Roma star was key figure for Azzurri in 1982 victory
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Bruno Conti played almost 400 times
for Roma over 18 years |
The former footballer - now coach - Bruno Conti, who played a starring role as Italy won the World Cup in Spain in 1982, was born on this day in 1955 in Nettuno, a seaside resort south of Rome.
A winger with extravagant skills, Conti became an increasingly influential figure as the
Azzurri campaign in 1982 gathered momentum after a slow start.
He scored Italy’s goal against Peru in the first group stage, a fine shot into the top right-hand corner from 20 yards (18m), although as a team Italy were not at their best and failed to win any of their opening three matches, scraping into the second group phase only by virtue of having scored more goals than Cameroon, who finished with the same number of points.
But the second phase saw a transformation as Italy defied the odds to beat the holders
Argentina and the multi-talented
Brazil team of Socrates, Zico and Falcao who had started the tournament as hot favourites.
Although the striker
Paolo Rossi ultimately took the headlines with his
hat-trick against Brazil, Conti played superbly in both matches, his runs and turns posing problems repeatedly for the opposition defence.
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The Italy team which won the 1982 World Cup in Spain,
upsetting the odds by knocking out Argentina and Brazil |
Italy defeated Poland in the semi-final before putting together another superb performance to beat
West Germany 3-1 in the final in Madrid, after which Conti was proclaimed as man of the match by the great Brazilian Pele, who thought he had been the best player of the tournament.
In the final, he won a penalty in the first half, which
Antonio Cabrini failed to convert, played a part in
Marco Tardelli’s goal - the second of the
Azzurri three, all in the second half - and created the third for
Alessandro Altobelli when his run led a storming counter-attack.
Throughout the tournament, Conti had been given the nickname Mara-Zico by his fans, who said that he had the skills of both Argentina’s Diego Maradona and Brazil’s Zico.
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Conti took a while to be accepted
because of his small stature |
His more familiar nickname, coined by his supporters at home, was ‘Mayor of Rome’, which was a reflection of his loyalty to
AS Roma, the club he joined as a boy and for whom he still works today, as head of the youth development section.
The son of a bricklayer and one of seven children, Bruno excelled at baseball as well as football as a child but grew up as a Roma fan, following the example of his father, Andrea, who declared himself to be “the happiest man in the world” when his boy became a Roma player.
After shining with Roma’s youth teams, he made his senior debut in Serie A at the age of just 18.
His career with the
giallorossi was not always plain sailing. Because of his small stature - he is only 5ft 7ins (1.69m) tall - there were doubts about whether he was physically strong enough. He was selected for the first team only a handful of times in his first two seasons before being sent away to play for Genoa in Serie B, on loan, winning his first medal as the Ligurian team won the Serie B title.
The experience helped him nail a place in the Roma team for the 1976-77 season, although not firmly enough not be sent out on loan to Genoa for a second time.
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Bruno Conti is now in charge of AS Roma's
youth development programmes |
However, when he came back, Roma had recently appointed
Nils Liedholm as their manager and Conti became an integral part of the Swede’s team. The winger thrived with the confidence shown in him and his consistently outstanding form not only made him a favourite with the Roma fans, helping them win the Coppa Italia in consecutive seasons, but a player the national coach
Enzo Bearzot identified as integral to his plans for the World Cup in Spain.
Returning to domestic football after Italy’s triumph, he helped Roma win the 1982-83
scudetto - their first domestic title for more than 40 years - and reach the final of the European Cup the following year.
By coincidence, the
Stadio Olimpico - the stadium Roma share with SS Lazio - had been chosen to host the final that year. Hopes of a
giallorossi victory on home soil were dashed, however, when Roma were unable to beat opponents
Liverpool in either normal or extra time and the trophy was decided on a penalty shoot-out, won by the English team with Conti, who had been one of Roma’s better players, being one of the unfortunate ones who missed his kick.
In total, Conti made almost 400 appearances in a Roma shirt and 47 for the
azzurri, playing also in the 1986 World Cup finals, when Italy were knocked out in the round of 16. When he retired from playing in 1991 he remained with Roma on the coaching staff, including a stint as first-team coach in the 2004-05 season, during which the team reached the Coppa Italia final.
Conti and his wife Laura have two sons
Daniele and
Andrea, who are both professional footballers. Inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame in 2012, he is regarded by fans as one of the club’s all-time greats.
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The beach at Nettuno, Conti's home town, with the
historic 500-year-old Forte Sangallo in the foreground |
Travel tip:
Nettuno is a resort town on the coast of Lazio, about 68km (42 miles) southwest of Rome, almost adjoining the port of Anzio, where Allied forces famously landed in 1944 during the invasion that precipitated the end of the Second World War in Italy. Nettuno itself has a large harbour for private boats, plus a well-preserved historic centre, the Borgo Medievale, with charming streets and small squares, and the Forte Sangallo, a castle built in 1503 by Renaissance architect Antonio da Sangallo the Elder on behalf of the Borgia pope Alexander VI.
Search Booking.com for a selection of Nettuno hotels
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The Stadio Olimpico in Rome has hosted four finals of
the European Cup and Champions League |
Travel tip:
Rome's
Stadio Olimpico - the Olympic Stadium - was built between 1928 and 1938 as part of the Foro Mussolini (now Foro Italico), a sports complex Mussolini hoped would enable Rome to host the 1944 Olympics had they taken place. Originally named Stadio dei Cipressi and later Stadio dei Centomila, it was renamed when Rome won the bidding process for the 1960 Games, pipping the Swiss city of Lausanne. Rebuilt for the 1990 football World Cup, in which it hosted the final, it has also hosted four European Cup and Champions League finals.
