Gigi Meroni

Luigi "Gigi" Meroni ( born February 24, 1943 in Como, † October 15, 1967 in Turin ) was an Italian football player.

Life

Meroni debuted in 1961 at Como Calcio, moved to Genoa and Torino Calcio 1964, where he celebrated his greatest successes. Meroni was a dribbling, fast and prolific right winger; in allusion to its elegance and agility as well as on the jersey color of Torino he was known as " La Farfalla Granata " ( German " The Garnet Red Butterfly" ).

Gigi Meroni was considered one of the greatest Italian football talents of his time and was in Turin an idol. Not only his spectacular play, but also his eccentric appearance attracted attention, often he was therefore compared to George Best. He wore long hair, which in Italy was completely unusual at that time, and several times led to the exclusion from the national team; he dressed unusual and created various design objects and paintings. A planned change to city rivals Juventus was canceled due to the indignant protests in the Turin population.

After a league game against Sampdoria Meroni was captured while crossing a street by a car and died from injuries. The driver of the car accident, a follower of Torino and admirers Meronis was Attilio Romero, who was to lead the club as president later.

In Munich, an amateur football team is named after Meroni: U.S. Gigi Meroni Itel 1970.

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