When number 10 didn’t need to run. Interview with Mario Brugnera

A failed carpenter, the fifth of nine children, a difficult childhood, and record-breaking results in the Coverciano tests for individual technique. The very same technique that won over the Fiorentina fans, who were ready to dub him ‘Little Di Stefano’. Mario Brugnera: football and magic. Now, the central midfielder who won the Italian championship with Cagliari in 1970, is enjoying time with his family and coaching young players in La Palma, a neighbourhood in the Sardinian capital. And he is battling a troublesome illness. “I’m used to fighting,” he says curtly with a half-smile.

Meanwhile, Simone Gallus’s Rossoblù Museum—amongst the football boots and the statue of Gigi Riva wearing the chain and two gold crosses he received from his mother, alongside the shirts of Maradona, Virdis, Francescoli and Cudicini—honoured him as captain of the Rossoblù side that finished sixth in Serie A in the 1980/81 season. “The Scudetto? It went to Juve that year, but they didn’t beat us: 1–1 in Turin and 1–1 at home. There were Scirea, who scored, Tardelli, Brady, Gentile, Causio, Furino, Bettega and Cabrini. And if the referee hadn’t awarded ten minutes’ added time against Fiorentina – which was absurd in those days – we would have won and finished fourth. In other words, we’d have qualified for Europe.” Brugnera poses with ‘his’ number 10 shirt. Simone Gallus has placed alongside him some of his teammates from that standout season with Tiddia on the bench: “We’ve got Marchetti with us, who later went to Zico’s Udinese, Canestrari, signed from Matarrese’s Bari, and Selvaggi, a World Cup winner in Spain. And – Brugnera points out – there’s Piras, Bellini, Quagliozzi and Gattelli. Our strength? The team. We were friends then and we’ve remained friends.” A different kind of football. In black and white, with emotions in colour. “It was the first Serie A season with one foreign player per team. Among them were Prohaska, Falcao and Krol. Among the smaller clubs, Avellino signed Juary. We, on the other hand, were all Italian: a record!”

Mario Brugnera, born in ’46, picks up the thread. “I was born on the Lido in Venice, my father was a labourer, my mother a housewife, and I was the fifth of nine children. We used to eat together – you could have heard a pin drop – around a very long table. After primary school, my parents realised I wouldn’t go on to further education. I started out in a joiner’s workshop. Football? We all played in the family; my father was a full-back in Serie C.” Mario has a good memory, strong values and clear ideas: “I wanted to become what I’ve become. Udinese came calling, but the Fiorentina lot were clever: they went to see my mother at lunchtime. They saw the table set with eleven plates and spoke to her at length. Then, in front of each plate, they placed a ten-thousand-lire note. My mother became suspicious, but she went along with the deal. I was fifteen; they signed me for two million lire.” Florence, then. With the Gigliati, Brugnera came through the youth ranks. And he admired Maschio and Lojacono: “Divine. Chiappella used to let me play with them in training: I’d be spellbound watching them – pure class. ‘Hey, Brugnera, what are you doing, sleeping!’ the coach would shout at me.” With Fiorentina, the “Little Di Stefano” – as the people of Fiesole had christened him – produced some special moments. But in 1970 they sold him to Cagliari: that old fox Andrea Arrica sent Rizzo to the Viola. The Venetian central midfielder and Albertosi arrived at the Amsicora. “It was a stroke of luck for me and Ricky. We won an impossible Scudetto; we would have won another one too and gone further in the European Cup, had the Austrian Hof not broken Gigi’s leg whilst he was on international duty”There are plenty of anecdotes about his relationship with ‘Rombo di tuono’. “On the pitch, we had perfect understanding: I knew exactly where to play the ball to him – a glance was enough. Off the pitch, he had his friends, from Tomasini to Cera, whilst I had my family: my four children were born in Cagliari.” Sandro Mazzola has passed away. Brugnera is moved. “A legend. Thanks to Domenghini and Poli, we became friends, going on many hunting trips together. Sandro was a formidable player; he was a wonderful person who has left us.” The central midfielder looks back on the team’s sixth-place finish in 1981: “I was 36 years old, playing as a sweeper. And I was the playmaker. To the fans, I was the ‘Beckenbauer of Sant’Elia’. Yes, I never cleared a ball, but I had a lot of fun.” The story continues. “With my young lads, I’m straightforward: work hard and never stop dreaming. They haven’t seen me play; their parents tell them about it. When they press me, I tell them they can picture me by thinking of Dybala. But only when he’s really on form.”