 De Sisti in 1969 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1943-03-13)13 March 1943 (age 82) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rome,Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1965 | Roma | 87 | (13) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1965–1974 | Fiorentina | 256 | (28) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1979 | Roma | 135 | (9) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 478 | (50) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1967–1972 | Italy | 29 | (4) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1981–1985 | Fiorentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1987 | Udinese | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1991–1992 | Ascoli | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Giancarlo De Sisti (Italian pronunciation:[dʒaŋˈkarlodeˈsisti]; born 13 March 1943) is aretired Italianfootballer andfootball manager andmidfielder player.
Best known by his nicknamePicchio, during his club career, De Sisti played for his hometown clubA.S. Roma on two occasions (1960–65, 1974–79), andACF Fiorentina (1965–74), winning several domestic and international titles with both clubs. He made his debut inSerie A with Roma in a 2–1 away defeat toUdinese, on 12 February 1961, in which he observed the team's star player and mentorJuan Alberto Schiaffino during his first spell at the club. He enjoyed his most successful period with Fiorentina, which included a league title in1969, the club's second overall, before returning to Roma in 1974. He won theCoppa Italia with both clubs, in 1964 and 1966.[1][2]
Internationally, De Sisti earned 29 caps and scored 4 goals for theItaly national football team between 1967 and 1972, making his debut on 1 November 1967, in a 5–0 home win overCyprus in aUEFA Euro 1968 qualifying match. He later played in the European championship-winning team atEuro 1968 on home soil, appearing in the 2–0final replay victory overYugoslavia in Rome, at the age of 25. He was also a member of the Italian side that finished runners-up at the1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.[2][3]
Following his retirement, De Sisti pursued a coaching career, achieving his coaching badges in 1980, and becoming head coach of his former clubFiorentina later that year, narrowly missing out on the league title to rivalsJuventus in1982.He was forced to leave his job in 1985 after being diagnosed withbrain abscess.[2][4]He returned to football withUdinese later that year, for two seasons, and then entered into theItalian Football Federation as head coach of the ItalianJuniores (1988–90) and Military squads (1990–91), winning a Military World Championship with the Italian Military side in 1991.[2][4] He made a return to club football later that year, withAscoli, being successively sacked in January 1992.[2][4]
In March 2003 – after over a decade of inactivity – De Sisti returned into coaching, joiningLazio asyouth team coach.[2][4] He left the job only a few months later, following the appointment ofRoberto Mancini as new head coach of thebiancazzurri.[5]
A creative and technically gifteddeep-lying playmakingmidfielder, who is regarded as one of Italy's and Roma's greatest ever playmakers, De Sisti was known for his simple yet efficient style of play; this involved him constantly looking for spaces, playing many short and accurate passes on the ground, and taking very few touches of the ball, in order to retain possession, reduce the chance of errors, and set his team's tempo. He was known for his composure under pressure and his consistency, and rarely misplaced passes or lost possession. He was also gifted with excellent vision and long passing ability, which allowed him to create goalscoring opportunities and play accurate lobbed passes and through-balls to team-mates.[1][2][6]
On 3 July 1968, De Sisti founded theItalian Footballers' Association (AIC), inMilan, along with several fellow footballers, such asGiacomo Bulgarelli,Sandro Mazzola,Ernesto Castano,Gianni Rivera, andGiacomo Losi, as well as the recently retiredSergio Campana, also a lawyer, who was appointed president of the association.[7]
De Sisti also later worked as a television and radio football pundit.[2]
| Season | Team | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tournament | Apps | Goals | Tournament | Apps | Goals | Tournament | Apps | Goals | Tournament | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| 1960–61 | A.S. Roma | A | 2 | 0 | CI | 1 | 1 | CdF | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 4 | 1 |
| 1961–62 | A | 11 | 1 | CI | 1 | 0 | CdF | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 13 | 1 | |
| 1962–63 | A | 18 | 2 | CI | 0 | 0 | CdF | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | 23 | 3 | |
| 1963–64 | A | 28 | 7 | CI | 4 | 0 | CdF | 4 | 2 | CdA | 1 | 0 | 37 | 9 | |
| 1964–65 | A | 28 | 3 | CI | 1 | 1 | CdF | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | 34 | 5 | |
| 1965–66 | Fiorentina | A | 34 | 5 | CI | 6 | 0 | CdF | 3 | 1 | CM | 2 | 0 | 45 | 6 |
| 1966–67 | A | 30 | 6 | CI | 1 | 0 | CdC | 2 | 1 | CM | 4 | 0 | 37 | 7 | |
| 1967–68 | A | 30 | 6 | CI | 2 | 0 | CdF | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | 36 | 7 | |
| 1968–69 | A | 30 | 2 | CI | 3 | 0 | CdF | 6 | 0 | - | - | - | 39 | 2 | |
| 1969–70 | A | 27 | 2 | CI | 6 | 1 | CC | 6 | 0 | - | - | - | 39 | 3 | |
| 1970–71 | A | 29 | 3 | CI | 11 | 3 | CdF | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | 44 | 6 | |
| 1971–72 | A | 29 | 1 | CI | 10 | 2 | - | - | - | CM | 6 | 0 | 45 | 3 | |
| 1972–73 | A | 27 | 1 | CI | 4 | 2 | CU | 1 | 0 | CA-I | 7 | 1 | 39 | 4 | |
| 1973–74 | A | 19 | 2 | CI | 3 | 1 | CU | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 24 | 3 | |
| Totale Fiorentina | 256 | 28 | 46 | 9 | 22 | 3 | 19 | 1 | 348 | 41 | |||||
| 1974–75 | A.S. Roma | A | 29 | 5 | CI | 10 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 39 | 5 |
| 1975–76 | A | 28 | 2 | CI | 4 | 0 | CU | 6 | 0 | - | - | - | 38 | 2 | |
| 1976–77 | A | 28 | 2 | CI | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 32 | 3 | |
| 1977–78 | A | 25 | 0 | CI | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 29 | 0 | |
| 1978–79 | A | 25 | 0 | CI | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 29 | 0 | |
| Totale Roma | 222 | 22 | 33 | 3 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 278 | 29 | |||||
| Totale carriera | 478 | 50 | 79 | 12 | 44 | 7 | 20 | 1 | 626 | 70 | |||||
Italy squads | |||||||
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