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Enzo Bearzot

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Enzo Bearzot
Bearzot (left) with Sandro Pertini.
Personal information
Full name Enzo Bearzot
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1948 Pro Gorizia 39 (2)
1948–1951 Internazionale 19 (0)
1951–1954 Catania 95 (5)
1954–1956 Torino 65 (1)
1956–1957 Internazionale 27 (0)
1957–1964 Torino 164 (7)
Total 409 (15)
International career
1955 Italy 1 (0)
Managerial career
1968–1969 Prato
1969–1975 Italy U-23
1975–1986 Italy
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vincenzo "Enzo" Bearzot (Italian pronunciation: [ˈɛntso bearˈdzɔt]; 26 September 1927 – 21 December 2010)[1] was an Italian association football player and manager. He is best known for having led the Italian national football team to a triumph in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Playing career

Born in Aiello del Friuli, in the friulian Province of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Bearzot had a moderately successful playing career as a centre back. He made his debut in professional football with Pro Gorizia in 1946, a team he left in 1948 to join Serie A giants Internazionale. After three seasons with the Nerazzurri, Bearzot moved to Sicily and joined Catania for three more seasons. This was then followed by a long period at Torino, where he played from 1954 to 1964, except for a short stint back at Internazionale in 1956–57. He retired in 1964, aged 37.

In his playing career, Bearzot totalled 251 appearances in Italy's Serie A, being called up once to play for Italy, making his debut on 27 November 1955 in a 0–2 1955–56 Central European International Cup match defeat to Hungary.[2]

Managerial career

After having ended his playing career, Bearzot became assistant coach of Torino, working alongside Italian managers Nereo Rocco and Giovan Battista Fabbri. He successively moved in Tuscany to take his first head coaching job in Tuscany at the helm of Serie C side Prato.

However, Bearzot did not go on a club career, and chose instead to start working for the Italian Football Federation: first as under-23 head coach, then as assistant coach of Ferruccio Valcareggi in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. After the German World Cup, Bearzot was appointed as assistant coach of Fulvio Bernardini, and was then promoted head coach of Italy in 1977. It was Bearzot who drove the national team to fourth place in the 1978 FIFA World Cup,[3] obtained thanks to one of the most exciting playing styles in the competition. This performance was repeated in the 1980 European Championship, hosted by Italy.[3]

One of the widely remembered pictures of the 1982 FIFA World Cup is Bearzot (right) playing scopone with Dino Zoff, Franco Causio and Sandro Pertini, President of Italy.

In the 1982 FIFA World Cup, after poor performances in the three first matches, Bearzot announced the so-called silenzio stampa (press silence) in order to avoid the raising critics from the Italian press. Following that, the Italian team finally started to play its best football, defeating Argentina and Brazil in the second round, Poland in the semi-final and Germany in the Final, leading his team to the first World Cup since 1938.[3]

Italy did not qualify for the Euro 1984.[3] Bearzot resigned after the 1986 FIFA World Cup, which saw Italy being defeated in the round of 16 by France.[3] Bearzot was criticised during the latter tournament for relying to heavily on players from the 1982 team, as some of them were past their best form by 1986.[3]

After a long period of inactivity, Bearzot was appointed President of the FIGC Technical Sector (Settore Tecnico, the main football coaching organization of Italy) in 2002. He left this office in 2005.

Bearzot died on 21 December 2010 in Milan, aged 83.[4][5][6]

Honours

Italy

References

  1. ^ "1982 World Cup winning coach Enzo Bearzot dies". maltatoday.com.mt. Retrieved 21 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "MaltaToday" ignored (help)
  2. ^ "UNGHERIA – ITALIA". Italian Football Federation. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Marzocchi, Massimo (22 December 2010). "Italians bid farewell to 1982 hero Enzo Bearzot". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  4. ^ "E' morto Enzo Bearzot Addio al c.t. di Spagna '82" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  5. ^ "Addio a Enzo Bearzot ct dell'Italia Mundial" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  6. ^ "Italian coaching legend Enzo Bearzot dies at 83". BBC Sport. 21 December 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.

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