Luciano Chiarugi (; born 13 January 1947) is 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 and former player who played as a forward.

Club career

Born in

Ponsacco Ponsacco is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about southeast of Pisa. La Popolazione è composta da Diletta Pratelli Geography The municipality of Ponsa ...

Province of Pisa The province of Pisa ( it, provincia di Pisa) is a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. Its capital is the city of Pisa. With an area of and a total population of 421,642 (), it is the second most populous and fifth largest province ...

, Chiarugi started his career with

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 ...

, being part of the lineup that won the

1968–69 Serie A The 1968–69 Serie A season was won by Fiorentina. Teams Palermo, Hellas Verona and Pisa had been promoted from Serie B. Events The goal difference was introduced for the relegations instead of the tiebreakers. Final classification Results ...

title. After seven seasons with the ''viola'', Chiarugi moved to

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

in 1972, being instrumental to the ''rossoneri'' triumph in the

1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Milan after a 1–0 victory against Leeds United at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece. Competition holders Rangers would have been eligible to compete in t ...

, won thanks to a goal by him in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

match against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

, finishing the competition as top scorer. In 1976, he was sold to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in an exchange bid with Giorgio Braglia, with whom he shared the same nickname: ''Cavallo Pazzo'' ("Crazy" or "Mad Horse", in Italian). He played two seasons with the ''azzurri'', winning a

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 ...

and an

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

. He played for

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 ...

team Sampdoria in 1978–79, and then back to Serie A with

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different na ...

the following season. After spells with minor league teams

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

, Rondinella and Massese, Chiarugi retired from football in 1986.

International career

Chiarugi also gained three caps for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing b ...

, making his debut on 22 November 1969 in a 3–0 win over

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

Style of play

Known in Italian football for his impetuous nature, pace and technique, which gained him the nickname ''Cavallo Pazzo'' (Crazy Horse), Chiarugi was a quick, energetic, and highly creative forward with an eye for goal and excellent

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, known for his individualistic playing style, as well as his use of elaborate

feints Feint is a French term that entered English via the discipline of swordsmanship and fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or e ...

and nutmegs to beat opponents. He was also known for his accurate striking and crossing ability, and was effective from set-pieces; this allowed him to play both as a striker, or as a winger on either flank. However, despite his talent, he was also popularly considered as a diver, causing the Italian media to create the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

neologism A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...

''chiarugismo'', a synonym of "football diving", after his name.

Coaching career

After his retirement as a player in 1986, Chiarugi joined the

youth team coaching staff. In his career, he served as Fiorentina's

Caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a care ...

three times. Late into the 1992–93 season, Chiarugi (jointly with

Giancarlo Antognoni Giancarlo Antognoni (; born 1 April 1954) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A skillful and creative offensive playmaker, regarded as one of the best Italian players of all time in his position, he played mos ...

) replaced

Aldo Agroppi Aldo Agroppi (; born 14 April 1944) is a professional Italian football coach and a former footballer, who played as a midfielder. Club career Agroppi played for 12 seasons (249 games, 17 goals) in Serie A with clubs Torino Calcio and Perugia ...

with little fortune, as he did not manage to save them from relegation to Serie B after 54 consecutive seasons in the top flight. In February 2001, following the dismissal of Fatih Terim, Chiarugi was installed as caretaker coach for a single match, a 2–1 loss to

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...

, before the appointment of

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sam ...

. Following the departure of Ottavio Bianchi, Chiarugi was appointed again as caretaker coach during the dramatic 2001–02 season, which ended with relegation to Serie B and the successive club cancellation due to financial troubles, which ultimately led to Fiorentina's bankruptcy. On 14 November 2007, he was announced as the new head coach of Tuscan

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

side

Poggibonsi Poggibonsi is a town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located on the river Elsa and is the main centre of the Valdelsa Valley. History The area around Poggibonsi was already settled in the Neolithic age, although the fir ...

. He was sacked in September 2008 due to poor results.

Honours

Club

Fiorentina *

: 1965–66 *

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called the La Coupe de l'Europe Centrale or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the successor states of the former Austria-Hunga ...

: 1965–66 *

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 ...

: 1968–69 Milan *

: 1972–73 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

: 1972–73 Napoli *

Anglo-Italian League Cup The Anglo-Italian League Cup ( it, Coppa di Lega Italo-Inglese, also known as the Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners' Cup) was a short-lived football competition between teams from England and Italy – an English cup-winning team (League Cup or FA C ...

: 1976

Individual

* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Top Scorer: 1972–73 *

Top Scorer: 1971–72 * Fiorentina Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiarugi, Luciano Living people 1947 births Sportspeople from the Province of Pisa Association football forwards Italian footballers Italian football managers Italy international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers ACF Fiorentina players A.C. Milan players S.S.C. Napoli players U.C. Sampdoria players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Rimini F.C. 1912 players U.S. Massese 1919 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Serie A managers ACF Fiorentina managers Footballers from Tuscany