Salvatore Bagni

A central-midfielder, Salvatore Bagni played for several Italian clubs, notably Internazionale, with whom he won an Italian Cup winner’s medal in 1982, and Napoli, where he won the League and Cup double in 1987. It is with Napoli that he is best remembered and was a member of the team, which included the legendary Diego Maradona, that helped Napoli win its first ever Serie A title in 1987. From midfield, Bagni scored 52 career goals in Serie A .

Bagni played for Italy in the UEFA European Under-21 Championships in 1978 and 1980 and, during his time with the under-21s, between 1978-80, scored five goals in 12 appearances. At the 1984 Olympics he played in five matches, as Italy finished fourth. He made his senior international début against the Netherlands at Montevideo in the Mundialito in January 1981, and when he scored his first international goal, in a 5-0 win over Mexico in February 1984, it was, at 20 seconds, the fastest ever goal scored by an Italian at senior international level for 29 years.

Bagni was initially named part of the 40-man preliminary Italian squads for both the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups, but was excluded from the final squads for both tournaments. He was, however, included in the 1986 World Cup squad, and played all four matches. In total Bagni won 41 senior caps between 1981-87, and scored five goals.