Massimo Mauro

A highly-rated midfielder, Massimo Mauro spent 14 years in Serie A with Catanzaro. Udinese, Juventus and Napoli. He won two Italian League titles, with Juventus in 1986, and Napoli in 1990, when he also won the Italian Super Cup. Mauro was fortunate to play alongside three of the all-time great footballers during his playing days; the Brazilian Zico at Udinese, Frenchman Michel Platini at Juventus, and Argentine’s Diego Maradona at Napoli.

Despite not winning a full international cap, Mauro made 17 under-21 appearances between 1980-84, and competed in two UEFA European Under-21 Championships (1982 and 1984). He also represented Italy at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and played in all six of Italy’s matches as they finished fourth. He scored one goal, against Iraq.

Mauro retired from football in the 1993/94 season and in 1996 entered the world of politics when he was elected to the Italian Chamber of Deputies as The Olive Tree coalition, in the Calabria region. He later became a member of the centre-left Democratic Party. Mauro also worked as a football commentator for Sky Sports in Italy, and also, along with fellow footballer Gianluca Vialli, set up a foundation to raise funds for research into cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (also known as motor neurone disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease).