Happy Birthday to Tarcisio Burgnich, who turns 79 today!

Tarcisio Burgnich was born in Ruda, Udine on 25th April 1939.

He was a strong and energetic player known as “Roccia” (The Rock). He spent his youth career at the Udinese academy and made his Serie A debut on 2nd April 1959. He soon moved to Juventus, before then enjoying spells at Palermo, Inter (for 12 seasons) and Napoli. In total, he won five Serie A titles, two European Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, one Coppa Italia and one Anglo-Italian Cup.

He won 66 caps for the senior national team and scored a memorable goal at the 1970 World Cup, played in Mexico. His equaliser made it 2-2 against West Germany in the memorable semi-final, labelled as the “The Game of the Century”, while he was also part of the side that won the 1968 European Championship in Italy. Notably, he formed a legendary defensive partnership with Giacinto Facchetti (also his Inter teammate) at three World Cups (1966, 1970 and 1974).