Gabriele Oriali

Gabriele Oriali
Personal information
Date of birth	(1952-11-25) November 25, 1952 (age 61)
Place of birth	Como (CO), Italy
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1966–1970	Internazionale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1970–1983	Internazionale	277	(33)
1983–1987	Fiorentina	107	(7)
National team
1978–1983	Italy	28	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Gabriele Oriali (born November 25, 1952) is a former football player from Italy, who mainly played defensive midfield but could also play as defender.

Playing career

A native of Como (Lombardy), son of an Italian father and a Romanian mother. Oriali played for the Inter youth team for four seasons before being promoted to the senior squad. He debuted for Inter in the 1970–71 Scudetto winning season and was an integral part of the Inter squad of the 1970s.

He didn't have the best technical ability but he was excellent in stopping players and was an excellent man-marker. He was labeled a "incontrista", a player who's sole responsibility was to break up plays and distribute the ball to another player to start the attack.

He was called up to the national team for the first time on December 21, 1978 in a friendly against Spain, quickly earning a starting spot. His one and only goal for Italy came in a friendly against Sweden, which was played in Florence on September 26, 1979; the game finished in an Italian victory, 1:0.

After winning the scudetto in 1979–80 with Inter, he played in the 1980 European Championship where Italy finished fourth, losing to Czechoslovakia in a penalty shootout. With Inter, he won a second Coppa Italia in 1981–82 after his first Coppa victory in 1977–78. In all he played 70 matches and scored 8 goals for Inter in the Coppa Italia competition.

Oriali played 45 matches and scored 3 goals for Inter in European cup competitions. He was part of the team that lost to Ajax in the 1971–72 European Cup final.

Oriali is also remembered for a heroic performance in a Milan Derby, played on October 25, 1981. In that game he scored the winning goal but also required thirty stitches having been booted in the face by the A.C. Milan defender Mauro Tassotti.^[1] That year Inter won both of its derby games, a feat that would not be repeated until 2007, the next 26 years.

In 1982 he was a key member of the Italian National team which traveled to Spain for the 1982 World Cup. Oriali appeared in five games at the tournament, including the final against West Germany, which Italy won 3:1, to win their third FIFA World Cup. He was also part of the team that defeated the strong teams of Argentina and Brazil, and defeated Poland in the semi-final. His last game for Italy was on May 29, 1983 against Sweden, played in Göteborg, as part of the qualifying for the 1984 European Championship. Italy lost the game 0:2.

After winning the World Cup, and following the end of the 1982–1983 season, he moved to Fiorentina where he played for four seasons. He retired from football in 1987 after 384 games (40 goals) in Serie A and 28 caps (1 goal) for Italy.

Managing career

After finishing his playing career Oriali moved into the managing side of Italian football. First becoming a sporting director at Bologna, then at Parma. He returned to Inter to become its technical director–the position is currently held by another former Inter player, Marco Branca (who held the position until January 2014). In 2001, as technical director, he was sanctioned for his part in the Álvaro Recoba fake passport incident.^[2]

Trivia

• His face appeared on a Chad stamp in 1983–one of a series of stamps commorating the 1982 World Cup. He appears on a 60 franc stamp alongside Włodi Smolarek of Poland.

• Oriali is cited in the Luciano Ligabue song Una vita da mediano (A life as halfback), one of his most popular songs. Ligabue is a known Inter fan.

Honours as a player

• World champion in 1982 with Italian national team
• Italian Serie A champion in 1971, 1980 with Inter
• Coppa Italia 1978 and 1982 with Inter

References

External links

• Contains footage of Oriali vs. Johan Cruijff in European Cup Final of 1972 – Ajax vs. Internazionale 2–0
• Oriali's statistics playing for Inter
• Oriali's statistics for the Italian National Team
• Oriali's detailed statistics for the National Team