Luciano Re Cecconi (; 1 December 1948 – 18 January 1977) was an Italian footballer, 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 ...

; a fast, strong, athletic, and hardworking player, known for his speed, tenacity, and stamina, he functioned as a

box-to-box 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 ...

or as a

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

central 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 ...

for his teams. He was also known for his sense of humour throughout his career; and was nicknamed l'Angelo Biondo (;

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 ...

for ''The Blond

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

''), for the colour of his hair.

Club career

Re Cecconi made his debut for Pro Patria, then in

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 ...

, on 14 April 1968, and subsequently moved to

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

, which he helped to promotion from

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 ...

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 ...

in the 1969–70 season (they were relegated again the following year). In 1972, he joined

S.S. Lazio Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...

. He was a key member of the Lazio title-winning side of the

1973–74 Serie A The 1973–74 Serie A season was won by S.S. Lazio, Lazio. Teams Genoa C.F.C., Genoa, AC Cesena, Cesena and US Foggia, Foggia had been promoted from Serie B while Atalanta B.C., Atalanta, Ternana Calcio, Ternana and Palermo F.C., Palermo was re ...

season, for which he scored two goals and made 23 appearances. He also won the league with the under-21 side during 1973–74 season.

International career

Re Cecconi was called up for Italy's squad for 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 he won two caps in total during the following season in friendly matches in 1974. He also played for the Italian under-23 side, in addition to being on the roster of the Italian national squad at the 1974 World Cup.

Death

Re Cecconi was shot dead in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

on 18 January 1977, after pretending to rob a friend's jewelry shop as a

practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

Honours

;

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: 1973–74

References

1948 births 1977 deaths Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan 1977 crimes in Italy Accidental deaths in Italy Deaths by firearm in Italy Defensive gun use Firearm accident victims Manslaughter victims Italian footballers Association football midfielders Aurora Pro Patria 1919 players Calcio Foggia 1920 players S.S. Lazio players Serie C players Serie B players Serie A players Italy international footballers 1974 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Lombardy {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub