Gaetano Scirea(1953-1989)
Gaetano Scirea was an Italian football
player who is considered one of the greatest defenders of all-time.
Scirea is one of only five players in European football history to have
won all international trophies for football clubs recognized by UEFA
and FIFA. Scirea is also one of only nine players in the history of the
European football that won all three major UEFA football competitions.
He played for the Italian national team for more than a decade during
which he was irreplaceable as the leading defender, keeping Franco
Baresi out of the national team for four years until he retired in
1986. Scirea became a World Champion with the 1982 FIFA World Cup
winning team, defeating Brazil 3-2 in a brilliantly played
quarter-final match, and dominating Germany 3-1 in the final. Scirea
was a graceful defender of great skill and tactical ability. In
contrast to the ruthless tactics often employed by other defenders,
most notably his paired partner, Claudio Gentile, Scirea was renowned
for his class, fair play and sportsmanship. Scirea never earned a red
card in his career. He played the sweeper, or libero, role for most of
his career, and contributed to the development of this position
initiated by Franz Beckenbauer in the 1970s. Thus, Scirea would detach
himself from the defensive line and contribute to the attacking
potential of his team, frequently being involved in the build-up of
goals, and sometimes even scoring himself. In the latter part of his
career, Scirea played a more defensive central-defender role, which he
excelled at just the same. Scirea made his Serie A debut for Atalanta
against Cagliari on 24 September 1972. He remained with Atalanta for
two seasons, before transferring to Juventus, with whom he would stay
until the end of his playing career. In all he made 397 appearances in
Serie A, scoring 24 goals. Scirea saw great success with Juventus,
playing alongside the hard-hitting Claudio Gentile, and winning every
possible trophy to offer in the game. It has been said that because
Scirea was so quietly effective in his position on the field and so
quiet in general off the field he did not win as many personal honours
throughout the years as other more outspoken and media-friendly players
during that time. It was only after his retirement that the wider
audience realized and appreciated his fantastic importance to the cause
of Juventus and the Italy national football team. Scirea debuted with
the Italian national team on 30 December 1974, against Greece. He
immediately became an irreplaceable pillar of the team managed by Enzo
Bearzot, and played in three World Cups and one European Championship
in 1980. The team of the period 1978-1982 was one of the strongest
Italian sides of the post-war period. Scirea impressed in the 1978
World Cup where Italy finished in fourth place. At the 1982 World Cup,
after a quiet start, Italy burst to life, beating Argentina and then
Brazil in a thrilling match. A 3-1 victory over West Germany in the
final earned Scirea a lasting place in World Cup history. By 1986 World
Cup, however, the team was in transition, and went out to France in the
second round. This was to be Scirea's last match for Italy, having won
78 caps and scoring 2 goals. He retired from club football at the end
of the 1987-1988 season. He took up the role of scout at Juventus, but
was killed in a car crash at Babsk, Poland. Scirea was there as an
observer since Juventus was to play a match in the UEFA Cup against
Gornik Zabrze; due to the gasoline shortages, quite common in
then-economically-backward Poland it was commonplace for cars to store
rather large quantities of gas canisters in their trunks. Since then
his name has become attached to various youth tournaments and fair-play
awards, as a role model for sportsmanship and sporting excellence. In
2005 former Italian national team coach Enzo Bearzot proposed the
retirement of the jersey number six of that national team and Juventus
in recognition of his great career.