Giorgio Ferrini (; 18 August 1939 – 8 November 1976) was an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

and former 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 ...

. Nicknamed ''La Diga'' ('The Dam') for his qualities as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

, Ferrini played for

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

from 1959 to 1975, and is the most capped player in the history of the ''Granata'' with 566 appearances in all competitions, ahead of Paolo Pulici (437). At club level, he won the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

in 1967–68 and 1970–71. He also represented the Italy national team, winning the

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

European Championship.

Club career

Ferrini grew up in the youth team of Ponziana and in 1955 was signed by

and inserted in their youth system, where he stayed for three years. In 1957 he was auditioned by the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Giuseppe Galluzzi in view of an international youth tournament On 11 August 1958 Ferrini was loaned to

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label=Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the ca ...

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega P ...

. In his only season with the ''biancorossi'', he contributed 10 goals to the salvation of the team played mainly as a starter. 1970–71 Associazione Calcio Torino

Returning from loan, he contended his starting spot with Italo Mazzero in the midfield as the team were preparing to play in the

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

. On 20 September 1959 he made his debut with Torino away to Sambenedettese (0–0) and the following week scored his first goal at home against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

(5–0). He finished the season with 38 appearances and three goals, achieving direct promotion to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

and becoming fundamental to the club for his pace and determination. The following 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 to Sampdoria (0–1). Along with Remo 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,

and

European competition The European Competition is a student competition in which students of all ages submit creative, artistic, or written pieces of work on the activities of the European Union. Tendered by European Movement Germany, it is the oldest student competition ...

. He won two Coppa Italia trophies, held in 1967–68 and 1970–71. 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.

International career

He was summoned by the national team manager Gipo Viani to represent the ''Azzurri'', who finished in fourth place at the Olympic tournament held in Rome in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, playing three times. Also in 1960, he was called up to the ''Nazionale di Lega della Serie A'' under-23 against the homologous team of the English League, which he entered in the 30th minute, replacing Giacomo Bulgarelli. He was first called up to the Italy national team on 13 May 1962 against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, on the eve of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. During the competition he is remembered as one of his team's protagonists, along with Mario David, against the hosts

, a match later colloquially known as the '' Battle of Santiago''. After seven minutes he was sent off by the English referee

Ken Aston Kenneth George Aston, MBE (1 September 1915 – 23 October 2001) was an English teacher, soldier, and football referee, who was responsible for many important developments in football refereeing - including the yellow and red penalty card sys ...

for a violent foul against the Chilean

Honorino Landa Honorino Landa Vera (1 June 1942, in Puerto Natales – 30 May 1987, in Santiago) was a Chilean footballer who played as a midfielder. 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 the

1968 UEFA European Football Championship The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, played on 8 June 1968. He played a total of seven matches with the Azzurri.

Style of play

A hard-working, aggressive, and energetic wide 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 several midfield positions, and could also be deployed as a

, or as an offensive

central 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 ...

. Despite his powerful, combative, and at times excessive style of play, he was also known for being a fair and correct player.

Death

A few months after his retirement, while he served as assistant coach of

Luigi Radice Luigi "Gigi" Radice (; 15 January 1935 – 7 December 2018) was an Italian football manager and player. A strong, tenacious, and consistent defender, he was usually deployed as a left-back. As a manager, he was known for his use of "zona mista" ...

in the season in which Torino returned to win the Serie A title, he suffered two

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus ( ...

s (25 August and, after an initial recovery, 18 October 1976). Despite two surgical operations, he died on 8 November 1976 aged 37. He is buried in the small cemetery hill of

Pino Torinese Pino Torinese is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin. Pino Torinese borders the following municipalities: Turin, Baldissero Torinese, Chieri, Pecetto Tor ...

, near Superga, where the ''

Grande Torino The Grande Torino was the historic Italian football team of Torino Football Club in the 1940s, five-time champions of Italy, whose players were the backbone of the Italy national team and died on 4 May 1949 in the plane crash known as the Super ...

'' side perished in the Superga air disaster.

Honours

Club

;Torino *

(2): 1967–68, 1970–71

International

;Italy *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

(1):

Individual

Torino FC Hall of Fame This is a list of Torino FC players who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame Granata. History The Hall of Fame Granata (''granata'' is the English for "maroon", the club's traditional colour) was created by the Museo del Grande Torino e della ...

: 2014

References

External links

* *
Testimonies and memories from Associazione Ex Calciatori Granata (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrini, Giorgio 1939 births 1976 deaths Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers SSD Varese Calcio players Torino FC players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Olympic footballers for Italy Footballers at the 1960 Summer Olympics 1962 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1968 players European champions for Italy UEFA European Championship-winning players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Trieste Deaths from aneurysm simple:Giorgio Ferrini