Gaetano Scirea

Scirea was born at Cernusco sul Naviglio, in the province of Milan, but was of Sicilian origin. Scirea made his Serie A debut for Atalanta against Cagliari on 24 September 1972. He remained with Atalanta for two seasons, before transferring to Juventus, with whom he would stay until the end of his playing career. In all, he made 397 appearances in Serie A, scoring 24 goals. Scirea saw great success with Juventus, playing alongside Antonio Cabrini, and the hard-hitting Claudio Gentile as well as goalkeeper Dino Zoff. He managed the impressive feat of winning every UEFA Club and domestic competition during his time at the club (seven Serie A titles, two Coppa Italias, one UEFA Cup, one Cup Winners' Cup, one European Cup, one UEFA Super Cup and one Intercontinental Cup). He retired from club football at the end of the 1987–88 season. He took up the role of scout at Juventus, later working as a coach.

Scirea's debut for the Italy national team was on 30 December 1975, against Greece. He immediately became an irreplaceable pillar of the team managed by Enzo Bearzot, and played in three World Cups, and one European Championship on home soil in 1980, where Italy finished in fourth place after reaching the semi-final, and Scirea was named part of the team of the tournament. Scirea, alongside clubmates Antonio Cabrini and Claudio Gentile, right-back Giuseppe Bergomi and goalkeeper Dino Zoff, formed the defensive backbone of perhaps the strongest Italian side of the post-war period as the Azzurri dominated international and club football during the late 1970s to early 80s; the back-line is considered one of the greatest defences of all time. Scirea impressed in the 1978 World Cup where Italy finished in fourth place. At the 1982 World Cup, after a quiet start in the first round group stage, Italy beat Argentina and then Brazil in the second round, later overcoming Poland 2–0 in the semi-final. A 3–1 victory over West Germany in the final earned Scirea a lasting place in World Cup history. By 1986 World Cup, however, the team was in transition, and went out to France in the second round. This was to be Scirea's last match for Italy, having won 78 caps and scored 2 goals.

Scirea was married to Mariella Cavanna; together they had a son, Riccardo. Mariella has become a politician after her husband's death.

Juventus

Serie A: 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86 Coppa Italia: 1978–79, 1982–83 European Cup: 1984–85 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1983–84 UEFA Cup: 1976–77 European Super Cup: 1984 Intercontinental Cup: 1985 Italy

FIFA World Cup: 1982 Individual

UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1980 Guerin Sportivo All-Star Team: 1982 Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2011 Juventus Greatest XI of All Time: 2017 Juventus FC Hall of Fame: 2025