Giorgio Chinaglia

Giorgio Chinaglia ( born January 24, 1947 in Carrara, † April 1, 2012 in Naples, Florida, United States) was an Italian football player who was champion in 1974 with Lazio and later played for the New York Cosmos.

Life

Beginnings in Wales and Series C

Chinaglia spent the first years of life in his native town of Carrara; the age of eight he moved to Britain, where his father took a job in the Welsh city of Cardiff as guest workers. His footballing career started in 1962 with Swansea Town; the then English second division, he signed in early 1965 and his first professional contract. During the return series of the 1965/66 season, the center forward was six times the shirt of the Welsh, but could not keep them from relegation. So he moved to Italy's Serie C to Massese Calcio from Massa, a year later to Neapolitan Club SSD Interna Poli, in which he played two years and scored 25 goals.

Career at Lazio

His successful time in Naples attracted the interest of big clubs, and in 1968 he moved to Lazio, who had just gained in the Serie A. Direct his second game in the Premier League made ​​him a crowd favorite: He scored the winning goal to make it 1-0 against the reigning champions AC Milan.

Despite a temporary descent of Lazio Chinaglia counted in the first half of the 1970s, to the best strikers in the Italian Serie A. His strongest season he had in 1973/74 when he led Lazio to the first " Scudetto " and at the same time was top scorer in the league. After his penalty goal just before the end in the final home game of the season against Foggia Calcio, he was celebrated by 90,000 Tifosi in the Roman Olympic Stadium as a hero, because then he'd Lazio secured their first title since the Cup victory in 1958.

Failures in the national team

Chinaglia had attracted the attention of national coach Ferruccio Valcareggi early, the 1970 FIFA World Cup took him, although he did not belong to the 22er squad. His debut for the Azzurri he gave in 1972 against Bulgaria.

With great hope, he went to the soccer World Cup 1974 to Germany, where the Italian team scored as the current vice-champion of the great favorites of the preliminary round Group Four. Chinaglia was set as a center forward, but disappointed in the first game against Haiti; Coach Ferruccio Valcareggi traded it off after 70 minutes of play against Pietro Anastasi, who was then the center forward of Juventus. In the second group match against Argentina, which ended in a draw, he just sat on the bench. In the last game against Poland a draw would have been enough. Chinaglia played again from the beginning, but could not take advantage of his opportunities and his team lost 1-2. Italy resigned as early as 1966, surprisingly after the first round of the tournament.

Overall Chinaglia only came to 14 inserts ( 4 goals) in the national team.

Finale in New York

He moved in 1976 to the United States to New York Cosmos. The main reason for this was that his wife Connie, a U.S. citizen, wanted to return to their homeland. In eight years at Cosmos, he became the best scorer of the North American Soccer League; He scored a total of 193 goals in 213 games. In Cosmos, he played together with Pele, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto.

1983 Chinaglia returned to Rome, as President of Lazio. In 1985 he went to the club from the B series. In 2006, he worked as an expert for the U.S. television network ABC in the Football World Cup in Germany. ( " Football from another planet: The Story of the New York Cosmos " ): In July 2006, the documentary " The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos Once in a Lifetime " was first performed in which Chinaglia as almost all the stars of the U.S. clubs commented on its history.

Warrant

In November 2007 Chinaglia was convicted after a scandal involving alleged price manipulation of Lazio shares to pay a fine of 4.2 million euros. He had Italian media reports, a Hungarian pharmaceutical company was interested in the acquisition of Lazio. Thus, the shares of the association ( which is listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 2000 ) increased in height, though the information was wrong.

Chinaglia is also accused of Lazio president Claudio Lotito threatened and blackmailed. He is said to have put pressure on Lotito to move him to sell the club.

In July 2008, an arrest warrant was issued against Chinaglia again.

Giorgio Chinaglia died on 1 April 2012 at the age of 65 years in the United States.