Sergio Brio (born 19 August 1956) is an Italian former

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 ...

, in the role of

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, who played for

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

from the mid 1970s to the ending 1980s having won, among others, four

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

titles and becoming one of the only six footballers to have won all

UEFA club competitions UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur assoc ...

. An atypical continental

stopper Stopper may refer to: * Bung, a plug used to stop the opening of a container ** Laboratory rubber stopper, a specific type of bung * Plug (sanitation), used to stop a drainage outlet * Defender (association football), in soccer (association footba ...

, he was not particularly technically gifted, although he was known for his strength, tenacity, and physicality, as well as his ability in the air, which often made him a goal threat on set pieces; this also allowed him to play as a

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

earlier in his career. In addition to his athletic ability, he was also known for his concentration, and was an excellent man-marker, and reader of the game.

Club career

Brio was born in

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the provinc ...

, Apulia. He began his career with his local club, U.S. Lecce, during the 1973–74 season, before moving to

for the 1974–75 season, although he did not make a single appearance with the club that season. He was later sent on loan to

Pistoiese Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently, Pistoiese plays in Serie D. Originally founded on 21 April 1921 and later restored after bankruptcy, the team plays their home games ...

from 1975 to 1978, before returning to Juventus. His first season with the Turin club was the 1978–79 season, and he made his

debut with Juventus on 18 March 1979, as they defeated

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

1–0. He remained with the club until the 1989–90 season, captaining the club from 1989 to 1990, when he retired from professional football. Overall, he made 378 appearances for Juventus in all competitions, scoring 24 goals, 16 of which came in Serie A over 243 appearances. Brio played for Juventus during one the club's most successful periods, forming a formidable defence alongside

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at ...

Gaetano Scirea Gaetano Scirea (; 25 May 1953 – 3 September 1989) was an Italian professional footballer who is considered one of the greatest defenders of his generation and one of the greatest defenders of all time. He spent most of his career with Juventus ...

Claudio Gentile Claudio Gentile (; born 27 September 1953) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a defender in the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in ...

, and

Antonio Cabrini Antonio Cabrini (; born 8 October 1957) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player. He played left-back, mainly with Juventus. He won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italy national team. Cabrini was nicknamed ''Bell'Ant ...

, winning four

titles, three

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional ...

s, a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, a

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 cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised ...

, an

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

, a

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offici ...

, and an Intercontinental Cup, under managers

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a ...

, and subsequently

. Brio is one of only six players in

European football UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur as ...

history – with

Stefano Tacconi Stefano Tacconi (; born 13 May 1957) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the only goalkeeper to have won all international club competitions, a feat he managed during his time with Juventus. At interna ...

Danny Blind Dirk Franciscus "Danny" Blind (; born 1 August 1961) is a Dutch former football player and coach. He played as a defender for Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax and the Netherlands national team. As coach he has managed Ajax and the Netherlands national ...

and

Arnold Mühren Arnold Johannes Hyacinthus Mühren (born 2 June 1951) is a Dutch football manager and former midfielder. His older brother Gerrie, also a midfield player, won three European Cup titles with Ajax in the early 1970s. Mühren is among the few pla ...

– to have won all international club competitions.

International career

Despite his success at club level, Brio, along with his Juventus defensive team-mate Luciano Favero, never made an appearance for the Italian national side, as manager

Enzo Bearzot Enzo Bearzot (; 26 September 1927 – 21 December 2010) was an Italian professional football player and manager. A defender and midfielder, he led the Italy national team to victory in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Nicknamed ''Vecio'' (standard ...

preferred

Fulvio Collovati Fulvio Collovati (; born 9 May 1957) is an Italian professional footballer who played as a defender. He was a stopper (a man–marking centre-back in Italian football jargon) and also played for Italy at international level, winning the 1982 F ...

, for his elegant style of play, and

Pietro Vierchowod Pietro Vierchowod (, born 6 April 1959) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender, and a current manager. He also represented the Italian national side during his career, and was a member of the Italian squad that won the 1982 ...

, for his speed and adeptness at the zonal marking system, in his position. He was a member of Italy's

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

squad under his former team-mate Dino Zoff during the late 80s.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, he worked as an assistant coach with Juventus under Giovanni Trapattoni, who managed to win the

1992–93 UEFA Cup The 1992–93 UEFA Cup was won by Juventus, who beat Borussia Dortmund 6–1 on aggregate in the final, a record score for a UEFA Cup final. It was the third victory in the competition for the Italian team (first club to reach this record). Thr ...

during his second stint with the club. He was head coach of Belgian club

R.A.E.C. Mons R.A.E.C. Mons may refer to one of two Belgian football clubs A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, ...

from 2003 to 2004.

Honours

Juventus *

: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity ...

: 1978–79, 1982–83, 1989–90 * Intercontinental Cup:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

: 1984–85 *

: Runner-up: 1982–831982–83 All matches – season at UEFA website
/ref> *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1983–84 *

: 1989–90 *

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast As ...

References

External links