Luís Vinícius de Menezes, more famously known as Vinício (born 28 February 1932) is a former professional football player, who played as a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

. Although he is a Brazilian, Vinício played his entire career in Italy, and because of this, he was excluded from the Brazil national side, in a similar manner to

José Altafini José João Altafini (; born 24 July 1938), also known as "Mazzola" in Brazil, is an Italian-Brazilian former association football, footballer, who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Although, he began his career with Sociedade ...

; unlike Altafini, however, Vinício chose not to play for the Italy national side. Following his professional footballing career, he later became a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, who became known for introducing tactics based on Dutch ''

total football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...

'' in Italy.

Playing career

Vinício was born in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte is the List of largest cities in Brazil, sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population of around 2.3 million, and the third largest metropolitan area, containing a population of 6 million. It is the List of cities in Sout ...

, Brazil. At age 23 he came to Italy, joining the Naples representative club

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

during the 1955–56 season. He style was considered generous and powerful on the field, which soon gained him the nickname O lione'' (

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

) from the Napoli faithful. In total for the club he played 152 games and scored 69 goals in a 5-year period. He moved on next to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in 1960; he performed well during his first season with the club, during which he managed to win the

Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...

in 1961, but during the successive season, Vinício was used less frequently, due to competition from youngster

Harald Nielsen Harald Ingemann Nielsen (26 October 1941 – 11 August 2015) was a Danish association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. He played professionally for Italian club Bologna F.C. 1909, Bologna F.C. where ...

. In the summer of 1962 he returned disconsolate to Brazil, after finding little football action in recent years with Bologna. However, soon he was recalled to Italy from the management of Lanerossi Vicenza, who offered him a new contract. To Vinício, joining Vicenza was like a second birth in Italian football. After an average first year, he re-found his form, and became extremely prolific in front of goal, scoring 17 goals in the 1963–64 season, which helped the club to a 6th place finish in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. In 1964–65 his performances were still decisive, as he helped Vicenza to a tenth place finish in championship. The following season, he scored 25 goals, finishing the season as the Serie A top scorer; his top-scoring record of 25 goals in a single Serie A campaign would not be equalled again until

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

in 1991–92. In the summer of 1966, he left Vicenza because

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

signed Vinício to play for

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. Since 1 ...

. His tenure in ''nerazzurro'' did not bring much luck however; he competed only 8 games for the club and scored one goal. For the final season of his playing career, he returned to Vicenza at age 36. This season saw him take his total goal scoring record, for all games player in Serie A during his career to over 150 goals.

Coaching career

Following his professional footballing career, Vinício later became an experienced football manager, coaching many different clubs, including

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

and

; he won the

1971–72 Serie C The 1971–72 Serie C was the thirty-fourth edition of Serie C, the third highest league in the Italian football league system. Girone A Girone B Girone C References and sources *''Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio – La Storia 1898–200 ...

title while coaching

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

, and narrowly missed out on the Serie A title during his time with Napoli (finishing two points behind

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in 1974–75), leading a side which became renowned for their exciting attacking football, inspired by the Dutch ''

Total Football Total Football () is a tactical system in association football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player in a team. A player who moves out of his position is replaced by another from his team, thus retaining the ...

'', in an era in which defensive ''

catenaccio ''Catenaccio'' () or The Chain is a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defence. In Italian, ''catenaccio'' means "door-bolt", which implies a highly organised and effective backline defence focused on nullifying opponents ...

'' tactics still dominated Italy.

Style of management

Vinício was known for his exciting attacking football tactics, which were inspired by Dutch ''Total Football'', and which he introduced in Italy in an era in which defensive ''

'' tactics, which made use of man–to–man marking, still dominated in Italian football. His teams were known for using a fluid and attractive attacking style of play, as well as heavy pressing, the

offside trap Offside is one of the laws in association football, codified in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game. The law states that a player is in an offside position if any of their body parts, except the hands and arms, are in the opponents' half of the ...

, and a

zonal marking In association football, marking is an organized defensive tactic which aims to prevent a member of the opposing team (usually a striker) from taking control of the ball. Several marking strategies exist in football, and they mostly differ from e ...

defensive system; during his time with Napoli, he usually employed a 4–4–2 formation, and made use of an offensive

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

(normally

Tarcisio Burgnich Tarcisio Burgnich (; 25 April 1939 – 26 May 2021) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a defender. Throughout his career, Burgnich played for Udinese, Juventus, Palermo, Inter Milan, and Napoli; although he won titles ...

) as one of his team's central defenders, who was required to push forward and advance into midfield in order to start attacking plays.

References

External links

Profile at Enciclopedia del Calcio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vinicio, Luis Brazilian football managers Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players SSC Napoli players LR Vicenza players Bologna FC 1909 players Inter Milan players Serie A players SS Lazio managers SSC Napoli managers Udinese Calcio managers SS Juve Stabia managers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Men's association football forwards 1932 births Living people Footballers from Belo Horizonte 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy