Italian football mourns death of popular coach Carlo Mazzone

Italian football lost one of its most popular figures on Saturday after Carlo Mazzone died aged 86.

Matches across Italy will begin with a minute’s silence this weekend in honour of the former Roma, Napoli and Brescia manager.

“We say goodbye to a true icon of Italian football,” said Italian football federation president Gabriele Gravina.

After finishing an unglamourous playing career in the late 1960s Mazzone managed a record 792 matches in Serie A over nearly four decades, taking charge of 15 clubs and never winning a single major trophy.

But despite his lack of silverware Mazzone was a well-respected coach who had a larger-than-life presence in the dugout.

He was crucial to Francesco Totti becoming a Roma and Italy icon, guiding him into the first team in the early 1990s and acting as a father figure for the teenage attacker.

Mazzone also had a key role in the career of World Cup winning midfielder Andrea Pirlo.

In charge of Brescia when Pirlo was on loan there from

Full Story »