 Ferrini as assistant manager at Torino in 1976 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Giorgio Ferrini | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1939-08-18)18 August 1939 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Trieste, Italy[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 8 November 1976(1976-11-08) (aged 37) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Turin, Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 19??–1955 | Ponziana | ||||||||||||||||
| 1955–1958 | Torino | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1958–1959 | →Varese (loan) | 34 | (10) | ||||||||||||||
| 1959–1975 | Torino | 443 | (42) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 477 | (52) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1960 | Italy Olympic | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1962–1968 | Italy | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Torino (Assistant) | ||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Giorgio Ferrini (Italian pronunciation:[ˈdʒordʒoferˈriːni]; 18 August 1939 – 8 November 1976) was an Italianfootballmanager and former football player who played as amidfielder.
NicknamedLa Diga ('The Dam') for his qualities as adefensive midfielder,[2] Ferrini played forTorino from 1959 to 1975, and is the most capped player in the history of theGranata with 566 appearances in all competitions, ahead ofPaolo Pulici (437). At club level, they won theCoppa Italia in 1967–68 and 1970–71. He also represented theItaly national team, winning the1968European Championship.
Ferrini grew up in the youth team ofPonziana and in 1955 was signed byTorino and inserted in their youth system, where he stayed for three years. In 1957 he was auditioned by thenational teammanagerGiuseppe Galluzzi in view of an international youth tournament
On 11 August 1958 Ferrini was loaned toVarese inSerie C. In his only season with thebiancorossi, he contributed 10 goals to the salvation of the team played mainly as a starter.
Returning from loan, he contended his starting spot withItalo Mazzero in the midfield as the team were preparing to play in theSerie B. On 20 September 1959 he made his debut with Torino away toSambenedettese (0–0) and the following week scored his first goal at home againstCagliari (5–0). He finished the season with 38 appearances and three goals, achieving direct promotion toSerie A and becoming fundamental to the club for his pace and determination.
Thefollowing season he was confirmed as a key player for Torino by the manager Benjamín Santos, and debuted in Serie A on 25 September 1960 in a loss toSampdoria (0–1). Along withRemo Lancioni, he made the most appearances during the season, finishing 12th in the league.
He spent 16 seasons with Torino, becoming the club's most capped player in the top flight, with 39 goals scored in 405 appearances; in total, he made 566 appearances and scored 56 goals between the league,Coppa Italia andEuropean competition. He won two Coppa Italia trophies, held in 1967–68 and 1970–71.[3][4]
The last match he played was away against Napoli (1–0) on 22 June 1975, the last group match of the Coppa Italia in 1974–75.[4]
He was summoned by the national team managerGipo Viani to represent theAzzurri, who finished in fourth place at the Olympic tournament held in Rome in1960,[5] playing three times.[4]
Also in 1960, he was called up to theNazionale di Lega della Serie A under-23 against the homologous team of the English League, which he entered in the 30th minute, replacingGiacomo Bulgarelli.
He was first called up to theItaly national team on 13 May 1962 againstBelgium, on the eve of theFIFA World Cup inChile. During the competition he is remembered as one of his team's protagonists, along withMario David, against the hostsChile, a match later colloquially known as theBattle of Santiago. After seven minutes he was sent off by the English refereeKen Aston for a violent foul against the ChileanHonorino Landa. Ferrini refused to leave the ground, however, and continued to play until the police intervened to remove him from the field. Italy lost the match 2–0 and were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.[4][6]
Unlike many Italian players from that World Cup, he returned to play for the national team and his last game was the first of the final two games of the1968 UEFA European Football Championship againstYugoslavia, played on 8 June 1968.[3]
He played a total of seven matches with the Azzurri.[7]
A hard-working, aggressive, and energeticwide midfielder of quantity, Ferrini was known for his stamina and his hard challenges, as well as his dedication, consistency, and leadership, despite his lack of notable technical ability. A tenacious, influential, and versatile team player, he was capable of playing in severalmidfield positions, and could also be deployed as adefensive midfielder, or as anoffensivecentral midfielder. Despite his powerful, combative, and at times excessive style of play, he was also known for being a fair and correct player.[3][4][8][9]
A few months after his retirement, while he served as assistant coach ofLuigi Radice in the season in which Torino returned to win theSerie A title, he suffered twoaneurysms (25 August and, after an initial recovery, 18 October 1976). Despite two surgical operations, he died on 8 November 1976 aged 37.[8]
He is buried in the small cemetery hill ofPino Torinese, nearSuperga, where theGrande Torino side perished in theSuperga air disaster.[8]
|  | |
| ||
| | |
