Enrico Cucchi (2 August 1965 – 4 March 1996) was an Italian professional football player, who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Career

Enrico Cucchi made his professional debut in 1981 with Savona in Serie C2, which was coached by his father Piero at the time. In 1982, he was sold to

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

and he made his Serie A debut with the club three years later, on 13 January 1985, in a 1–1 away draw against

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

. He became a permanent first-team member the subsequent season, making 22 appearances, and scoring a goal against Lecce, also making his European debut with the club in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. After the 1986–87 season, he spent the next two seasons on loan at Empoli and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, before returning to Inter again in 1989. During the 1989–90 season, he scored in Inter's 2–0 victory over

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

in the

1989 Supercoppa Italiana The 1989 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by the 1988–89 Serie A winners Internazionale and 1988–89 Coppa Italia winners Sampdoria. It took place on 29 November 1989 at the San Siro in Milan, Italy. Inter won the match 2–0, to ear ...

. He was sold to Bari the following season, where his career declined due to illness. He was operated on his thigh due to a growing mole, which was later revealed to be melanoma. He spent his final season with

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

during the

1993–94 Serie B The Serie B 1993–94 was the sixty-second tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Ravenna, Vicenza, Palermo and Acireale had been promoted from Serie C, while Brescia, Fiorentina, Ancona and Pescara had been r ...

season, making only 5 appearances due to his illness, before retiring in 1995.

Style of play

Cucchi was a talented, well-rounded and versatile

, who excelled at intercepting passes and breaking down opposing plays, although he was also gifted with good vision, technique, and a powerful shot from distance.

Personal life

Enrico's father, Piero Cucchi, also played football professionally, later working as a coach. In addition to his footballing career, Enrico also studied law. He died on 4 March 1996 in

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

of stomach cancer, at the age of 30; he is survived by his wife, Sabrina. Following his death, an association for palliative care was opened in his name.

Honours

;Inter * Supercoppa Italiana winner:

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

References

1965 births 1996 deaths Deaths from cancer in Piedmont Deaths from stomach cancer Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Inter Milan players Empoli FC players ACF Fiorentina players SSC Bari players Ravenna FC players Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople from Savona Footballers from Liguria {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub