Sergio Brighenti (; 23 September 1932 – 10 October 2022) 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 ...

player and coach. As a professional player, Brighenti 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 ...

at both club and international level, before beginning his coaching career.

Playing career

Making his professional debut in 1949, Brighenti played for

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

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 ...

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

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, ...

and

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 ...

, winning two consecutive

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 ...

titles with Inter in 1953 and 1954. Brighenti scored a total of 155 goals in 363 career league games. He was also top-scorer in Serie A once throughout his career, during the 1960–61 season, scoring 27 goals. Brighenti also earned nine caps for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

between 1959 and 1961, scoring two goals.

Style of play

Brighenti was a quick, hardworking, and dynamic

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, with good technical ability, and a powerful, accurate shot, who was known for his team–play as well as his eye for goal; as such, his role was more akin to that of a "centravanti di manovra," in Italian football jargon (literally translating to "manoeuvring centre-forward"), which was similar to that of a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, and a precursor to the modern

false 9 Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

role.

Coaching career

Brighenti retired as a player in 1965, and began his first football management job with

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 ...

in 1968. Brighenti was manager at Varese twice, and also managed

Seregno Seregno (; lmo, label= Brianzoeu, Seregn ) is a town and ''comune'' of the new Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italian region of Lombardy. Seregno received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on 26 January 1979. It is ser ...

and

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label=Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco''). ...

Personal life and death

Sergio Brighenti was born in

on 23 September 1932. His older brother was fellow player Renato Brighenti. Brighenti died on 10 October 2022, at the age of 90.È morto Sergio Brighenti, ex Inter e Samp. Fu il primo azzurro a segnare a Wembley

Honours

Inter Milan *

: 1952–53, 1953–54 Individual * Serie A top scorer: 1960–61

References

External links

*
RSSSF

FIGC Profile
1932 births 2022 deaths Italian footballers Italy international footballers Italian football managers Serie A players Calcio Padova players Inter Milan players Modena F.C. players U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 players Torino F.C. players U.C. Sampdoria players Calcio Lecco 1912 managers U.S.D. 1913 Seregno Calcio managers S.S.D. Varese Calcio managers Association football forwards Sportspeople from Modena {{Italy-footy-forward-1930s-stub