Renato Curi (20 September 1953 – 30 October 1977) was an Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

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 ...

. He is best known for his tenure as a

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

mainstay in the 1970s until his death during a league game against Juventus.

Biography

Renato Curi was born in

Montefiore dell'Aso Montefiore dell'Aso is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ascoli Piceno in the Italian region Marche, located about southeast of Ancona and about northeast of Ascoli Piceno. One of several Hilltowns in Central Italy, Montefiore del ...

Province of Ascoli Piceno The province of Ascoli Piceno ( it, Provincia di Ascoli Piceno) is a province in the Marche region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ascoli Piceno, and the province is bordered by the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Province of Fermo to the nor ...

in 1953. He started his professional career in 1969 with then-amateur club Giulianova, helping his side to win promotion to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

. He left Giulianova in 1973 for

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label= Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps h ...

, and

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

club

one year later, helping his side, coached by

Ilario Castagner Ilario Castagner (born 18 December 1940) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a striker. References External links 1940 births People from Vittorio Veneto A.C. Reggiana 1919 players A.C. Perugia Calcio p ...

, to win a historical first promotion ever to

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 Cop ...

, and being a ''grifoni'' mainstay in the next years. Notably, his impressive performances proved to be instrumental for ensuring Perugia a historical sixth place in their 1976–77 Serie A campaign, and newspapers started rumours about a possible call-up of him 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 ...

. However, this never happened, as Curi suddenly died on 30 October 1977 during a home match against Juventus, five minutes after the beginning of the second half, due to a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may ...

Legacy

The Perugia home stadium where Curi died was later named after him. Also, a

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

team is named

Renato Curi Angolana Renato Curi Angolana, is an Italian association football club located in Città Sant'Angelo, Abruzzo. It currently plays in Eccellenza. History The club was founded in 1998 after the merger of ''Renato Curi'', same name of a footballer of P ...

Biography

Legacy

References

Bibliography

See also