Tarcisio Burgnich

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameTarcisio•Burgnich
Used nameTarcisio•Burgnich
Nick/petnamesLa Roccia
Born25 April 1939 in Ruda, Udine (ITA)
Died26 May 2021 in Forte dei Marmi, Lucca (ITA)
Measurements175 cm / 72 kg
AffiliationsJuventus FC, Torino (ITA)
NOC Italy

Biography

Tarcisio Burgnich, who started as midfielder, was one of the greatest Italian defenders in the 1960s, playing as right back or sweeper. He started his career at Udinese Calcio in 1958, but played in only eight matches in two seasons and joined Juventus FC in 1960. He won his first league title that year, but played in only 13 games. Therefore he moved to US Palermo in the summer of 1961 where he had his breakthrough. His performance in 31 Series A games (one goal) gave him a contract at Inter after only one season. With Inter he stayed for 12 seasons, playing 385 Series A games (five goals), and won four league titles (1963, 1965, 1966, and 1971). He also twice won the European Cup with Inter Milano (1964 and 1965) when he played in all their matches. In 1967 he played his third European Cup final with Inter when they lost to Celtic, again playing in all their matches. Burgnich reached his fourth final with Inter in 1972, but lost again, this time to Ajax. In total he played 40 European Cup matches, 10 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup matches, and eight UEFA Cup matches with Inter. In 1974 Burgnich joined SSC Napoli for three seasons, playing 84 league matches, and won the Coppa Italia (Italian cup) in 1976 as well as the Anglo-Italian League Cup in the same year. He earned eight more UEFA Cup appearances and retired in 1977.

As a member of the Olympic squad he played four matches at the 1960 Games, when Italy finished fourth. For the Italian national team Burgnich played his first match in 1963, when he was in the starting line-up of the European Championship qualifier against the Soviet Union. His greatest success was Italy’s win at the 1968 European Championship, where he also played in both finals against Yugoslavia, but he also played in all 12 World Cup final matches for Italy in 1966, 1970, and 1974. At the 1970 World Cup he helped Italy to reach the final when he scored one goal against West Germany in a 4-3 win in the semi-final before losing the final to Brazil, 4-1. Burgnich played his last match for Italy during the 1974 World Cup when he was substituted in the first half against Poland. In total he earned 66 caps and scored two goals. One year after his retirement he started a coaching career that lasted more than 20 years. Between 1978 and 2001 he trained 12 different teams, but was not as successful as he had been as a player. In honor of his sporting achievements, Burgnich was awarded a Gold Medal by the Italian Olympic Committee.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1960 Summer Olympics Football (Football) ITA Tarcisio Burgnich
Football, Men (Olympic) Italy 4

Special Notes