Angelo Benedicto Miguel Sormani (; ; born 3 July 1939) is a Brazilian-born Italian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and player, who played as a forward; he was capable of playing anywhere along the front-line, as a centre-forward, as well as in an attacking midfield role, or also as a winger on the right flank. Born in Brazil, he represented the Italy national team at the

1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...

. While lacking pace, he was a physically strong, creative and intelligent player with excellent technical ability; throughout his career, he was known for his tactical versatility, power and determination, as well as his capability to take part in and initiate attacking plays due to his passing ability. Following his retirement, he also worked as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, coaching two clubs for which he formerly played: Roma, and

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

Club career

Before moving to Italy to play in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

, where he would spend most of his professional life, Sormani began his club career in his home country of Brazil, where he initially played for

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

; he was initially used as a backup striker to

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

, but despite this limitation, he was able to move into the starting line-up due to his versatility, and his ability to adapt to any position along the front line. After moving to Italy, Sormani made his Serie A debut with A.C. Mantova in

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

, spending two seasons with the club (1961–63), where he displayed his talent and potential, earning the nickname "the white Pelé". He subsequently attracted the attention of larger clubs, and he moved to

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

for the 1963–64 season, for an at the time

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

of 500 million Lire in 1963, in addition to 250 million more, including the value of the three players Mantova received from Roma in exchange: Torbjörn Jonsson, Elvio Salvori, and Karl-Heinz Schnellinger. During the single season he spent with the capital club, he won the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

, although he was unable to display consistently the talent he had demonstrated whilst playing at Mantova. After a difficult season, Sormani spent the 1964–65 season with

U.C. Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the List of football club mergers, merg ...

, where he also struggled, before moving to

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in 1965, where he flourished, and achieved notable domestic and international success. During his time at Milan, he finally fulfilled his potential and established himself as one of the league's top players, winning the

1967–68 Serie A The 1967–68 Serie A season was won by Milan. Teams Sampdoria and Varese had been promoted from Serie B. Six out of the sixteen clubs came from Lombardy, a record for a single region of Italy. Final classification Results Top goalscorer ...

title, the

during the 1966–67 season, the 1967–68 European Cup Winners' Cup, the

1968–69 European Cup The 1968–69 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by AC Milan, who beat Ajax 4–1 in the final, giving Milan its first European Cup title since 1963, and its second overall. A number of Eastern Bloc clubs withdrew from t ...

, and the 1969 Intercontinental Cup. After his successful time with Milan, in 1970, he moved to

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (), commonly known as SSC Napoli or simply Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that currently competes in the Serie A, the highest league of Italian football. Napoli are am ...

for two seasons, before spending the 1972–73 season with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. He moved to

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza S.p.A. (acronym for ''Lanerossi Vicenza''), better known as Vicenza or Lanerossi, is an Italian football club based in the city of Vicenza. It plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian football league. Founded on 9 March ...

in 1973, where he spent three seasons, before ending his career in 1976.

International career

Born in Brazil, Sormani made seven appearances and scored two goals for the Italy national team between 1962 and 1963, after obtaining Italian citizenship due to his Italian origins (grandson of emigrants from

Garfagnana The Garfagnana () is a historical and geographical region of central Italy, today part of the province of Lucca, in Tuscany. It is the upper valley or basin of the river Serchio, and thus lies between the main ridge of the Northern Apennines ...

(paternal grandparents) and the

Polesine Polesine (; ; ) is a geographic and historic area in the north-east of Italy whose limits varied through centuries; it had also been known as Polesine of Rovigo for some time. Nowadays it corresponds with the province of Rovigo in the viewpoint ...

(maternal grandparents)); he represented Italy at the

in Chile, where they were eliminated in the first round.

Honours

Roma *

: 1963–64 Milan *

: 1967–68 *Coppa Italia: 1966–67 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

: 1968–69 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1967–68 * Intercontinental Cup:

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

Individual *A.C. Milan Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sormani, Angelo 1939 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers 1962 FIFA World Cup players Serie A players Serie B players Santos FC players Mantova 1911 players AS Roma players UC Sampdoria players AC Milan players SSC Napoli players ACF Fiorentina players LR Vicenza players Italian people of Brazilian descent People of Tuscan descent Brazilian people of Venetian descent Italian football managers SSC Napoli managers AS Roma managers Men's association football forwards UEFA Champions League–winning players Footballers from Jaú 20th-century Italian sportsmen