Rino Ferrario (; 7 December 1926 – 19 September 2012) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 le ...

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 ...

Club career

As a defensive midfielder, Ferrario became a starter at

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, winning the position from

Carlo Parola Carlo Parola (; 20 September 1921 – 22 March 2000), was an Italian footballer and coach who played as a defender. Throughout his career, he won domestic titles with Italian club Juventus, both as a player and as a manager. At international lev ...

. At Juventus, he won two

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 ...

championships, the first in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

and the other in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

as well as one

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 ...

before ending his career with cross-city rivals

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

at thirty-five years of age.

International career

Ferrario was one of five players selected to represent the

Italian national 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 ...

at the 1954 World Cup that did not play during the cup (among others; Sergio Cervato, Leonardo Costagliola,

Guido Gratton Guido Gratton (; 23 September 1932 – 26 November 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career A Friulian from Monfalcone, Guido Gratton played for Fiorentina in the 1950s, together with players such as Julinho, Vir ...

and,

Gino Pivatelli Gino Pivatelli (; born 27 March 1933) is a former Italian footballer and manager who played as a striker. An agile and technically gifted centre-forward, with a powerful right-footed shot, although he was a prolific goalscorer, he was also a high ...

). A notable instance with the national team at

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

was Ferrario's confrontation with

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

's local hero Kocsis in a 1955 game where Italy lost 2–0 that nearly started a riot between the Italians and Magyars. For the 'Azzurri' he earned 10 caps between 1952 and 1958 and was praised for his consistent performances. He was also a member of the Italian team that took part at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

, however he did not participate in any matches.

Style of play

Nicknamed 'Mobilia' for his rugby player-like physique (he was one of the biggest players to ever play on the Italian national team at the time), Ferrario was a powerful, dominant, and tenacious

defensive 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 ...

, who was almost impossible to knock down, and difficult to get by. He was known for his competitive spirit, work-rate, and stamina, which enabled him to cover the pitch efficiently and win back possession. A decisive and consistent player, he would be frequently involved in crucial plays for his team. He was called "The Belfast Lion" for fiercely defending himself in Belfast during a pitch invasion by angry opposing fans.

References

External links

La Gazzetta dello Sport
* https://kripkit.com/rino-ferrario/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrario, Rino 1926 births 2012 deaths Italian footballers Association football midfielders S.S. Arezzo players S.S.D. Lucchese 1905 players Juventus F.C. players Inter Milan players U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 players Torino F.C. players Serie A players Italy international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players