Sergio "Gigi" Sala (born 11 January 1958 in

Casatenovo Casatenovo ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region of Lombardy, about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. , it had a population of about 12,700. Casatenovo borders the followin ...

) is an Italian former semi-professional footballer and climber.

Early life and education

Sergio Sala was born 1958 in

Career

Sala started his playing career at San Giorgio, a club based in Casatenovo. He played as a centre back (stopper). In 1980, when he was 22, he was noticed and recruited by the club Associazione Sportiva Sant'Angelo. He played two seasons with them and then began to get noticed by bigger clubs such as

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

A.C. Monza Associazione Calcio Monza (), or simply Monza, is a professional football club based in Monza, Lombardy, Italy. The team plays in the Serie B, the second tier of Italian football, following relegation in the 2024–25 Serie A season. The cl ...

and

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 ...

. However, during one of his last matches with A.S. Sant'Angelo, he broke his

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) In physics (particularly liquid statics), the meniscus (: menisci, ) is the curve in the upper sur ...

, forcing him to retire from football.

Climbing career

After Sala's retirement, he became a climber. From 1984 to 2013 he was one of the alpine guides of the CAI of

Barzanò Barzanò ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. Barzanò borders the following municipalities: Barzago, Cassago Bri ...

. He was the first person to reach the summit of the mount

Resegone Monte Resegone or Resegone di Lecco (; ), also known as Monte Serrada, is a mountain of the Bergamasque Prealps in Lombardy, northern Italy. It has an elevation of 1,875 m and is located on the border between the provinces of Bergamo and ...

in 1985 and the summit of the

Grigna The Grigna is a mountain massif in the province of Lecco, Lombardy, northern Italy, with an elevation of . It is part of the Bergamo Alps, and it has two peaks, Grignone or Grigna settentrionale(2,410m), the higher Northern, and the lower, Sout ...

in 1988. In both these occasions he reached the summit using only his hands and without any protections. After these achievements he became very famous in the

Brianza Brianza (, ) is a geographical, historical and cultural area of Italy, at the foot of the Alps, in the northwest of Lombardy, between Milan and Lake Como. Geography Brianza extends from the Canzo area, North of Monza (approximately ...

region.

Personal life

He is one of the best friends of the singer Francesco Magni (1949–2021). He and Sergio Sala made a few songs together singing in the Brianzoeu dialect. The most famous one is "".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sala, Sergio Living people 1958 births Italian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Footballers from the Province of Lecco 20th-century Italian sportsmen