Francesco Rocca

Francesco Rocca began playing football in the parish of Don Marcello Schiavella, parish priest of his town, San Vito Romano. He then moved on to the Audace Genazzano, walking the six kilometers every day that separated his town from where he trained in Genazzano, and then to the Bettini Quadraro.

Rocca made his début with Roma in 1972, starting with the Anglo-Italian tournament. He was a fullback capable of defending but also good on offense, and was immediately liked by the technical commissioner of the national team, Fulvio Bernardini, and later by Enzo Bearzot. Famous for his typical “gallops” on the left wing, Rocca earned the nickname “Kawasaki.”

Suffering many injuries during his short career, Rocca’s first serious knee injury was in October 1976, during the championship match against Cesena. The competitive Rocca kept playing, only making the situation worse, eventually tearing knee ligaments at World Cup qualifiers. He returned to play in April 1977 only to have surgery again in September 1977, forcing him to miss the 1977/78 season. Returning to play in 1978, Rocca played consistently and had 17 appearances in 1978/79 and 20 in 1979/80. As a member of the national team, Rocca earned 18 caps (1974-76), scoring one goal in Washington against the United States.

In the 1980-81 season, Rocca’s physical ailments continued and he only had six league appearances. His farewell to football, at 26-years-old and five knee surgeries, took place in the Roma-Internacional Porto Alegre friendly match in which he played 19 minutes.

Rocca coached the national Under-18 and Under-19 national teams, with which he won the silver medal at the 2008 European Championships and silver medals at the 2001 and 2009 Mediterranean Games. As coach of the Italian team at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, he suffered one of the most sensational defeats in the history of Italian football, the embarrassing 4-0 loss to Zambia. In 2008 Rocca became the coach of the Under-20 national team, and the following year led the Azzurri to the Under-20 World Cup.