Serie A in Memoriam: Remembering the Players Italian Soccer Lost in 2014
Serie A is closing the book on 2014 and looking ahead to the new year.
Time always marches forward and it is a fact of life that it will take people along with it. The fraternity of Serie A players has lost its share of members in 2014.
Today, we pay tribute to the men calcio has lost in the last 12 months. May their contributions to the game be remembered, and may they rest in peace.
Many of the obituaries citied in this article will be in their original Italian form.
Luigi Balzarini
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A goalkeeper who combined a good physique with great athleticism, Luigi Balzarini spent most of his career in the lower levels. It took him 10 years to finally make his top-flight debut.
That came in 1962 with Modena. He had been between the sticks for two consecutive promotions for the Canarini, and his debut was a bright one—his side beat Fiorentina 2-1. He shared starts with fellow 'keeper Giuseppe Gaspari, but he performed well enough for AC Milan to purchase him late in the season.
He spent three seasons with the Rossoneri as a backup. His highlight was likely starting the tiebreaker game of the 1963 Intercontinental Cup against Santos, but he was replaced after 40 minutes with Mario Barluzzi.
He spent the 1966-67 season with newly promoted Lecco, who were up and down in a year. He spent the rest of his career bouncing between Serie B and Serie C before retiring in 1970.
After his playing career, he coached several amateur teams but never got into coaching on a major level.
He passed away on February 12 in Verbania. He was 78.
Corrado Benedetti
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A journeyman defender who was known for his toughness, Corrado Benedetti may also have been something of a jinx. He made his Serie A debut out of Cesena's academy halfway through the 1976-1977. The Seahorses were relegated that year, and he spent the next two years with them in the second tier.
He was then purchased by Bologna and spent two years there before the Rossoblu were relegated and sold him back to his boyhood club, who had just earned back their top-flight status. Unfortunately, he couldn't help them stay up and saw relegation for the third time in four Serie A seasons.
He spent the next few years in Serie B. There, he was on two more teams that ended up relegated—Perugia in 1985-86 and Catania in '86-87—before ending his career in the third tier with Trento, Livorno and Forli. In his career, he played in 97 top-flight games and scored three times.
After his playing career ended in 1990 he began coaching. After three years coaching in Cesena's youth sector he was promoted to first-team coach. In his second season he led his team to the Serie C1 title and promotion, but he spent the majority of his coaching career below the second division.
He was coaching students back in Cesena before he became sick. After a brief illness he died on February 15, only a few weeks after his 57th birthday.
Ezio Bertuzzo
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Striker Ezio Bertuzzo came up in the Torino youth system before starting his first-team career in the lower divisions. In 1972, he was purchased by Serie B side Brescia. After 25 goals in 80 games, he saw the top flight for the first time with Bologna.
He stayed with the Rossoblu for only a year before arriving back in Serie B with Atalanta. He helped lead the team in a stirring race that saw La Dea gain promotion. He was sold to Cesena that summer, which led to a massive fan protest that saw him brought back to Bergamo after only a few months.
Bertuzzo stayed with Atalanta longer than any other team in his career. He stayed five years and stuck with the team through successive demotions. He never returned to Serie A after Atalanta went down, bouncing around the lower divisions with five different teams until retiring in 1990.
In 41 top-flight appearances, the striker scored only five times, doing more of his damage in the lower division.
After his playing career was over, he coached in several youth sectors—including the Torino side where he was brought up—but never coached at the senior level.
He died on February 23 in Turin at age 61.
Angelo Martino Colombo
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The second goalkeeper on our list, Angelo Martino Colombo began his career in 1954 with Pro Vercelli. He bounced with the team between Serie C and Serie D for five years before spending a year at Messina and then five at Cagliari.
With Colombo in goal, the Isolani went from Serie C to the top flight. Before the 1965-66 season, Juventus purchased the keeper to back up Roberto Anzolin. In three seasons he won one Scudetto (1966-67) and played five games, all in the '67-68 season. That same year he also saw action in a European Cup game against Olympiakos.
In 1968 he was sold to Hellas Verona, where he played much more regularly. He played there for four years before ending his career with two seasons in the lower divisions at Omegna.
He died in Vercelli on March 13 at the age of 78 after a long illness.
Lelio Antoniotti
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Striker Lelio Antoniotti began his professional career in 1945 with Sparta Novara. The next season, he scored 22 times in 35 games for Pro Patria, helping send the Tigrotti into the top flight.
He debuted in the top flight in 1947 and scored for the first time two games in, the only scorer in a 1-0 win against Fiorentina. He scored 11 times in 33 games in '47-48, then started the next on a tear. He scored eight times in his first 15 games. But his season was cut short by a severe bout of pleurisy, and he wasn't the same in the next two campaigns, scoring just seven times in 39 games.
He was sold to Lazio in 1951 and spent two seasons in the capital, scoring 10 times in 53 games. Three years at Torino followed, then single stints at Juventus and Vicenza before a final season in Serie B at Novara.
After his playing days, he was a coach and instructor working directly with FIGC.
He died in Novara on March 29 at 86 years of age.
Yeso Amalfi
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The first foreigner on the list, Brazilian Yeso Amalfi only spent one of his 16 seasons in professional soccer in Italy.
He spent that 1951-52 season at Torino, where he played 27 times. He only scored two goals, both of which came on December 9 against Palermo.
After Torino, he played seven years in France before calling time on his career.
He died in Sao Paulo on May 10.
Paolo Vigano
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Left-back Paolo Vigano's Serie A experience was limited. He started his career at Juventus in 1969 but only played in two league games. A transfer to Roma in 1970 only yielded one more.
After a season at Monza, he arrived at Palermo, where he had the longest continual stint with one team. The majority of that time came in Serie B, but he also appeared in 25 Serie A games with the Rosaneri. His Palermo team also made the Coppa Italia final in 1973-74, although he was suspended for the penalty shootout loss.
After Palermo, he played for Brescia and Novara before returning to Monza to end his career.
He died on May 22 at 64.
Giancarlo Bacci
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The versatile Giancarlo Bacci could play both as a striker or a midfielder. He started his career in 1947 in Viareggio. The team was relegated from Serie B that year, but Bacci scored 10 times and caught the eye of top-flight team Lucchese, who bought him for the 1948-49 season.
He scored six times in 20 games that year and then spent two years at Roma—the second of which saw the team relegated. He returned to the top flight immediately with Udinese. In '52-53 he had his best single season, scoring 18 times in 30 contests for Bologna, eight goals behind capocannoniere Gunnar Nordahl.
He jumped again that summer, landing at Fiorentina and scoring 13 times in 28 games. In 1954, he began his longest stint with a single club—a four-year run at Torino that produced 27 goals in 69 games.
After the Granata, he spent two years as a sparsely-used reserve at Milan and another two at Padova before finishing his career at Cosenza.
In 255 career top-flight games, he scored a respectable 93 goals and was a top-10 scorer three times.
After retiring as a player, he worked as a TV commentator.
He died on May 27 in Bologna. He was 82.
Giancarlo Danova
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A player could play either in the center or the wing on the forward line. Giancarlo Danova never spent more than three years at any Serie club but, like Bacci, was one of the league's most respected journeyman scorers in the 1960s.
His speed and power earned him the nickname "Panther," and his first three years at AC Milan certainly proved worthy of such a moniker. Starting in 1957, he scored 30 times in 60 games and claimed a Scudetto.
In 1960, he was sold to Torino, then went back to Milan the next year—and won another title—before returning to the Granata again.
The next five years were spent at Catania (two years, 57 games, 19 goals) and Atalanta (three seasons, 80 games, 16 goals). He spent the 1968-69 season at Fiorentina. La Viola won the title that year, but the aging Danova played little part, appearing only twice all year.
He dropped into Serie B with Mantova then closed out his career with four years at Omegna in the fourth division.
In 262 Serie A games he scored 81 times.
After playing, he coached numerous teams, mostly in Serie C.
Finn Gundersen
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Finn Gundersen was a freakish athlete. The Norwegian played hockey in the winter—he played for Norway at the 1952 Winter Olympics—and soccer during the warmer months. Two of those years were spent at Hellas Verona, who had just been promoted to Serie A for the first time in history in 1957.
Gundersen played in 24 games in his two years in Verona, scoring three times.
Stelio Nardin
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Stelio Nardin certainly had a northern name, but he played the vast majority of his career in the south at Napoli. The right-back played in 135 games for the Partenopei over six seasons.
He also had one cap for the national team in a friendly against Portugal after Tarcisio Burgnich was injured.
He died in Cervignano di Friuli on August 11 at age 74.
Bruno Petroni
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Bruon Petroni's career started in 1962 with Inter. Failing to find consistent playing time for the Nerazzurri, he moved Atalanta, Catania and Genoa. He scored 24 times in 88 Serie A games.
He passed away in Milan on August 15 at the age of 72.
Klas Ingesson
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Swedish international Klas Ingesson started his career in his home country before moving to Belgium, the Netherlands and England. In 1996 he was sold from Sheffield Wednesday to Bari.
He spent two years there and two more at Bologna before a quick move to Marseille and then a career-ending spell at Lecce.
In 177 Serie A games, the midfielder scored 16 times.
Internationally, Ingesson was capped 57 times, scoring 13 goals. He represented his country at the 1990 and 1994 World Cup and at Euro 1992.
He was the manager at Elfsborg when he developed cancer. He succumbed to the disease at age 46 on October 29.
Armando Cavazzuti
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Midfielder Armando Cavazzuti was born in Modena and made his Serie A debut for his hometown club in January of 1949.
He stayed there until 1951, then spent a year at Pisa before returning to the top flight with Palermo, Roma and Udinese. In 95 top-flight appearances he scored 13 games.
He died on Halloween in his native Modena. He was 85.
Mario Pietruzzi
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Mario Pietruzzi spent his entire career with Alessandria. He went up and down between Serie A and B several times, eventually gathering 53 Serie A games and scoring four times.
Currently third on the team's all-time appearances list, Pietruzzi coached his old team several times as an assistant and caretaker manager.
He died on November 5 at the age of 96.
Giovan Battista Pirovano
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The first five years of Giovan Battista Pirovano's career were spent in Serie B with Pro Vercelli and Verona. In 1963, he was purchased by Fiorentina, where he made his Serie A debut and spent the balance of his career.
In seven years with La Viola, Pirovano played in 151 games, scored 11 goals, and won both the league and the Coppa Italia.
By 1970 he was finally playing out his days in the lower divisions, first with Legnano and then with Vercelli before calling time on his career.
He died in his hometown of Vercelli on November 7. He was 77.
Aurelio Milani
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Aurelio Milani's career started in Serie B with Fanfulla, Monza and Triestina. His Serie A debut came in 1958 with Sampdoria. Three years later, while playing for Fiorentina, Milani scored 22 times, tying him for first in the league with Jose Altafini.
After failing to replicate his success the next year, he was bought by Inter. The Nerazzurri were just entering the phase of their history known as La Grande Inter. Milani was a key part of some of the early success of that period, the highlight of which was his goal in the 1964 European Cup final against Real Madrid.
Unfortunately, the next year he suffered a serious back injury in the European Cup against Dinamo Bucharest and was forced to end his playing career.
In 157 Serie A games, the striker scored 62 times.
He died on November 25 in Milan at age 80 years of age.
Lucidio Sentimenti
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Goalkeeper Lucidio Sentimenti started his career at Modena, but spent the balance of his playing days with Juventus and Lazio, for whom he combined for 339 appearances.
He also made nine appearances with the national team and in the late '40s was the only man fielded by the Azzurri that wasn't part of Il Grande Torino. He didn't, however, make the roster for the 1950 World Cup.
He died in Turin on November 28 at age 94.
Benigno De Grandi
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Benigno De Grandi was a left-sided mid who spent his early years at Fiorenzuola, Mantova and Seregno before making his Serie A debut with AC Milan in 1949.
He spent two seasons at the San Siro before moving to Palermo, where he spent five of his last six years in the pros.
In 121 top-flight games, De Grandi scored nine times and won a Scudetto with Milan in 1950-51.
After his playing career he coached, most notably at his former club Palermo.
He died on December 11 in Palermo. He was 90.
