Francesco "Franco" Scoglio (; 2 May 1941 – 3 October 2005) was an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager who coached at both national and international level.

Playing career

Francesco Scoglio was born in

Lipari Lipari (; scn, Lìpari) is the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, southern Italy; it is also the name of the island's main town and ''comune'', which is administratively part of the Metropolit ...

, in the

province of Messina Messina (, ) was a province in the autonomous island region of Sicily in Italy. Its capital was the city of Messina. It was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Messina. Geography Territory It had an area of , which amounts to 12.6 percent o ...

, Italy. He played as a defender or

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Managerial career

Nicknamed ''il Professore'' (the Professor) because of his past teaching activity (he was a

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

graduate), Scoglio never actually had a playing career. He started a managing career in 1972 in one of the

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are nic ...

youth teams. He then went on coaching at amateur and Serie C levels in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

(Gioiese,

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

Acireale Acireale (; scn, Jaciriali, locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. ...

, Akragas). It was Scoglio who discovered the great potential of

Salvatore Schillaci Salvatore Schillaci (; born 1 December 1964), commonly referred to by his nickname Totò, is an Italian former professional association football, footballer, who played as a striker (association football), striker. During his club career, he pl ...

, one of his players during Scoglio's second stint in Messina. However, Scoglio is most remembered for his time in

Genoa CFC Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as Genoa (), is a professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria, Italy, that competes in , the second division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

, which was also the team for which he first coached. He achieved great success with his next clubs, being often fired before the end of the season. He is also known for having coached the national teams of

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

and

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

. Under his management,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

reached the semi-finals of the

2000 African Cup of Nations The 2000 African Cup of Nations was the 22nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was co-hosted by Ghana and Nigeria, who jointly replaced Zimbabwe as host. Just like in 1998, the field ...

. His last coaching (and unsuccessful) experience was on 2002–2003 for

SSC Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Camp ...

After retirement

Scoglio then became a very popular TV commentator on football shows in Italy, and even worked for

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

as the technical expert reporting on the Italian league.

Death

On 3 October 2005, Scoglio was appearing on a regional television station in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, having a rather heated and passionate, yet civil, discussion with Genoa president

Enrico Preziosi Enrico Preziosi is an Italian entrepreneur. He runs a number of businesses and is most famous for have been the chairman ( it, presidente) of football club Genoa. Toys Preziosi is the chairman ( it, presidente) of the board of directors of Gioch ...

. While Preziosi was answering one of Scoglio's charges, Scoglio lost consciousness and slumped in his chair. He died of an apparent heart attack shortly thereafter. This dramatic event fulfilled his own prophecy "I'll die talking about Genoa CFC" (''Morirò parlando del Genoa'').

Legacy

Following his death, in 2016 the city of

, the provincial capital of his birthplace as well as the home of

ACR Messina Associazioni Calcio Riunite Messina S.r.l. is a football club based in Messina, Sicily, Italy, that competes in the Serie C, the third tier of the Italian football league system. History Football in Messina The origins of the team go ...

, a club he coached for many years, honoured his memory by renaming the local stadium after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scoglio, Francesco 1941 births 2005 deaths People from Lipari Italian footballers Footballers from Sicily Association football defenders Association football midfielders Serie C players Italian football managers Italian expatriate football managers Reggina 1914 managers A.C.R. Messina managers A.S. Acireale managers Spezia Calcio managers Genoa C.F.C. managers Bologna F.C. 1909 managers Udinese Calcio managers S.S.D. Lucchese 1905 managers Delfino Pescara 1936 managers Torino F.C. managers Cosenza Calcio managers A.C. Ancona managers S.S.C. Napoli managers Serie A managers Tunisia national football team managers Libya national football team managers Filmed deaths from natural causes Deaths onstage Sportspeople from the Province of Messina 2000 African Cup of Nations managers