Federico Pisani (25 July 1974 – 12 February 1997) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Atalanta and

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. Pisani died in a car crash on 12 February 1997, and his squad number (#14) was retired as a mark of respect.

Career

Pisani began playing for Atalanta's youth team and after a few years joined the Margine Coperta, a satellite club of Atalanta. Returning to Bergamo, he made his debut in Serie A at the age of 17 years. In the Primavera team, he was coached by

Cesare Prandelli Claudio Cesare Prandelli (; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian football coach and former player. He was most recently head coach of Fiorentina. Career Player Prandelli was a midfielder who moved from Atalanta to Juventus in 1979. His first game ...

and often used as a substitute. Pisani died in a car accident with his BMW 320 convertible in the company of his girlfriend Alessandra Midali (who also died in the accident) and two friends (who were uninjured) on 12 February 1997. Pisani was returning home after an evening at the casinò di Campione d'Italia. Following the death of Pisani, Atalanta retired the number 14 jersey. In his short Serie A career, he made 44 appearances and scored five goals. The main stadium of the Atalanta training centre in Zingonia, and the Curva Nord of the

Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, known for sponsorship reasons as the Gewiss Stadium since July 2019 and as Stadio di Bergamo in UEFA competitions, is a stadium in Bergamo, Italy. It is the home of club Atalanta and has a capacity of 21,000 seat ...

, are both named after him.

References

1974 births 1997 deaths Italian men's footballers Atalanta BC players AC Monza players Road incident deaths in Italy Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football forwards People from the Province of Lucca Footballers from Tuscany {{Italy-footy-forward-1970s-stub