Franco Causio (; born 1 February 1949) is an Italian former professional

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 won the 1982 FIFA World Cup and played for Juventus for many years in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever wingers, throughout his career, he was given the nickname "The Baron", because of his stylish moves on the pitch, as well as his well-educated upbringing, and his fair attitude in life.

Biography

Causio was born in Lecce ( Apulia), and moved to Juventus when he was 17.

Club career

European Cup 1972-73 - Juventus v Derby County - John McGovern & Franco Causio

After some years on loan in

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 ...

(playing in

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

and Palermo), he returned to Juventus in during 1970. For 11 years he wore the number 7 jersey for Juventus, and played alongside notable players such as

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and

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. During a highly successful period with the club, he won the scudetto six times, as well as winning a

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 ...

, and an

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. He also reached the European Cup final with Juventus during the 1972–73 season, as well as the Intercontinental Cup final that same year, narrowly missing out on a treble with the club, following their defeat in the

final that season, despite their Serie A title. His best finish in the European Cup Winners' Cup was during the 1979–80 season, when Juventus reached the semi-finals of the tournament. Immediately after winning the Scudetto for the sixth time in his final season with Juventus, he moved to

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

in 1981, where he played for three years, teaming up with Brazilian national team star player Zico. Following his time at Udinese he played for

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

, and then joined his local town's football team, Lecce, in its debut in Serie A ( 1985–86). He finished his career playing for

team Triestina at the age of 39.

International career

Causio made his debut with the Italy national team on 29 April 1972 in a 0–0 draw against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, in a 1972 European qualifying match. He was in the Italian squad at the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the tenth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the first time that the ...

, and at the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by t ...

, where the Italians finished in fourth place after reaching the semi-final. He also represented Italy at the 1980 European Championship on home soil, where they once again finished in fourth place after a semi-final finish. He was most notably a member of the Italy squad that won the

1982 World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain between 13 June and 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy, who defeated West Germany 3–1 i ...

. With two red cards throughout his international career, he is Italy's most red carded player ever, alongside

Giancarlo Antognoni Giancarlo Antognoni (; born 1 April 1954) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A skillful and creative offensive playmaker, regarded as one of the best Italian players of all time in his position, he played mos ...

and

Daniele De Rossi Daniele De Rossi (; born 24 July 1983) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder and is currently manager of side SPAL. He is mostly known for his time playing with his hometown club Roma in Serie A, as ...

Style of play

Regarded as one of the top Italian players of his generation, and one of the best ever Italian players in his position, Causio was usually deployed as a

wide 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 ...

on the right flank, although he was also capable of playing in several other

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

positions, and was also often used as an offensive playmaker, or as a

left winger 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 ...

. A creative, nimble, diminutive, and elegant footballer, he was gifted with excellent

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, and was an accurate crosser of the ball. In addition to his outstanding ball control and technical ability, he was also a fast and hard-working player, who possessed notable stamina, which enabled him to cover the flank effectively, and aid his team defensively as well as offensively.

Honours

Juventus *

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 ...

(6): 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81 *

: 1978–79 *

: 1976–77 Italy *

World Cup of Masters The World Cup of Masters, also known as the Pelé World Cup and Mundial de Seniors was an event that ran every two years from 1987 until 1995. The tournament was for senior (35+) players and it was under the rules of the IMFA (International Master ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

: 1982 Individual * Guerin d'Oro: 1982

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Causio, Franco 1949 births Living people Sportspeople from Lecce Italian footballers Association football wingers Italy international footballers Juventus F.C. players Reggina 1914 players Palermo F.C. players Udinese Calcio players Inter Milan players U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 players A.S. Sambenedettese players U.S. Lecce players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players FIFA World Cup-winning players 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Cup winning players Italian beach soccer players Footballers from Apulia