof.

After he left for Rangers, it would never quite hit the same heights.

A symbol of an unforgettable golden age in Calcio.

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Image via Old School Panini

We used to groan every time he stepped onto the pitch for his country.

But he delivered one of the most vital goals in the Azzurri’s history to turn our depression into delight.

A pioneer of Calcio emigration, he tried his luck with Everton, sandwiched between spells at Perugia.

It would be with Inter, however, that he would finally find a long-term home and rack up the honours.

Playing to his strengths, and his opponents’ weaknesses, he was a defensive brute with an eye for goal.

And, to us, much more than the other man in Zinedine Zidane’s statue tribute.

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It seemed like no matter where you hit the ball, he could bring it under control.

With a leap, a flick or an athletic stretch he made the most inaccurate pass look pinpoint precise.

Dreadlocks flowing and dancing across the turf, there was no mistaking Ruud Gullit for anyone else.

Milan were his symphony in Serie A with Sampdoria a scintillating swansong.

A European champion with his country, he racked up a dozen different trophies with the Rossoneri.

His managerial career never scaled the same heights but it should not overshadow memories of playing days of breathtaking skill and style.

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He was gone before I fully fell for Italian football.

And yet his name still echoes to this day on a tragic list with the likes of Meroni, Re Cecconi and Morosini.

To be a Serie A protagonist with a “provinciale” takes something special, and Renato Curi had that gift.

Gutsy, determined and classy his desire to play on a bitter, damp day for “his” Perugia against Juventus would end up costing him his life.

A heart-attack took him, aged just 24.

All that remained was sorrow, and the speculation as to how high he might have scaled the game.

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Image via Storiedicalcio

Sunglasses perched on a balding head, a guru who revolutionised the Italian game surveyed the field.

Fed up with the attacking reluctance and stagnation he felt had asphyxiated Serie A, nothing was quite the same after Arrigo Sacchi.

It was Milan who saw something they liked in his Parma side and furnished the most famous shoe salesman in the game with the material to leather the opposition.

The magical hammerings of Real Madrid and Steaua Bucharest were his club pinnacle.

That could not be repeated with La Nazionale nor ever again but his contribution to the game remains truly enormous.

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In the week of the 45th anniversary of the tragic death of a Toro legend, Gareth Owens (@LosSensitivos) pays tribute.

There are unusual footballers, and there’s Gigi Meroni: mythical winger, painter, enigma and poultry-botherer.

With his ‘revolutionary’ mop of hair and beards, the Granata Butterfly was revered by the Torino faithful for his speed, skills, a legendary goal against Inter, and Devil-may-care off-field antics: you have to love a man who fails to convince a chicken to don a bathing costume in the middle of deeply-conservative Como.

His life cut tragically short in a road accident with an accompanying tale as unconventional as Gigi himself, calcio will probably, and sadly, never see his like again.

Gentlemen, raise your glasses…

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We sang a hymn in his honour to the tune of the summertime hit Vamos A La Playa.

And, in time, we even forgave him his Juventino past.

He took a club which was down on its luck and gave it back the sparkling football and European nights it craved.

All of it carried out with the utmost class.

The passing of his beloved wife was endured with a dignity that only served to swell our intense affection for Il Mister.

And now, when we watch La Nazionale, we are consumed with feelings of fondness, nostalgia and regret. Grande Cesare.

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If you don’t agree with this one, blame Enzo Giordani! (@EnzoGiordani).

Rodrigo Taddei is my kind of footballer. Underdog, survivor, Mr Dependable – the little yellow red Taddei that could.

Kind of goofy, all arms and legs, he’s undervalued by fans but never by managers. Capable of playing everywhere and doing everything, he always slots in where he’s told without a peep of complaint.

And when fans groan the most, he finds his best.

When he scores, he pumps his heart under his shirt, appropriate because he’s a player who is all ticker. Totti may be the heart of Roma, but Taddei is still one of the veins the blood pumps through.

Read the rest of the series here.