Giorgio Chinaglia Football player

Giorgio Chinaglia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒordʒo kiˈnaʎʎa]; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian footballer. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964. He later returned to Italy to play for Massese, Internapoli and S.S. Lazio in 1969. He played international football for Italy, including two appearances at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.In 1976, Chinaglia left Lazio to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. With the Cosmos team that also featured Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer, Chinaglia won four league titles, and retired in 1983 as NASL's all-time leading scorer with 243 goals.In 2000, Chinaglia was inducted into the United States National Soccer Hall of Fame and was named the greatest player in Lazio's history during the club's centenary celebrations; with 29 goals, he is also the highest scoring Lazio player in international competitions.Throughout his career, Chinaglia was given the nickname "Long John", a reference to the fictional literary character created by Robert Louis Stevenson, due to his height, physique, and his tenacious, fearless style of play, as well as his eye for goal and his temper. The nickname was also a reference to Chinaglia's resemblance to the similarly large Welsh footballing legend John Charles, and as Chinaglia had also lived in Wales.

Personal facts

Giorgio Chinaglia
Birth dateJanuary 24, 1947
Birth place
Carrara , Italy national football team
Date of deathApril 01, 2012
Place of death
Naples , Naples Florida

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Football player

position
Forward (association football)
teams
S.S. Lazio
New York Cosmos
S.S.D. Massese
Swansea City A.F.C.
S.S.D. Puteolana 1902 Internapoli
Italy national football team

Giorgio Chinaglia on Wikipedia

External resources

  1. http://www.giorgiochinagliafoundation.org
  2. http://www.ussoccer.com/About/History/Hall-of-Fame/Hall-of-Famers/Player-Bio.aspx#Chinaglia