Soccer in mourning, Tarcisio Burgnich died – Sport

by time news

They called it the “rock”. It was Armando Picchi who gave him that nickname. For Tarcisio Burgnich, who passed away today – Wednesday May 26 – at 82, was basically a middle name. In fact, he was one of the best defenders in the history of Italian football, very tough against his rivals, never really bad, but certainly insurmountable.

Humble in sport and in life, yet shrewd and when it was needed very cunning, Burgnich made his own the teachings of the first coach in Udine, Comuzzi: with one eye and a half he looks at the man, with the other half eye the ball. On the field he was a carabiniere, nothing escaped him.

He made his debut in Udinese, twenty years old, he was also there Dino Zoff, a sign of fate. He played stopper and full-back, a life in defense, he put patches in the gaps left by his teammates, above all he always put his leg.

At the 1970 World Cup he tried to stop Pele when “O’rei” jumped into the sky to hit his head and hit the blue goal, “but I couldn’t do it – he would later say – because in reality I was just coming to mark him and I was not yet in position, because Valcareggi had changed the markings running “.

With the blue jersey he was European champion in 1968 and vice-world champion in 1970.

In his career, the striker who put him most in difficulty was not the Brazilian emperor, but by his own admission Ezio Pascutti of Bologna, and then the Yugoslavian Dragan Dzajic, he hated them both as a football player, they escaped him like eels.

Burgnich played with many teams, his debut with Udinese in 1958, a meteoric year in Juventus, then another year at Palermo, then twelve seasons with Inter from 1962 to 1974, the meeting with Helenio Herrera, a character he adored and who opened the doors of the world to him, «being with him was like being on a spaceship. It was always one step ahead. Sober, serious man, he had been poor, he urged us not to throw away the money we earned, he taught us to do yoga to concentrate ».

With the Nerazzurri he made 467 appearances in official matches, winning 4 league titles, two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. He was disappointed when at one point they considered him old, he ended up at Napoli and touched the Scudetto in 1975.

Then the coaching career, he was on the bench of many teams, the last time in 2001 with Pescara.

Burgnich is one of the monuments of Italian football. A career built with a life as a rocky, fair and loyal defender, but also with great seriousness in life. He always remained tied to his world, indeed it can be said that Burgnich was one of the purest interpreters of that football of yesteryear, like his partner. Giacinto Facchetti, like his friend Gigi Riva.

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