Giancarlo De Sisti

Giancarlo De Sisti

Giancarlo De Sisti in 1969
Personal information
Date of birth	(1943-03-13) 13 March 1943 (age 73)
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1960–1965	Roma	87	(13)
1965–1974	Fiorentina	256	(28)
1974–1979	Roma	135	(9)
National team
1967–1972	Italy	29	(4)
Teams managed
1981–1985	Fiorentina
1985–1987	Udinese
1991–1992	Ascoli
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Giancarlo de Sisti (born 13 March 1943) is a retired Italian footballer and football manager and player, who played as a midfielder.

Best known by his nickname Picchio, during his club career, De Sisti played for his hometown club A.S. Roma on two occasions (1960–65, 1974–79), and ACF Fiorentina (1965–74), winning several domestic and international titles with both clubs. He made his debut in Serie A with Roma in a 2–1 away defeat to Udinese, on 12 February 1961, and was able to observe the team's star player and his mentor Juan Alberto Schiaffino during his first spell at the club; he enjoyed his most successful period with Fiorentina, however, which included a league title in 1969, the club's second overall, before returning to Roma in 1974. He won the Coppa Italia with both clubs, in 1964 and 1966.

At international level, De Sisti earned 29 caps and scored 4 goals for the Italy national football team between 1967 and 1972, making his debut on 1 November 1967, in a 5–0 home win over Cyprus in a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifying match. He later played in the European championship-winning team at Euro 1968 on home soil, appearing in the 2–0 final replay victory over Yugoslavia in Rome, at the age of 25. He was also a member of the Italian side that finished runners-up at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

Following his retirement, De Sisti pursued a coaching career, achieving his coaching badges in 1980, and becoming head coach of his former club Fiorentina later that year, narrowly missing out on the league title to rivals Juventus in 1982. He was forced to leave his job in 1985 after being diagnosed with brain abscess. He returned to football with Udinese later that year, for two seasons, and then entered into the Italian Football Federation as head coach of the Italian Juniores (1988–90) and Military squads (1990–91), winning a Military World Championship with the Italian Military side in 1991. He made a return to club football later that year, with Ascoli, being successively sacked in January 1992.