Omar Sívori

Enrique Omar Sívori

Sívori with the Argentina national team in 1956
Personal information
Full name	Enrique Omar Sívori
Date of birth	(1935-10-02)2 October 1935
Place of birth	San Nicolás, Argentina
Date of death	17 February 2005(2005-02-17) (aged 69)
Place of death	San Nicolás, Argentina
Height	1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1954–1957	River Plate	63	(29)
1957–1965	Juventus	215	(135)
1965–1969	Napoli	63	(12)
Total		341	(176)
National team
1956–1957	Argentina	19	(9)
1961–1962	Italy	9	(8)
Teams managed
1969–1970	Rosario Central
1972	Estudiantes de La Plata
1972–1973	Argentina
1979	Racing Club de Avellaneda
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Enrique Omar Sívori (2 October 1935 – 17 February 2005) was an Italian Argentine football player and manager who played as a forward. At club level, he is known for his successful time with Italian side Juventus during the late 1950s and early 1960s; he also played for River Plate and Napoli.

At international level, he first appeared for the Argentine national team, winning the Copa América. Later in his career, he played for the Italian national team and took part in some of the 1962 World Cup. After his retirement as player, he coached several teams in Argentina, including the national side.

Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Sívori's footballing talent was widely acclaimed, and he won the coveted European Footballer of the Year award in 1961.

Club career

River Plate

Sívori was born in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, a town which falls within the Buenos Aires Province, in an Italian Argentine family. His paternal grandfather, Giulio Sivori, was an immigrant from Cavi di Lavagna, a hamlet in the province of Genoa, while his mother Carolina was of Abruzzian descent.^[1][2] As a youngster Sívori became heavily interested in the game of football and by the time he reached his teens he was signed up to a side from the city of Buenos Aires, River Plate.^[3] The teenage Sívori was given a chance to break through into a squad which included players like the famed forwards Ángel Labruna and Félix Loustau who established themselves in the era of La Máquina, one of the foremost formations in football history.^[4] He soon earned the nickname El Cabezón (bighead) from the fans, due to his playing style.^[4]

River was able to win the Argentine Primera División in 1955, the title was confirmed when River beat local archrival Boca Juniors 2–1 at La Bombonera, in Buenos Aires, with just one game remaining.^[5] The same season River won the Copa Río de La Plata by beating Nacional from Uruguay. The following season he had similar success when River won the Argentine league title on the final day of the season; beating Rosario Central 4–0, with Sívori scoring the final goal.^[6] Sívori would play his final game for River against the same team on 5 May 1957.

During the 1957–58 season, the 21-year-old Sívori was signed by Italian club Juventus after being spotted by Renato Cesarini. Juventus paid 10 million pesos (the equivalent of £91,000) for the transfer, which was a world-record transfer fee for the time. Sívori's move would prove bad for River's league fortunes, in the 18 years after 1957 they were unable to win the league in Argentina.^[7] However, they were able to complete their El Monumental stadium (previously nicknamed the horseshoe) by adding a fourth stand bearing his name, with the money from the deal.^[7]

Juventus

The same season two other prominent Argentines moved to the Italian league: Antonio Angelillo (Inter) and Humberto Maschio (Bologna). The three were nicknamed The Angels with Dirty Faces by the media (an ironic reference to the then-celebrated Angels with Dirty Faces movie) on account of their typically South American colour and flair, and also The Trio of Death on account of their fearless playing style and clinical finishing.^[8]

Prior to the arrival of Sívori and Welshman John Charles, Juventus had been going through somewhat of a slump. However, the duo along with experienced Juventino Giampiero Boniperti put together a formidable force and won Serie A during 1957–58. The good form continues and Sívori won two more scudetto titles (1959–60 and 1960–61) as well as two Coppa Italia's (1958–59 and 1959–60). Omar Sívori's hard work had paid off and he was named European Footballer of the Year (also known as Ballon d'or) in 1961.

The same year as his personal achievement however, "the Magical Trio" as they were known, had broken up with Boniperti's retirement and the following season John Charles moved back to Leeds United. Sívori stayed on with the Old Lady, notably scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Real Madrid, making Juventus the first Italian side ever to win at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Sívori was appointed the team's captain in 1963, but did not win anymore championships or trophies with Juventus, and left after the 1964–65 season, because of a disagreement with new coach Heriberto Herrera.^[9]

With Juventus, Sívori scored 167 goals in 253 appearances in all competitions,^[10] remaining Juventus' fifth highest goalscorer ever as of 2011. He also holds the record for most Juventus goals in a single league game; during the 9–1 victory against Inter Milan on 10 June 1961 he scored six goals, this is also the joint record for any Serie A team shared with Silvio Piola of Pro Vercelli.

Napoli

In 1965 he signed with Napoli helping them to a third-place finish in the first season at the club, they also won the Coppa delle Alpi. During the 1967–68 season, Napoli's squad boasted talents along with Sívori such as Dino Zoff and José Altafini, the club took A.C. Milan all the way in the battle for the Serie A championship; Napoli eventually finished as second. Ironically, Sívori's last ever game was against Juventus, he was given a red card for kicking Erminio Favalli and was suspended for six matches.

International career

At international level, Sívori represented the Argentina national football team eighteen times and registered nine goals.^[10] The Argentine side of the time had a formidable attack with Sívori, Omar Oreste Corbatta, Osvaldo Cruz, Humberto Maschio and Antonio Angelillo. They were nicknamed the "caras sucias" which literally means "dirty faces" in Spanish; in reference to the way they played the game, like fun, dirty faced, mischievous children.

He helped the team win the 1957 South American Championship held in Lima, Peru. Argentina dominated in every game during that year's Copa América, wins included an 8–2 victory against Colombian national team and a 3–0 victory against close rivals Brazilian national team.

Following his move to Italy in 1957, Sívori was barred from playing for the Argentine national team by the Italian government. Thanks to his Italian ancestry, in April 1961 he made his debut for the Italian national team. In total Omar earned nine caps and scored eight goals while playing for the Italy.^[10]

Playing style

Encyclopædia Britannica has described Sívori's playing style as "audacious and brilliant".^[11] A quick, tenacious and technically gifted forward, Sívori utilised his dribbling skills and preferred move of the nutmeg (playing the ball between an opposition players legs) to beat defenders. Primarily a left footed player, Sívori had the ability to score with his left, his right and, despite his relatively short stature, his head; this would sometimes see him receiving kicks to the face.

Especially while with Juventus, he was able to utilise his vision and passing accuracy to create chances for team-mates, working in unison with Charles and Boniperti in the club's attacking trident. Because of his creative playing style, skill, country of birth, and at times rebellious nature both on and off the field, Sívori is retroactively compared to a player who emerged after him; Diego Maradona, with some parts of the media dubbing him "the Maradona of the Sixties".^[12][13][14]

Managerial career

Sívori retired from the playing field in 1969. Although he retired to his native Argentina as a wealthy man, his love for the game meant that he decided to take up a further career as a coach; he coached River Plate, Rosario Central, Estudiantes de La Plata, Racing Club and Vélez Sarsfield. In 1970, Bobby Moore was arrested in Bogota, Colombia after a shop assistant claimed to have seen him steal a bracelet from the shop she was working in. After several days, the charges were quashed, and as Moore took a flight to Mexico, he met Sivori, who told him that the false accusation thing was frequent in Colombia.

From 1972 until 1974, Sívori took charge of the Argentine national team, he helped the team qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Sívori was the first man to call up Ubaldo Fillol for the national side, Fillol would become one of the most highly regarded keepers in Argentine history. After that he became a full-time scout for Juventus in South America.

After retirement

In March 2004, Sívori was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers and honoured as part of the in FIFA 100. The following year in February 2005, Sívori died in his hometown of San Nicolás, at the age of 69 due to pancreatic cancer.

Career statistics

Club

^[15]

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Argentina			League		Cup		South America		Total
1954	River Plate	Primera División	16	8					16	8
1955			23	11					23	11
1956			23	10					23	10
1957			1	0					1	0
Total Argentina			63	29					63	29
Italy			League		Coppa Italia		Europe		Total
1957–58	Juventus	Serie A	32	22	8	9	-		40	31
1958–59			24	15	3	5	2	3	29	23
1959–60			31	27	4	3	0	0	35	30
1960–61			27	25	1	2	1	1	29	28
1961–62			25	13	0	0	5	2	30	15
1962–63			33	16	4	3	1	1	38	20
1963–64			28	13	2	1	4	0	34	14
1964–65			15	3	1	1	3	2	19	6
1965–66	Napoli	Serie A	33	7					33	7
1966–67			20	2					20	2
1967–68			7	2					7	2
1968–69			3	1					3	1
Total Italy			278	146	23	24	16	9	317	179
Career total			341	175	23	24	16	9	380	208

International

^[16]

Argentine national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1956	13	6
1957	6	3
Total	19	9

Italian national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1961	5	8
1962	4	0
Total	9	8

International goals

Goals for Argentina

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	18 March 1956	Mexico City, Mexico	Brazil	2–2	Draw	1956 Pan American Championship
2.	17 March 1957	Lima, Peru	Ecuador	3–0	Win	1957 South American Championship
3.	28 March 1957	Lima, Peru	Chile	6–2	Win	1957 South American Championship
4.	6 April 1957	Lima, Peru	Peru	1–2	Loss	1957 South American Championship

Goals for Italy

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 April 1961	Bologna, Italy	Northern Ireland	3–2	Win	Friendly
2.	24 May 1961	Rome, Italy	England	2–3	Loss	Friendly
3.	15 June 1961	Florence, Italy	Argentina	4–1	Win	Friendly
4.	15 June 1961	Florence, Italy	Argentina	4–1	Win	Friendly
5.	4 November 1961	Turin, Italy	Israel	6–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 1962 Qual.
6.	4 November 1961	Turin, Italy	Israel	6–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 1962 Qual.
7.	4 November 1961	Turin, Italy	Israel	6–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 1962 Qual.
8.	4 November 1961	Turin, Italy	Israel	6–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 1962 Qual.

Honours

Club

River Plate

• Argentine Primera División (3): 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–957

Juventus

• Serie A (3): 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61
• Coppa Italia (2): 1958–59, 1959–60
• Coppa delle Alpi (1): 1963

Napoli

• Coppa delle Alpi (1): 1966

International

Argentina

• Copa América: 1957
• Raul Colombo Cup: 1956

Individual

• Copa América player of the tournament: 1957
• Serie A Golden Boot: 1959–60
• Ballon d'Or: 1961
• FIFA 100: 2004

Filmography

Sívori played the part of himself, in two Italian films.^[17]

• Idoli controluce – (1965)
• Presidente del Borgorosso Football Club, II – (1970)

Quotes

• Giampiero Boniperti: "Playing alongside him was pure fun. Charles was the target man, while Omar used the space to put defenders in trouble. He used to play with socks down around his ankles, without any kind of protection, to show he wasn't scared of defenders. He had an incredible winning mentality."^[18]
• Marcello Lippi: "Whenever we were talking about Juventus, his eyes brightened up."^[18]
• Humberto Maschio: "He was amazing. A first-class dribbler who had speed and the ability to surprise at any moment."^[19]
• Roberto Bettega: "He was like an older brother for me. He was my idol when I was a kid and then we became close friends. He was one of the best players in the history of football."^[18]

See also

• Oriundo
• List of Argentine born footballers to play for other national teams

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Omar Sívori.

• Omar Sívori at Find a Grave
• Omar Sívori at National-Football-Teams.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Flavio Emoli	Juventus F.C. captains 1963–1965	Succeeded by Ernesto Càstano