Post by violasvedese on Nov 21, 2008 18:47:44 GMT
From Calcio Italia
L’Angelo Viola
With the moving on of a Florentine legend this summer, it is probably right to cast a timely and poignant look at the only other player who could possibly beat Gabriel Batistuta in the terrace hero stakes. And although many of the club’s younger fans think that Batigol is the best ever Viola player, the majority of older fans would point to the one and only Giancarlo Antognoni.
For Italian football, July 11, 1982 will be remembered forever. The years leading up to that World Cup Final had all been shaped for that glorious day. The 1982 tournament had seen Italy go on a wonderful run. Argentina were beaten. The 1970 defeat by Brazil in the Final was avenged in the second group stage. Paolo Rossi scored six breathtaking goals and who could forget Marco Tardelli’s glorious celebration? They were all fabulous moments, all to be stashed away for rainy day renewal. But for myself and many Fiorentina fans, the day was mixed with sadness. One of the players who had done so much to put Italy into the Final, the Viola’s Giancarlo Antognoni, could not play.
Witnessing Antognoni bamboozle the Poles in the semi-final three days previously was one of the tournament’s most abiding memories. Sadly, an old leg injury reared it’s ugly head after the Polish match and poor Giancarlo along with the likes of George Best, Eusebio and Jimmy Greaves became one of the world’s best players never to play in a World Cup Final. After earning 73 caps he perhaps could have eventually overtaken Dino Zoff’s record of 112, but a series of injuries took their sad toll.
He was still only 28 when he played his last game for the Azzurri. The most serious of those injuries that eventually affected his international career came during a game with Genoa. Goalkeeper Martina caught the midfielder right on the head. It left Giancarlo with a double fracture of the skull. So severe was the collision that apart from the internal bleeding, it also caused Antognoni’s heart to stop beating for almost half a minute. Luckily the Tuscan terror was strong and fit and he survived to continue his glorious career.
Born in Marsciano not far from the centre of Perugia in Umbria on April 1, 1954, Giancarlo was nobody’s fool. His first team was Serie D outfit Astimacobi, based on the outskirts of Turin, for whom he made his debut on his 16th birthday. He made a big impression and in that same 1970-71 season, the blond bomber played five more times.
The following season he became a regular first-teamer, playing 22 games and scoring three times. In 1971 he was called up into the Italian junior side who trained at Coverciano, the Azzurri training centre in Tuscany. The centre is little more than an Antognoni free kick away from Fiorentina’s stadium. It was there that his elegant touch, his youthful power and his all round athletic approach, won him a place in the team.
Naturally Fiorentina had their scouts out there in force and his ability soon came to the attention of the then Viola Coach, Sweden’s ex-Milan star Nils Liedholm. With big interest from several other major clubs, Liedholm persuaded young Giancarlo over the summer of 1972, that Fiorentina were his best bet.
Astimacobi demanded £150,000 and they got it. For Fiorentina it would prove to be the best money the club has ever spent. With a reputation for a certain Nordic coldness, Giancarlo was naturally wary of the lauded Coach. But the pair eventually became, if not firm friends, certainly well disposed towards each other. The Swede was beginning to heat Fiorentina up again after the club had gone off the boil only three years after winning the League title in 1969. Yet in 1971 the Viola finished 13th, just one place above the relegation zone.
Something needed to be done quickly and at the start of the 1972-73 season Liedholm placed his faith in youth, pushing youngsters like Antognoni, Nevio Scala, Domenico Caso and Moreno Roggi into the first team. A few games into the new season, Liedholm took the blinkers off Giancarlo and let him loose on Serie A. Making his debut at Verona on October 15, Fiorentina picked up the points in a 2-1 win as Antognoni played a starring role. That evening over Tuscany, there was a new planet beginning to line up in the Florentine firmament.
That game started a love affair that blossomed with the club’s devoted and dedicated fans. Antognoni became a bona fide thoroughbred hero to the Viola faithful and was and still is worshipped to the beautiful blue Tuscan heavens. They were in love with a highly gifted player, whose two magical feet made him one of Italy’s all-time complete players. His all-round ability to dictate play, pass with unswerving accuracy and dribble past bedazzled defenders made him unapproachable.
He orchestrated Fiorentina’s midfield for the whole of his 15 years with the club but a price had to be paid. The price for this one club loyalty was wining just one Italian Cup in 1976. In those one and half decades Antognoni played in 412 games, 341 of them in Serie A. He is fifth in the club’s all time top scorers charts behind Gabriel Batistuta, Kurt Hamrin, Miguel Montuori and Alberto Gallasi with 61goals.
He made his international debut as an enthusiastic 20-year-old in the 3-1 defeat by Holland in a European Nation’s Cup qualifier. Also earning his second cap in that game was another Viola youngster, Moreno Roggi. The Azzurri manger Fulvio Bernardini, like Fiorentina, started putting his faith in youth, a move that saw several of Liedholm’s protégées win international caps. He introduced several more young bloods over the next few games and in Antognoni’s second game another Fiorentina youngster, Vincenzo Guerini also made his debut. In amongst Bernandini’s ‘ragazzi’ at that time were Claudio Gentile and Francesco Graziani, players who would join Antognoni in the 1982 World Cup Finals eight years later.
Giancarlo’s last cap was awarded in the 2-0 defeat by Czechoslovakia on November 16, 1983 but in between he captained the Azzurri four times. Altogether he scored seven times for his country but set up many, many more. A classical ‘regista’ he gave cohesion and quality to the Azzurri and his undoubted playmaking ability went a long way in carrying them right to that legendary 1982 Final.
In 1987 Antognoni accepted an offer to play for Swiss outfit Lausanne. For the next two seasons the Swiss First Division gained many new fans as busloads of Fiorentina supporters, unable to go long without seeing their maestro, travelled up to see him every other week.
After two years of exile he returned to his beloved Florence to play in a farewell game - the Italian ‘82 team versus the Rest of the World. In that game he gave a speech to his devoted fans in the Stadio Artemio Franchi with a voice racked with emotion. He told the crowd, of which I was fortunate to be one of: "I could have gone to Roma or Juve, perhaps won three or four titles, even a Champions’ Cup. But at my farewell there wouldn’t have been 40,000 people shouting their love for me. It is your love that is important, and this is the reason I could never have thought of leaving."
The crowd, as emotional as Giancarlo, broke into spontaneous applause which lasted a full five or six minutes. The game started with a backdrop sound echoing round the open elements of the stadium that made it seem if three times the amount of fans were there. Then when Giancarlo scored in the 73rd minute from an exquisitely taken penalty, the ground simply erupted. An unreal atmosphere of magic gripped the stadium. Waves of emotion hung in the air and tumbled down over the terraces. Hard bitten Florentines - who have a reputation for coldness - wept openly.
Shortly before the final whistle Giancarlo left the field also with tears pouring from his eyes. He threw some flowers into the fanatical Curva Fiesole and a big bunch of balloons lifted into his beautiful Tuscan sky, emblazoned with one word, the legend, ‘Antonio.’ This is how the fans remember the player that was Giancarlo Antognoni, a man who wore his purple heart on his sleeve. He was their idol and a prince amongst princes.
For 15 years Antognoni was more than just a football player for Fiorentina. He was not only the flag bearer but he was the symbol of a winner for the fans.
Other clubs had winning teams and successful seasons in Europe. But Viola fans had Giancarlo Antognoni, the eternal illusion of a winning future and for those fans a quick chorus of: "Voi vincete lo Scudetto, ma noi abbiamo Antognoni" - you may win the title but we have Antognoni - was completely unanswerable.
STAR RATING 8/10 An idol at Fiorentina and the only man to vie with Gabriel Batistuta as the Viola’s No 1 of all time. Also an Azzurri great.
GIANCARLO ANTOGNONI
Born: Marsciano (Perugia), 1/4/1954
Position: Midfielder
Ht/Wt: 1.79/80kg
Serie A debut: Verona 1-2 Fiorentina, 15/10/72
Clubs: Astimacobi, Fiorentina, Lausanne
International debut: Holland 3-1 Italy, 20/11/74
Last international: Czechoslovakia 2-0 Italy, 16/11/83
International caps: 73
International goals: 7
Honours:
Italian Cup 1976
World Cup 1982
L’Angelo Viola
With the moving on of a Florentine legend this summer, it is probably right to cast a timely and poignant look at the only other player who could possibly beat Gabriel Batistuta in the terrace hero stakes. And although many of the club’s younger fans think that Batigol is the best ever Viola player, the majority of older fans would point to the one and only Giancarlo Antognoni.
For Italian football, July 11, 1982 will be remembered forever. The years leading up to that World Cup Final had all been shaped for that glorious day. The 1982 tournament had seen Italy go on a wonderful run. Argentina were beaten. The 1970 defeat by Brazil in the Final was avenged in the second group stage. Paolo Rossi scored six breathtaking goals and who could forget Marco Tardelli’s glorious celebration? They were all fabulous moments, all to be stashed away for rainy day renewal. But for myself and many Fiorentina fans, the day was mixed with sadness. One of the players who had done so much to put Italy into the Final, the Viola’s Giancarlo Antognoni, could not play.
Witnessing Antognoni bamboozle the Poles in the semi-final three days previously was one of the tournament’s most abiding memories. Sadly, an old leg injury reared it’s ugly head after the Polish match and poor Giancarlo along with the likes of George Best, Eusebio and Jimmy Greaves became one of the world’s best players never to play in a World Cup Final. After earning 73 caps he perhaps could have eventually overtaken Dino Zoff’s record of 112, but a series of injuries took their sad toll.
He was still only 28 when he played his last game for the Azzurri. The most serious of those injuries that eventually affected his international career came during a game with Genoa. Goalkeeper Martina caught the midfielder right on the head. It left Giancarlo with a double fracture of the skull. So severe was the collision that apart from the internal bleeding, it also caused Antognoni’s heart to stop beating for almost half a minute. Luckily the Tuscan terror was strong and fit and he survived to continue his glorious career.
Born in Marsciano not far from the centre of Perugia in Umbria on April 1, 1954, Giancarlo was nobody’s fool. His first team was Serie D outfit Astimacobi, based on the outskirts of Turin, for whom he made his debut on his 16th birthday. He made a big impression and in that same 1970-71 season, the blond bomber played five more times.
The following season he became a regular first-teamer, playing 22 games and scoring three times. In 1971 he was called up into the Italian junior side who trained at Coverciano, the Azzurri training centre in Tuscany. The centre is little more than an Antognoni free kick away from Fiorentina’s stadium. It was there that his elegant touch, his youthful power and his all round athletic approach, won him a place in the team.
Naturally Fiorentina had their scouts out there in force and his ability soon came to the attention of the then Viola Coach, Sweden’s ex-Milan star Nils Liedholm. With big interest from several other major clubs, Liedholm persuaded young Giancarlo over the summer of 1972, that Fiorentina were his best bet.
Astimacobi demanded £150,000 and they got it. For Fiorentina it would prove to be the best money the club has ever spent. With a reputation for a certain Nordic coldness, Giancarlo was naturally wary of the lauded Coach. But the pair eventually became, if not firm friends, certainly well disposed towards each other. The Swede was beginning to heat Fiorentina up again after the club had gone off the boil only three years after winning the League title in 1969. Yet in 1971 the Viola finished 13th, just one place above the relegation zone.
Something needed to be done quickly and at the start of the 1972-73 season Liedholm placed his faith in youth, pushing youngsters like Antognoni, Nevio Scala, Domenico Caso and Moreno Roggi into the first team. A few games into the new season, Liedholm took the blinkers off Giancarlo and let him loose on Serie A. Making his debut at Verona on October 15, Fiorentina picked up the points in a 2-1 win as Antognoni played a starring role. That evening over Tuscany, there was a new planet beginning to line up in the Florentine firmament.
That game started a love affair that blossomed with the club’s devoted and dedicated fans. Antognoni became a bona fide thoroughbred hero to the Viola faithful and was and still is worshipped to the beautiful blue Tuscan heavens. They were in love with a highly gifted player, whose two magical feet made him one of Italy’s all-time complete players. His all-round ability to dictate play, pass with unswerving accuracy and dribble past bedazzled defenders made him unapproachable.
He orchestrated Fiorentina’s midfield for the whole of his 15 years with the club but a price had to be paid. The price for this one club loyalty was wining just one Italian Cup in 1976. In those one and half decades Antognoni played in 412 games, 341 of them in Serie A. He is fifth in the club’s all time top scorers charts behind Gabriel Batistuta, Kurt Hamrin, Miguel Montuori and Alberto Gallasi with 61goals.
He made his international debut as an enthusiastic 20-year-old in the 3-1 defeat by Holland in a European Nation’s Cup qualifier. Also earning his second cap in that game was another Viola youngster, Moreno Roggi. The Azzurri manger Fulvio Bernardini, like Fiorentina, started putting his faith in youth, a move that saw several of Liedholm’s protégées win international caps. He introduced several more young bloods over the next few games and in Antognoni’s second game another Fiorentina youngster, Vincenzo Guerini also made his debut. In amongst Bernandini’s ‘ragazzi’ at that time were Claudio Gentile and Francesco Graziani, players who would join Antognoni in the 1982 World Cup Finals eight years later.
Giancarlo’s last cap was awarded in the 2-0 defeat by Czechoslovakia on November 16, 1983 but in between he captained the Azzurri four times. Altogether he scored seven times for his country but set up many, many more. A classical ‘regista’ he gave cohesion and quality to the Azzurri and his undoubted playmaking ability went a long way in carrying them right to that legendary 1982 Final.
In 1987 Antognoni accepted an offer to play for Swiss outfit Lausanne. For the next two seasons the Swiss First Division gained many new fans as busloads of Fiorentina supporters, unable to go long without seeing their maestro, travelled up to see him every other week.
After two years of exile he returned to his beloved Florence to play in a farewell game - the Italian ‘82 team versus the Rest of the World. In that game he gave a speech to his devoted fans in the Stadio Artemio Franchi with a voice racked with emotion. He told the crowd, of which I was fortunate to be one of: "I could have gone to Roma or Juve, perhaps won three or four titles, even a Champions’ Cup. But at my farewell there wouldn’t have been 40,000 people shouting their love for me. It is your love that is important, and this is the reason I could never have thought of leaving."
The crowd, as emotional as Giancarlo, broke into spontaneous applause which lasted a full five or six minutes. The game started with a backdrop sound echoing round the open elements of the stadium that made it seem if three times the amount of fans were there. Then when Giancarlo scored in the 73rd minute from an exquisitely taken penalty, the ground simply erupted. An unreal atmosphere of magic gripped the stadium. Waves of emotion hung in the air and tumbled down over the terraces. Hard bitten Florentines - who have a reputation for coldness - wept openly.
Shortly before the final whistle Giancarlo left the field also with tears pouring from his eyes. He threw some flowers into the fanatical Curva Fiesole and a big bunch of balloons lifted into his beautiful Tuscan sky, emblazoned with one word, the legend, ‘Antonio.’ This is how the fans remember the player that was Giancarlo Antognoni, a man who wore his purple heart on his sleeve. He was their idol and a prince amongst princes.
For 15 years Antognoni was more than just a football player for Fiorentina. He was not only the flag bearer but he was the symbol of a winner for the fans.
Other clubs had winning teams and successful seasons in Europe. But Viola fans had Giancarlo Antognoni, the eternal illusion of a winning future and for those fans a quick chorus of: "Voi vincete lo Scudetto, ma noi abbiamo Antognoni" - you may win the title but we have Antognoni - was completely unanswerable.
STAR RATING 8/10 An idol at Fiorentina and the only man to vie with Gabriel Batistuta as the Viola’s No 1 of all time. Also an Azzurri great.
GIANCARLO ANTOGNONI
Born: Marsciano (Perugia), 1/4/1954
Position: Midfielder
Ht/Wt: 1.79/80kg
Serie A debut: Verona 1-2 Fiorentina, 15/10/72
Clubs: Astimacobi, Fiorentina, Lausanne
International debut: Holland 3-1 Italy, 20/11/74
Last international: Czechoslovakia 2-0 Italy, 16/11/83
International caps: 73
International goals: 7
Honours:
Italian Cup 1976
World Cup 1982
