Paolo Pulici

Paolo Pulici (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːolo ˈpuːlitʃi]; born 27 April 1950) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a striker. With 172 goals in all competitions, he is the all-time record goalscorer for Torino.[1]

Paolo Pulici
Pulici captaining Torino in 1976
Personal information
Full name Paolino Pulici
Date of birth (1950-04-27) 27 April 1950
Place of birth Roncello, Italy
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Tritium (youth)
Youth career
19??–1967 Legnano
1967–1968 Torino
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1967 Legnano 1 (0)
1967–1982 Torino 335 (134)
1982–1983 Udinese 26 (5)
1983–1985 Fiorentina 40 (3)
Total 412 (142)
International career
1969–1972 Italy U21 9 (5)
1973–1978 Italy 19 (5)
Managerial career
1986–1989 Piacenza (Assistant)
1990– Tritium (Youth)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He had several nicknames: amongst the most famous were Pupi and the one created for him by the journalist Gianni Brera, Puliciclone (a pun on his family name, Pulici, and Ciclone, Italian for "cyclone").[2] Plus, he shared with his teammate Francesco Graziani the collective nickname I gemelli del gol (Italian for "The Twins of Goal"). At international level, he represented Italy at two FIFA World Cups, first in 1974, and subsequently in 1978, where he helped the team to a fourth-place finish. Since 1990 he has taught the game of football at Sportiva Tritium 1908 in Trezzo sull'Adda, at the football school that bears his name.[1]

In 2014, he was inducted into the Torino FC Hall of Fame; he was the first player to ever be elected and was included in the "Forwards" category.[3]

Club career
Pulici (kneeling, second from the right) with Torino in 1970

Pulici was born on 27 April 1950 in Roncello, small town at the time in the Province of Milan (now Province of Monza). Initially courted by Internazionale, he was ultimately rejected as the club believed his left-foot only shooting could not match that of their striker Sandro Mazzola.[4] Torino acquired from Legnano in 1967 and the then coach, Edmondo Fabbri, launched him as a starter in the 1968–69 season as a starter in Torino-Cagliari (0–0). In his first four seasons at Torino (three as starter), he played in 79 league games, but only scored nine goals due to technical shortcomings and his lack of composure in front of goal.[5]

In 1972 the coach Gustavo Giagnoni excluded Pulici from the starting lineup for a period of two months, devoting him to technical refinement with the help of the coaches of the youth team.[5] In 1972–73 he emerged as the top scorer in Serie A with 17 goals along with Gianni Rivera and Giuseppe Savoldi.[6] He repeated this feat in 1974–75 (18 goals) and in 1975–76, when he scored 21 goals in the season won by Torino, played in tandem with strike-partner Francesco Graziani.[6] The pair were nicknamed "i gemelli del gol"[4][7][8] ("the goal twins"): Pulici's goal was decisive in the final round of the season against A.C. Cesena.[9]

He played with Torino for 14 seasons, disputed 437 official games and scored 172 goals between league and cup competitions. In addition to the Scudetto won in 1975–76, he finished 2nd place in the league in 1976–77 and won a Coppa Italia trophy in 1971.

In subsequent years his number of goals diminished, with a minimum of three goals in the 1979–80 season, which coincided with the departure of Torino head coach Luigi Radice. In 1982, he was allowed to leave Torino for free,[10] moving to Udinese; after a season in Friuli, he went to Fiorentina, with whom he ended his playing career.

International career
Pulici (right) and Giorgio Chinaglia with the Italy national team in 1973

Pulici made his full international debut on 30 March 1973, in a 5–0 win over Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier in Genoa. His first goals were a brace on 30 December 1975 in a 3–2 friendly win over Greece in Florence, his seventh cap. He then scored in his subsequent two matches, against Portugal and the United States.[11]

In total, he played 19 matches and scored 5 goals for the Italy national football team.[12] He made the squad for two World Cups (1974 and 1978), but did not enter the field of play in either tournament.[11] Internationally, Pulici played in 19 games and scored 5 goals; often deployed in tandem with Graziani. Failing to repeat the performance offered at Torino, he was often replaced by Roberto Bettega.[4]

Managerial career

After retiring, he joined the technical staff of Piacenza as assistant coach,[2] after the Emilian club contacted him to resume athletic activities.[13] From 1986 to 1988 he was at the side of coach Battista Rota, while in the season 1988–89 he reclaimed the role of assistant coach from Enrico Catuzzi and later Attilio Perotti.[14]

Style of play

A prolific, tenacious, and opportunistic right-footed forward, Pulici was also adept at using his left foot.[7] A fast, dynamic, and physically strong player,[5] he was particularly gifted in the air and was known for his ability to score acrobatic goals; he was also an accomplished penalty kick taker.[5][15]

Honours

Torino[15]

Individual

References
  1. "Paolino Pulici" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  2. "Ve lo ricordate Paolino Pulici? Ecco come vive". corrieredellosport.it (in Italian). Il Corriere dello Sport. 2009. Archived from the original on 17 October 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  3. "Nasce la Hall of Fame del Toro: il 3 dicembre la cerimonia per i primi 5 granata indimenticabili" (in Italian). Il Quotidiano Piemontese. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. "PULICI – GRAZIANI : IN DUE PER UN GRANDE TORINO". Gol Calcio. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  5. Bacci, G. ECO Sport (ed.). Il calcio dietro le quinte. pp. 65–66.
  6. "Italy Top Scorers". RSSSF.
  7. "ALL TOGHETER NOW". golcalcio.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  8. "Toro, Agroppi: "Vi racconto Gigi Meroni, il nostro George Best"" (in Italian). Toro News. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  9. "Pulici e Graziani, i gemelli nostalgia". corriere.it (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. 16 May 2001. p. 47. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  10. "Novellino all'Ascoli, Maldera alla Roma?" (in Italian). La Stampa. 1982. p. 17.
  11. "Paolo Pulici". EU-Football.info.
  12. List of Italy appearances RSSSF
  13. P.Gentilotti; M.Molinaroli (December 1991). Lo sai che i papaveri...1919–1991: il Piacenza Calcio tra cronaca e storia (in Italian). p. 182.
  14. "Rosa Piacenza Calcio 1988/89". storiapiacenza1919.it. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  15. Gigi Garanzini. "PULICI, Paolo" (in Italian). Treccani: Enciclopedia dello Sport (2002). Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  16. Roberto Di Maggio; Igor Kramarsic; Alberto Novello (11 June 2015). "Italy - Serie A Top Scorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
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