Francesco Graziani

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Francesco Graziani with Italian national team jersey.

Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani (born December 16, 1952) is an Italy football manager and former player.

[edit] Playing career

Graziani was born in Subiaco, in the province of Rome.

As striker, he started his footballing career in Arezzo. Later he became famous as one of the leading members of the last scudetto won by Torino. He joined the granata in 1973, and soon became a key player for the team, winning the Serie A in 1976. In 1977, he was the Serie A top-scorer with 21 goals.

Graziani then played for ACF Fiorentina (1981-1983) and AS Roma (1983-1988), and failing to win a Champions' League in a penalty defeat against Liverpool (Graziani himself missed a penalty shoot-out in the match). He then played also for Udinese, before to abandon his playing career. Graziani totalled 353 presence, with 130 goals, in the Italian Serie A.

He was also an international player for Italy, representing the Azzurri at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, 1982 FIFA World Cup and in Euro 80. He scored one goal in the 1982 FIFA World Cup against Cameroon, a tournament that Italy won. With 23 goals in 64 caps, he is (as for April, 2006) ranked as the ninth all-time scorer for his national team.

[edit] Managing career

Graziani coached a number of teams with little fortune: Fiorentina in 1989, Reggina in 1990, and Avellino in 1993. In the 2001-2002 season, Graziani, who was the managing director of Catania in Serie C1, was successively appointed as manager, and led the Sicilian team to a promotion in Serie B. He then resigned as football coach after nine match of the next season, and in 2003-2004 he coached Montevarchi of Serie C2 with little success, being fired before the end of the season. From 2004 to 2006, he coached Cervia, an amateur team of Emilia-Romagna from Eccellenza league which was subject of an Italian reality show, Campioni - Il Sogno. He led the team to an immediate promotion to Serie D, being popular to the public because of his hot-blooded attitudes, especially during league matches.

Graziani's son, Gabriele, is a football player too; he currently plays in the role of forward for Serie B team Mantova.

	Italy squad - 1982 FIFA World Cup Champions (3rd Title)
1 Zoff \| 2 Baresi \| 3 Bergomi \| 4 Cabrini \| 5 Collovati \| 6 Gentile \| 7 Scirea \| 8 Vierchowod \| 9 Antognoni \| 10 Dossena \| 11 Marini \| 12 Bordon \| 13 Oriali \| 14 Tardelli \| 15 Causio \| 16 Conti \| 17 Massaro \| 18 Altobelli \| 19 Graziani \| 20 Rossi \| 21 Selvaggi \| 22 Galli \| Coach: Bearzot

	Italy squad - 1978 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place
1 Zoff \| 2 Bellugi \| 3 Cabrini \| 4 Cuccureddu \| 5 Gentile \| 6 Maldera \| 7 Manfredonia \| 8 Scirea \| 9 Antognoni \| 10 Benetti \| 11 Pecci \| 12 Conti \| 13 P. Sala \| 14 Tardelli \| 15 Zaccarelli \| 16 Causio \| 17 C. Sala \| 18 Bettega \| 19 Graziani \| 20 Pulici \| 21 Rossi \| 22 Bordon \| Coach: Bearzot