Vittorio Mero (21 May 1974 – 23 January 2002) 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 le ...

who played as a defender. He spent his whole career in Italy playing for lower and high division clubs such as

A.S. Casale Calcio A.S.D. Casale Foot Ball Club (formerly A.S. Casale Calcio) is an Italian football club, based in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont. The club plays in Serie D. The team's nickname ''nerostellati'' (“the starred-blacks”) refers to the team's colou ...

, Parma F.C., Crevalcore,

Ravenna Calcio Ravenna Football Club is an Football in Italy, Italian association football club, based in Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna. It currently plays in Serie C after achieving promotion as Group D champions in the 2016–17 Serie D, 2016-17 Serie D season. ...

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in . The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1 ...

and

Ternana Calcio Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

Career

Born at

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

, he started his career with an amateur team, Belvedere in 1990–91, and made his debut at the professional level at the age of 17 for

. The following year Mero signed for Parma F.C., playing with the ''Primavera'' team before being sold to Crevalcore, with whom he won the

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 ...

2 league. In 1995, he was signed by

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

, team for which he played three seasons, obtaining a promotion to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

. He moved to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

in 1998, obtaining his first promotion 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 Coppa ...

and making his European debut as team captain in the

2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Aston Villa, Paris Saint-Germain and Troyes. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

, in which Brescia reached the finals, eventually losing to Paris Saint-Germain. During his time there, he was nicknamed ''Sceriffo'' (Sheriff) by his coach Nedo Sonetti for his diligence and reliability.

Death

Mero died on 23 January 2002, in a car accident in the A4 highway near

Rovato Rovato (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, northern Italy. Neighbouring towns are Coccaglio, Erbusco and Cazzago San Martino. It is located in the Franciacorta hills, 11 km south of Lake Iseo and 18 km ...

. Brescia honoured him by retiring the #13 jersey.

Honours

;Crevalcore * Serie C2/A: 1993–94

References

1974 births 2002 deaths People from Vercelli Italian footballers Brescia Calcio players Casale F.B.C. players Parma Calcio 1913 players Ravenna F.C. players Ternana Calcio players Association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Road incident deaths in Italy Footballers from Piedmont Sportspeople from the Province of Vercelli {{Italy-footy-defender-1970s-stub

Career

Death

Honours

See also

References