When legends die in the world of mortal men, their death is often the subject of mass media attention, and on May 29 2015, Italian football lost one of its legends in Bruno Pesaola.
“It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles” — Niccolo Machiavelli
A prolific left-winger on the pitch and philosopher off it, Forza Italian Football pay tribute to late great Bruno Pesaola.
It comes as to no surprise that Fiorentina will hold a minute’s silence and wear black armbands in memory of their former coach. There is also minimal surprise in that Pesaola was awarded an honorary residence in Naples in 2009 despite being born in Argentina, with his death receiving major attention amongst Napoli fans.
Born in July 28 1925 to Italian parents who’d emigrated to Argentina, young Bruno started off his career at the youth system of giants River Plate where he spent 14 years — playing alongside Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano.
After a couple of years with Sportivo Dock Sud, young Bruno moved to Italy in 1947 to start a career in the capital with Roma, where he established himself as a fast and prolific left-winger. However, his career took an unfortunate turn when ‘El Petisso’ fractured both his tibia and fibula in a game against Palermo in February 1950. In fact the tackle was so severe that the tackler, Aredio Gimona, was given a life ban from football before appealing twice to reduce it to 11 months.
Pesaola was destined to return to his native Argentina following the injury, however all-time Serie A top-scorer Silvio Pioli invited the winger to trial at Novara, where he eventually plied his trade for two seasons. El Petisso‘s effect was immense in the first season, scoring a goal against Juventus to help the Biancoazzurri defeat the Turin giants for the first time in 11 years.
In the following 1951-52 season, Pesaola scored eight goals in Serie A to help Novara finish in eighth, their best-ever finish up to date — thus helping him secure a move to Napoli. In fact his wife Ornella, who was crowned Miss Novara three consecutive times, played a major part in convincing El Petisso to move to Naples, a transfer that would later define his career.
Just like Diego Maradona, Pesaola fell in love with the Southern city. Not only did he love Naples, but his best years as a player were with a Partenopei shirt, where he made 240 appearances in eight seasons, earning him both his first Italy B and later on his first and only Italian national team cap — adding to the list of ‘Oriundi’ (foreign-born players) to represent the Azzurri.
After a one year absence from Naples, Pesaola returned to the city — this time as coach — of the club where he had shone, establishing a coaching legacy filled with proverbs and philosophy, helping the side achieve promotion to Serie A and win the Coppa Italia too, where they defeated SPAL 2-1 in the final.
Despite the good performances, El Petisso left the Partenopei at the end of the season to spend one year at Savoia before returning once more — this time guiding the side to the now defunct Coppa della Alpi in 1966.
Despite being a Napoli-lover and a club icon, his finest hour came as coach of Fiorentina when he won the 1968-69 Serie A title, overcoming eventual 1969-70 champions Cagliari and an AC Milan side led by the great Nereo Rocco, who became European champions 10 days later by defeating Rinus Michel’s Ajax 4-1 in the final.
Two seasons later, Pesaola was on the move once more as he headed to Bologna, where he spent four years, winning the Coppa Italia in his second season in 1973-74 by defeating Palermo in the final.
What was even more intriguing than his time in Bologna was that once his stint was over in 1976, El Petisso returned to his spiritual home Naples once again to take over Napoli, and lead them to their second Coppa delle Alpi under his guidance.
Pesaola left at the end of that season, but returned once more in his fourth and final stint as coach of the side in 1982-83, helping the team achieve survival on the final day of the season against Genoa courtesy of Moreno Ferrario’s injury time winner. After taking the decision to retire two years later, he permanently resided in Naples.
“Naples reminds me of the neighbourhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires: people, noise, colour, songs. I am an Italian born abroad, I was born in Argentina by mistake.” – Pesaola
Pesaola lived for Napoli, and the fans knew that, Diego Maradona himself found Pesaola special, dubbing him ‘the master’.
Although his body may have left the world of calcio, his legacy lives on. Rest in peace, Bruno Pesaola.
