Giorgio Chinaglia Dead At 65

[ck26]

ESPN is reporting the former SS Lazio and New York Cosmos striker is dead.

98 goals in 209 games for Lazio
1x Serie A title (1974)
Played for Italy at the 1974 World Cup
193 in 213 for the Cosmos
4x NASL titles (1982, 1980, 1978, 1977)
Inducted to the US soccer hall of fame in 2000.

There are some allegations of ties to some shady characters in Italy, and he burned bridges with the Italian national team at the 1974 World Cup during a dispute with the coach, but he was absolutely one of the real superstars and larger-than-life personalities of the old NASL.

One line paraphrased from a NY Times article pretty well sums up the life and times of Big Georgie ... "In 1979, Chinaglia became a naturalized American citizen, telling New York Times reporter Diane Ackerman that he proudly kept his citizenship papers in his locker next to his bottle of Chivas Regal."

If you haven't seen the documentary "Once In A Lifetime" about the Cosmos, it's worth checking out just to hear the stories of Chinaglia running his mouth and putting Pele in his place on the field.

Chinaglia Chinaglia Chinaglia !!!


http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/...ia-dies-age-65

[nyranger61494]

Originally Posted by ck26

ESPN is reporting the former SS Lazio and New York Cosmos striker is dead.

98 goals in 209 games for Lazio
1x Serie A title (1974)
Played for Italy at the 1974 World Cup
193 in 213 for the Cosmos
4x NASL titles (1982, 1980, 1978, 1977)
Inducted to the US soccer hall of fame in 2000.

There are some allegations of ties to some shady characters in Italy, and he burned bridges with the Italian national team at the 1974 World Cup during a dispute with the coach, but he was absolutely one of the real superstars and larger-than-life personalities of the old NASL.

One line paraphrased from a NY Times article pretty well sums up the life and times of Big Georgie ... "In 1979, Chinaglia became a naturalized American citizen, telling New York Times reporter Diane Ackerman that he proudly kept his citizenship papers in his locker next to his bottle of Chivas Regal."

If you haven't seen the documentary "Once In A Lifetime" about the Cosmos, it's worth checking out just to hear the stories of Chinaglia running his mouth and putting Pele in his place on the field.

Chinaglia Chinaglia Chinaglia !!!


http://espn.go.com/new-york/story/_/...ia-dies-age-65

That's one way of wording it, haha. One of a kind talent and one of a kind personality. The former much better than the latter.