Gabriele Oriali
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gabriele Oriali (November 25, 1952) is an Italian former football player who mainly played defensive midfield but could also play center-back.
[edit] Career
A native of Como (Lombardy), he debuted for Inter in the 1970-71 Scudetto winning season and was an integral part of the Inter squad of the 1970s.
He didn't have the best technical ability but he was excellent in stopping players and was an excellent man-marker. He was labled a "incontrista", a player who's sole responsiblity was to break up plays and distribute the ball to another player to start the attack.
He was called up to the national team for the first time on December 21, 1978 in a friendly against Spain, earning a starting spot quickly.
After winning the scudetto in 1979-80 with Inter, he played in the European Championships where Italy finished fourth after losing to Czechoslovakia in a penalty shootout. With Inter, he won a second Coppa Italia in 1981-82 after the Coppa victory in 1977-78 and he was a protagonist at World Cup 1982.
After winning the World Cup, in 1983 he moved to Fiorentina where he retired from football in 1987 after 384 games in Serie A and 28 caps for Italy.
Oriali is cited in the Luciano Ligabue song Una vita da mediano (A life as halfback), one of his most popular songs. Ligabue is a known Inter fan.
[edit] External Links
 |
Italy squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup Champions (3rd Title) | |
|---|---|---|
|
1 Zoff | 2 Baresi | 3 Bergomi | 4 Cabrini | 5 Collovati | 6 Gentile | 7 Scirea | 8 Vierchowod | 9 Antognoni | 10 Dossena | 11 Marini | 12 Bordon | 13 Oriali | 14 Tardelli | 15 Causio | 16 Conti | 17 Massaro | 18 Altobelli | 19 Graziani | 20 Rossi | 21 Selvaggi | 22 Galli | Coach: Bearzot |
||
