Vincenzo "Enzo" Bearzot (26 September 1927 – 21 December 2010) 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.
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...
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