Giacinto Facchetti

Giacinto Facchetti

Facchetti in 2002
Personal information
Full name	Giacinto Facchetti
Date of birth	(1942-07-18)18 July 1942
Place of birth	Treviglio, Italy
Date of death
Place of death	Milan, Italy
Height
Position(s)	Left Back
Youth career
1956–1960	Trevigliese
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1960–1978	Internazionale	476	(59)
International career
1963–1977	Italy	94	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Giacinto Facchetti (Italian pronunciation: [dʒaˈtʃinto fakˈketti]; 18 July 1942 – 4 September 2006) was an Italian football player. From January 2004 until his death, he was President of Internazionale, the club for which he played for his whole career during the 1960s and 1970s, playing 634 official games and scoring 75 goals. He played for the Internazionale team remembered as “Grande Inter”. Facchetti is remembered as one of the first truly great attacking full-backs, and one of the best ever in his position; his excellent physical and technical traits, as well as his ability with both feet, his elegance, strength, pace, stamina, distribution, and ball skills, allowed him to excel in this position, where he notably scored 10 goals in Serie A during the 1965–66 Season. He also excelled defensively, playing as a sweeper later in his career due to his ability to read the game, man-marking, positioning, anticipation and tackling. In addition to his footballing ability, he was also known for his correct behaviour on the pitch, as well as his leadership. In March 2004, Pelé named him one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebrations.

Biography and career

Club

Born in Treviglio, in the Province of Bergamo (Lombardy), Facchetti began his career with his hometown club, Trevigliese, as a forward, due to his pace, elegance on the ball, crossing ability, powerful shot, and technique. He was soon noticed by Helenio Herrera, then manager of Inter, who launched him in Serie A in the late 1960–61 season as an attacking full back due to his size, physique, and tackling ability, in addition to his offensive attributes. The change of role proved to be an effective choice, and eventually Facchetti developed into one of the most effective defenders in Italian football, forming a notable partnership in defence with fellow Italian full-back Burgnich. Facchetti's innovative playing style as one of the first European overlapping full-backs, combining hard defending with offensive prowess, played a key role in the defensive, yet counter-attacking "catenaccio" system of Herrera's "Grande Inter" side that dominated Italian, European, and World Football in the 60s; whilst conceding few goals defensively, Facchetti was also able to contribute offensively with numerous goals and assists. He held the record for most goals in a single Serie A season by a defender, with 10 goals scored during the 1965–66 season, until it was broken by Marco Materazzi during the 2000–01 season.

Facchetti spent his entire professional career with Inter, later captaining the side, after Armando Picchi, Mario Corso, and Sandro Mazzola, during his final season with the club, between 1977–78. With his club, Facchetti won four scudetti in 1963, 1965, 1966 and 1971; one Italian Cup in 1978; two European Cups in 1964 and 1965; and two Intercontinental Cups in 1964 and 1965. Due to his performances for Inter, Facchetti also narrowly missed the opportunity to become the first defender to win the Ballon d'or, placing second in 1965, after narrowly missing out on a treble winning season with Inter that year; Inter won the Serie A and the European Cup, but were defeated in the 1965 Coppa Italia final by Juventus.

International

Facchetti made his debut for Italy on 23 March 1963. He was capped 94 times (a record at the time, since overtaken only by Dino Zoff, Paolo Maldini, Andrea Pirlo and Fabio Cannavaro), wearing the captain's armband 70 times and scoring three goals between 1963 and 1977. He played for his country at the 1966, 1970 (where his team was runner-up to Brazil losing the final by 4–1 - Facchetti was named to the Team of the Tournament), and 1974 FIFA World Cups. Facchetti also captained the Italian squad to victory at Euro 68, also being named as part of the Team of the Tournament.

A correct player, Giacinto was sent off only once throughout his career, for sarcastically applauding the referee.

After retirement

Over the years Facchetti held various managerial positions at Inter, including technical director, board member, worldwide ambassador and vice president. Facchetti was elected president of Inter on 19 January 2004. After a long illness, he died of pancreatic cancer in Milan on 4 September 2006. He is survived by his wife, Giovanna, and four children.

His former club, Inter, posthumously retired the number 3 shirt in his honour.

On 22 September 2008, a square in the town of Cesano Maderno, Milan was renamed in honor of Giacinto Facchetti.

Facchetti is featured in the football video game FIFA 14's Classic XI – a multi-national all-star team, along with compatriots Bruno Conti, Gianni Rivera, and Franco Baresi.

Career statistics

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	4 November 1964	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Finland	6–1	Win	1966 FIFA World Cup Q.
2.	7 December 1965	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	Scotland	3–0	Win	1966 FIFA World Cup Q.
3.	22 March 1967	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus	0–2	Win	Euro 1968 Q.
Correct as of 13 January 2013

National team statistics

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		Europe		Total
1960–61	Internazionale Milano	Serie A	3	1	-		1	0	4	1
1961–62			15	0	-		6	0	21	0
1962–63			31	4	2	0	-		33	4
1963–64			33	4	-		9	0	42	4
1964–65			32	2	3	0	6	1	41	3
1965–66			32	10	1	0	5	2	38	12
1966–67			34	4	2	0	10	2	46	6
1967–68			28	7	9	2	-		37	9
1968–69			30	6	3	1	-		33	7
1969–70			28	5	6	1	8	0	42	6
1970–71			30	5	3	0	2	0	35	5
1971–72			27	4	8	1	9	1	44	6
1972–73			29	1	10	3	5	0	44	4
1973–74			28	2	7	0	2	0	37	2
1974–75			23	0	8	1	3	0	34	1
1975–76			28	3	10	0	-		38	3
1976–77			27	1	9	1	1	0	37	2
1977–78			18	0	4	0	1	0	23	0
Total	Italy		476	59	85	10	68	6	629	75
Career total			476	59	85	10	68	6	629	75

Honours

Player

Club

Inter

• Italian Serie A champion: 1962–63; 1964–65; 1965–66, 1970–71
• Coppa Italia: 1977–78
• European Cup: Winner in 1963–64 and 1964–65,
  and Runner up in 1966–67 and 1971–72
• Intercontinental Cup: 1964, 1965

International

Italy

• UEFA Euro 68: Winner
• 1970 FIFA World Cup: Runner-up

Individual

• FIFA 100 (125 greatest living players, as selected by Pelé): 2004
• Golden Foot "Football Legends": 2006
• FIFA Presidential Award: 2006
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1968
• FIFA World Cup All-star Team: 1970
• Ballon d'Or (Runner-Up): 1965
• Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2015

External links

• Fans’ Tributes
• Contains footage of European Cup Final of 1972 – Ajax vs. Internazionale 2–0 on YouTube

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ferran Olivella Spain	UEFA European Championship Winning Captain 1968	Succeeded by Franz Beckenbauer West Germany
Preceded by Sandro Mazzola	Internazionale captain 1977–1978	Succeeded by Graziano Bini