Some gestures have change into a part of Italian soccer’s collective aesthetics. Take into consideration Carlo Parola’s legendary overhead kick, which grew to become so iconic that it was chosen by Panini to be depicted of their well-known soccer sticker packs for many years.
Or, about Francesco Totti’s dismissive “4 purpose” signal after Roma trounced Juventus 4-0 in 2004.
For Torino, one in all these iconic gestures is their captain Paolo Pulici’s diving header on Could 16, 1976, to open the scoring in a recreation towards Cesena that will seal the Granata’s seventh – and, up to now, final – Scudetto, the primary they received since the Tragedy of Superga.
Forward of the final matchday within the 1975/76 marketing campaign, Torino and Juventus shared the highest spot within the Serie A desk – that appears unthinkable these days, proper?
Juventus traveled to Perugia to face the newly promoted Grifoni, whereas Torino welcomed Cesena to the then Stadio Comunale in Turin. A couple of minutes into the second half, poor Renato Curi (who would die one 12 months later from coronary heart failure, collapsing on the pitch throughout one other recreation towards the Bianconeri…) opened the scoring for Perugia, paving the best way to Torino’s triumph.
It solely made sense that the decisive purpose for Toro could be scored a couple of minutes later by Pulici, whose coronary heart was so Granata that, earlier than taking the sphere in any recreation towards their much-hated cross-city rivals, he used to scrub his studs towards a Juventus flag.
Pulici’s timing on 61 minutes was excellent as he anticipated his marker to move the ball previous Cesena’s goalie Lamberto Boranga – one other legendary character who went on to play within the beginner divisions till 2018, when he was 77 (!!!)
Nonetheless, Torino needed to undergo till the tip as, ten minutes after Pulici’s opener, a misunderstanding between defender Roberto Mozzini and shot-stopper Luciano Castellini sparked Mozzini’s own-goal, leveling the rating at 1-1.
All’s nicely that ends nicely, although. Juventus didn’t handle to equalize in Perugia, and so a tie was sufficient for the Granata to wrap maybe the sweetest of their Scudettos, which they received over their Turin rivals.
Cesena have been very blissful as nicely, because the level they snatched in Turin helped them finish a sensational sixth within the desk and obtain qualification to the UEFA Cup for his or her first and solely time.
So, was everyone blissful on the Stadio Comunale? Not precisely. The Torino coach, Gigi Radice, was livid: Mozzoni’s personal purpose had prevented Torino from reaching one other sensational report – profitable all their dwelling video games in a season. Now that’s striving for perfection.
