Saturday, July 2, 2011

Strong were Juventus, but not dominant yet. They won the championship in perhaps the most mediocre year of Italian football, but were no double – the Cup went to Fiorentina. Which was rather ordinary team when compared to Juventus…
Top left to right: Della Martira, Merlo, Guerini, Roggi, Beatrice, Superchi.
Bottom: Casarsa, Antognoni, Caso, Desolati, Pellegrini.
Forth Cup for Fiorentina, but hardly a great squad. Hard workers may be, tough surely, stars – no. But here is a young boy who eventually became instrumental part of the revival of Italian football and of the next generation of great stars – even without names provided, it is not difficult to spot him by following the 1970s rule of thumb: long hair signifies greatness. Giancarlo Antognoni was just a promising youngster in 1975. He was only 21 years old, but already debuted for the national team in 1974. Unfortunately, he was born on April 1 – the Fools Day… may be he will not be anything special, just another empty promise? 1975 was a skeptical year – and Savoldi was the ‘sure’ man of the future, not Antognoni. But that is why we have the Fools Day.