Francesco Morini (; 12 August 1944 – 31 August 2021) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender. He competed for the Italy national team in the

1974 FIFA World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

and earned a total of 11 caps. He played for clubs such as Sampdoria and, most notably,

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 ...

, with which he achieved great success. After his retirement he worked as Juventus's sporting director for several years.

Club career

Morini made his

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 ...

debut for Sampdoria in a 2–0 loss against Roma on 2 February 1964, and in 1969, he was transferred to

. He made 387 appearances in

, as well as 30 in

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

with Sampdoria during the 1966–67 season, during which he won the title. During a highly successful domestic and European stint with Juventus, Morini won five

titles, a Coppa Italia during the 1978–79 season, and an UEFA Cup during the 1976–77 season, also reaching the European Cup final during the 1972–73 season, and the semi-final of the European Cup Winners' Cup during the 1979–80 season, his final season at the club. Throughout his professional footballing career as a defender, Morini never scored a goal; although he once appeared to score one during a friendly tournament, it was disallowed. Morini ended his career in Canada with the Toronto Blizzard.

International career

Morini made his international debut for the Italy national team in a 1–0 home win over

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

on 25 February 1973, and was a member of the Italian squad that took part in the

. He played for Italy 11 times between 1973 and 1975. Although he was still part of the Italy national side during the mid-70s, he was notably excluded by Enzo Bearzot from the Italian squad that finished in fourth place at the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

Style of play

Morini was a fast, strong, and tenacious

centre-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 ...

, with good technique, who was known for his tackling ability, as well as his tight marking of opposing forwards. He was given the nickname "Morgan the Pirate" as he excelled as a powerful ball-winner; despite his physical style of play, he was also known for his correct behaviour on the pitch, and he rarely committed aggressive challenges. On the pitch, he was also well known for his rivalry with Inter forward

Roberto Boninsegna Roberto Boninsegna ( born 13 November 1943) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a forward. After retiring, he worked as a football manager. As a player, he played for the Italy national side at two World Cups, re ...

, who later became his teammate.

Personal life

Morini had two sons; one is Jacopo Morini, who is known for his role in the Italian television program " Le Iene", and the other, Andrea, is a singer and guitarist in a band.

Honours

Juventus *

: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78 * Coppa Italia: 1978–79 *

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

: 1976–77 Sampdoria *

: 1966–67

References

External links

Profile
at Enciclopediadelcalcio.it
Profile
at FIGC.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Morini, Francesco 1944 births 2021 deaths 1974 FIFA World Cup players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Juventus FC players Juventus FC directors Serie A players Serie B players Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players UC Sampdoria players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Men's association football defenders UEFA Europa League–winning players Footballers from the Province of Pisa 20th-century Italian sportsmen