Renato Cesarini (; 11 April 1906 – 24 March 1969) was an

Italian Argentine Italian Argentines (; , or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Argentine-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Argentina during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people ...

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 who most notably played for

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 ...

in Italy as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or forward. He was a dual international footballer and played for both the

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

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 ...

national teams. While playing for Italy, he was part of the successful runner-up 1931-32 Central European International Cup and gold winning 1933-35 Central European International Cup campaigns.

Playing career

Cesarini was born in

Senigallia Senigallia (or Sinigaglia in Old Italian; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and port town on Italy's Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast. It is situated in the province of Ancona, in the Italian region of Marche, and lies approximately 30 kilometres nor ...

, near Ancona, in the Italian region of

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

, but when he was only a few months old he and his family emigrated to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina. In his early career, he played for several clubs around the Buenos Aires area, during the amateur era in Argentine football, most notably

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine association football, football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Gre ...

. Cesarini was signed by Italian giants

in 1929, he made his debut against

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 ...

on 23 March 1930: the game ended in a 2–2 draw. He went on to win five league championships in a row with the club. In 1936, he returned to the professionalised Argentine league where he won two championships with River Plate. This excellent River Plate team included two young players who would become legends of the game Adolfo Pedernera and José Manuel Moreno. The team was coached by the Hungarian Emerico Hirschel, who had a big influence on Cesarini and his teammate Carlos Peucelle, which would be put to use in the 1940s as they took charge at the club.

Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Cesarini went on to become a football manager. He coached a number of clubs in Argentina including both

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

and River Plate. With River, he coached one of the greatest teams of all time. From 1941 to 1947, this River Plate team achieved legendary status: Cesarini was coach from 1941 to 1944 when the level of football was such that they became known as ''La Maquina'' (The Machine); the forward line of Moreno, Pedernera, Munoz, Labruna and Loustau is considered to this day to be the greatest seen in South America. River won Argentine league titles in 1941, and 1942 under ''La Biblia del fútbol'' as Cesarini became known for his authority on all matters pertaining to the sport. He returned to Italy to coach Juventus where he led a team including Sivori, Charles and Boniperti to Serie A success. In the mid sixties, he started the underage club of Pumas today one of the top clubs in Mexico. Between 1967 and 1968, he coached the Argentina national team.

Honours

;Juventus *

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 ...

: 1930–31, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35 ;River Plate * Argentine Primera: 1936, 1937 * Copa Aldao:

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

International

;

* Central European International Cup: 1933-35 * Central European International Cup: Runner-up: 1931-32

Legacy

*The Italian expression '' zona Cesarini'' ("Cesarini zone," also known as "Montesacro zone") was originated as a reference to Renato Cesarini, who often scored decisive goals during the last minutes of the match (the best example being the

3–2

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

match of 13 December 1931 at Stadio Filadelfia of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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. The city is main ...

). This expression is still in use today in

Italian football Football ( ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Brazil (with five), runners-up in two finals both against Brazil, (1970, 1994) and ...

and it designates a goal that is scored in the final minutes of a match, namely in ''zona Cesarini''. *Cesarini has a football club ( Club Renato Cesarini) and training academy in Argentina named in his honour, it was founded in 1975 by former members of the Argentina national team.Institucion ::..:: Renato Cesarini ::
/ref>

References

External links

*
Biography on the club website
*
Zona Cesarini
(archived, 10 April 2008) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cesarini, Renato 1906 births 1969 deaths People from Senigallia Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Italian men's footballers Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Dual internationalists (men's football) Italy men's international footballers Argentina men's international footballers Juventus FC players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Chacarita Juniors footballers Argentine football managers Argentine expatriate football managers Racing Club de Avellaneda managers Club Atlético River Plate managers Boca Juniors managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Club Atlético Banfield managers Club Universidad Nacional managers Argentina national football team managers Serie A players Argentine Primera División players Italian football managers Italian emigrants to Argentina Footballers from the Province of Ancona 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Argentine sportsmen