Giorgio Chinaglia
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| Giorgio Chinaglia | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Giorgio Chinaglia | |
| Date of birth | January 24, 1947 | |
| Place of birth | Carrara, Italy | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1964-66 1966-67 1967-69 1969-76 1976-83 |
Swansea Town Massese Internapoli Lazio New York Cosmos |
6 (1) 32 (5) 66 (24) 209 (108) 254 (242) |
| National team | ||
| ? | Italy | 14 (4) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Giorgio Chinaglia (born January 24, 1947) is a former football striker from Italy. He grew up and played his early football in Wales. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
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[edit] Early years: career in Wales
Chinaglia was born in Carrara, Tuscany, but moved to Cardiff with his father, mother (Giovanna) and his only sibling a sister (Rita) at the age of nine where the family ran an Italian restaurant.
Giorgio is married and has at least 2 children.
After playing for Cardiff Schools he began his career with Swansea Town. He turned professional during the 1964/65 season and made his Swansea Town debut in the 2-2 draw at Rotherham United on October 14, 1964, in the League Cup Third Round. His only other appearance that season was in the 0-0 draw at home against Portsmouth on February 13, 1965.
The following season he was only to make a further three Football League starts in a Swansea shirt and one as a substitute, while his only league goal came in the 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth on August 24, 1965.
He did, though, lift some silverware during his time with the Vetch Field club in the form of the West Wales Senior Cup. Swansea played Llanelli in the final in May 1965 and Chinaglia was on the scoresheet as they won 3-0. Georgio, who would also appear for Swansea Town Reserves in the Welsh Football League and Swansea Town 'A' in the Swansea Senior League, represented the Swansea Senior Association Football League in 1964 in a representative match against the Birmingham & District Works FA.[1]
[edit] Career in Italy
He played for Massese, Internapoli, and Lazio in his native Italy. He made his name with Lazio, where he played for seven seasons. In 1974 Chinaglia scored a goal in the Rome derby, and pointed to the Curva Sud, Roma fans, and taunted them. Chinaglia led Lazio to the club's first championship in its history and was the league's lead scorer.
Chinaglia had 14 caps and scored four goals for Italy, and played in the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
[edit] Career with the Cosmos
In 1976, Chinaglia moved to the NASL and the New York Cosmos. While many foreign stars would play in the NASL (Pelé being the greatest example), Chinaglia was probably the first great player to leave his original team for the NASL while still in the prime of his career. This is evident with the great success he had in the NASL, scoring 242 goals in 254 games (including regular season and playoff competition). He led the NASL in scoring four times and would be the league's all-time leading scorer. Chinaglia would win the NASL Most Valuable Player Award in 1981.
However, he was not the most "fan-friendly" player during his career with the Cosmos. In addition to being so outspoken, his move from Italy to the NASL caused a split within the Italian-American community. While many were thrilled to have Chinaglia play in America, others thought he was being disloyal to Italy, and should have stayed there to help them win the World Cup. This polarization was most famously evident during a home game at Giants Stadium, when a Cosmos fan hired a plane to fly over the stadium during the game with a banner that said, "Giorgio Stinks!"
In 2000 he was inducted into the U.S.A. National Soccer Hall of Fame.
[edit] Later life
Chinaglia contributed to ABC's coverage of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
He currently hosts a weekly soccer talk show, The Football Show, on Sirius Satellite Radio.
[edit] Arrest warrant
Chinaglia was named as one of nine people for whom arrest warrants had been issued on Friday 13 October 2006 following an extortion probe linked to shares in his former club Lazio.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] Sources
- Mario Risoli (2000) Arrivederci Swansea, The Giorgio Chinaglia Story
- Swansea Senior Football League (2000) Swansea Senior Football League, 1901-2001 - 100 Years of Local Soccer
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paolo Pulici Gianni Rivera Giuseppe Savoldi |
Serie A Top Scorer 1973-74 |
Succeeded by Paolo Pulici |
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