Renato Curi (20 September 1953 – 30 October 1977) was an Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played 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 ...

. He is best known for his tenure as a

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

mainstay in the 1970s until his tragic death during a league game against

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 ...

Biography

Renato Curi was born in

Montefiore dell'Aso Montefiore dell'Aso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about southeast of Ancona and about northeast of Ascoli Piceno. One of several Hilltowns in Central Italy, Montefiore dell ...

Province of Ascoli Piceno The province of Ascoli Piceno () is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno, and the province is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the province of Fermo to the north, and it faces the regions ...

in 1953. He started his professional career in 1969 with then-amateur club

Giulianova Giulianova ( Giuliese: ' ) is a coastal town and ''comune'' in the province of Teramo, Abruzzo region, Italy. The ''comune'' also has city () status, thus also known as Città di Giulianova. Geography The town lies in the north of the Abruzzo regi ...

, helping his side win promotion to

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

. He left Giulianova in 1973 for

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

, and then joined

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 ...

club

one year later. Under the guidance of coach

Ilario Castagner Ilario Castagner (18 December 1940 – 18 February 2023) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a striker. Castagner died in Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the Rive ...

, he contributed to Perugia's historical first promotion to

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 ...

and became a ''grifoni'' mainstay in the following years. Notably, his impressive performances were instrumental in securing Perugia a historic sixth-place finish in their 1976–77 Serie A campaign, fueling rumours of a possible call-up to the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

. However, this never came to fruition, as Curi suddenly died on 30 October 1977, during a home match against

, just five minutes into the second half, due to a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Legacy

The Perugia home stadium where Curi died was later named after him. Also, a

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

team is named Renato Curi Angolana.

Biography

Legacy

References

Bibliography

See also