Armando Picchi (; 20 June 1935 – 27 May 1971) was an Italian

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 ...

player and coach. Regularly positioned as a libero, he captained the

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

side known as "La Grande Inter".

Club career

Early career

Born in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

, Picchi started his career by playing for

. In 1959, he moved to SPAL, before moving later at the peak of his time, and most of his career, to

Captain of Grande Inter

A versatile defender, Picchi started to play at

as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, a role he previously held at SPAL. During the course of 1961–62 season, the legendary ''Grande Inter'' coach

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

experimented by placing him as a libero. The new position was successful; he became an important figure in the team's strong defence, and indirectly set examples for teammates Tarcisio Burgnich and

Giacinto Facchetti Giacinto Facchetti (; 18 July 1942 – 4 September 2006) was an Italian footballer who played as a left-back for Inter Milan from 1960 to 1978. He later served as Inter chairman from January 2004 until his death in 2006. He played 634 official ga ...

with his leadership. During that time, Inter Milan was still captained by Bruno Bolchi. When Bolchi moved to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, Picchi was then selected as team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. It was in his captaincy that Inter Milan evolved into the era famously known as Grande Inter, when they won three scudetti, two European Champions Cups and two Intercontinental Cups in the 1960s.

Later career

After his time at Inter Milan, Picchi played for two seasons at

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

before retiring in 1969, at the age of 34.

International career

Picchi made his debut for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

several months after becoming Intercontinental champion with Inter Milan, in a 6–1 victory over

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in November 1964. However, Italy coach at that time, Edmondo Fabbri, deemed him unsuitable for the team's scheme, as he felt he was too defensive minded, and subsequently left him out of the squad for 1966 World Cup in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Under the management of Ferruccio Valcareggi, he was regularly called for the qualifying matches of Euro 1968. Yet a fractured pelvis injury in a match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in April 1968, ruled him out of the

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

, which concluded his last match with the Azzurri, totalling 12 international appearances.

Style of play

A quick, versatile and tenacious defender, Picchi began his career playing as a forward or as a central

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, before being moved to right back, where he excelled, but later came into his own in the ''libero'' role. Picchi was primarily an old-fashioned sweeper, who was mainly known for his defensive skills, strong physique, and ability to win back, intercept and clear loose balls as a last man, while he was not particularly good in the air, due to his small stature; despite his more traditional, defensive-minded interpretation of the role, he was, however, also occasionally capable of getting forward, and of carrying the ball out into midfield, or starting plays from the back-line, due to his good technique and ability to read the game. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest defenders, and as one of the best sweepers of his generation, he was highly regarded for his tactical intelligence as well as vocal leadership on the pitch, and was known for his ability to organise the back-line and motivate his teammates.

Coaching career and death

After his playing career was over, Picchi pursued a coaching career in 1969; he went on to coach Varese, Livorno and then

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, until 16 February 1971, when he was hospitalised because of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, which ended his coaching career prematurely. He died three months later, at the age of 35, due a tumour in his sixth left rib.

Legacy

After his death in 1971, a memorial tournament, Memorial Armando Picchi, was played in his honour. On 21 October of the same year, the football club Armando Picchi Calcio was founded in his memory. As of 1990, the football stadium of

, his hometown club, is named after him.

Honours

Inter Milan *

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 ...

: 1962–63, 1964–65, 1965–66 *

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 ...

: 1963–64, 1964–65 * Intercontinental Cup:

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

Individual *

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame () is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Italy. History and regulations The Hall o ...

: 2021

References

External links

Inter Profile

FIGC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picchi, Armando 1935 births 1971 deaths Footballers from Livorno Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Men's association football sweepers SPAL players Inter Milan players Serie A players Juventus FC managers Serie A managers SSD Varese Calcio players Italian football managers US Livorno 1915 players US Livorno 1915 managers UEFA Champions League–winning players Deaths from cancer in Liguria 20th-century Italian sportsmen