Gianfranco Bedin (; born 24 July 1945) is a former

Italian football Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only Bra ...

er who played as a

box-to-box 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 ...

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

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 ...

. Bedin began his career with

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

, playing for the team for a decade, and was part of their

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

victory in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

; he later also played for

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

and

Rondinella Rondinella is an Italian wine grape variety. Almost all of the total global growing area of is in the Veneto region of northern Italy, and the grapes are used in wines from the Valpolicella and Bardolino wine regions. Rondinella always appear ...

. At international level, he also earned 6 caps for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

between 1966 and 1972.

Club career

Born in

San Donà di Piave San Donà di Piave (; vec, San Donà ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. It is one of the historical main towns of the ''Eastern Veneto'' territory, although it was totally reconstructed in the ...

, Bedin is mostly remembered for the club football he played whilst at

from 1964 to 1974, as a member of Helenio Herrera's highly successful "

Grande Inter Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

" squad. He appeared in 211

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

matches with the Milanese club, winning three

titles, the

, and two Intercontinental Cups, also reaching the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

final, as well as another European Cup final. He would later also play for

U.C. Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, S ...

(1974–78),

A.S. Varese 1910 Società Sportiva Dilettantistica Varese Calcio, commonly referred to as Varese, was an Italian football club based in Varese, Lombardy. It was founded as Varese Football Club on 22 March 1910. It became Associazione Sportiva Varesina in 1923, ...

(1978–79),

A.S. Livorno Calcio Unione Sportiva Livorno 1915 (formerly A.S. Livorno Calcio, commonly known as Livorno), is a semi-professional Italian football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. They compete in Serie D, the top tier of semi-professional Italian football after t ...

(1979–80), and San Frediano Rondinella S.S. (1980–81), before retiring in 1981.

International career

Bedin also represented

at international level, making 6 appearances for the national side between 1966 and 1972, although, despite his success at club level with Inter, he never represented Italy at a major international tournament.

Style of play

Primarily a ball-winner, Bedin was known in particular for his anticipation, stamina, work-rate, man-marking, and his ability to read the game as a defensive or box-to-box midfielder, which allowed him to support his more creative and offensive teammates defensively. A modern, two-way player, he was also capable of starting attacking plays and getting into good offensive positions after winning back possession.

Honours

Inter Milan *

: 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71 *

: 1964–65 * Intercontinental Cup:

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at Enciclopediadelcalcio.it 1945 births Living people Italian footballers Italy international footballers Serie A players Inter Milan players U.C. Sampdoria players S.S.D. Varese Calcio players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Association football midfielders {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub