Giacinto Facchetti

Born in Treviglio, in the province of Bergamo of the Italian region of Lombardy, Facchetti began his career with his hometown club, GSD Mario Zanconti, as a forward, due to his pace, powerful shot, and technique. While playing for Trevigliese, he was noticed by Helenio Herrera, then manager of Inter, who launched him in Serie A in the late 1960–61 season as an attacking full-back on the left, due to his physique, energy, and tackling ability, in addition to his offensive attributes; he made his club and top-flight debut on 21 May 1961, in a 2–0 away win over Roma. The change of role proved to be an effective choice, and eventually, Facchetti developed into one of the most effective defenders in Italian football, forming a notable partnership in defence with fellow Italian full-back Tarcisio Burgnich. Facchetti's innovative playing style as one of the first European overlapping full-backs, combining hard defending with offensive prowess, played a key role in the defensive yet counter-attacking catenaccio system of Herrera's "Grande Inter" side that dominated Italian, European, and World football in the 1960s; whilst conceding few goals defensively, Facchetti was also able to contribute offensively with numerous goals and assists. He held the record for most goals in a single Serie A season by a defender, with 10 goals scored during the 1965–66 season, until it was broken by Daniel Passarella in 1985–86, and later Marco Materazzi during the 2000–01 season. Facchetti spent his…

Facchetti made his debut for Italy on 23 March 1963, in a 1–0 away win in a European qualifier against Turkey. He was capped 94 times (a record at the time, since overtaken only by Dino Zoff, Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, and Gianluigi Buffon) wearing the captain's armband 70 times for a record period of 11 years and scoring three goals between 1963 and 1977; he is currently his nation's tenth-highest appearance holder. He played for his country at the 1966, 1970, and 1974 FIFA World Cups, captaining Italy in the latter two editions of the tournament. Facchetti also captained the Italian squad to victory at Euro 1968, wearing the number 10 shirt, after advancing to the finals by calling the coin toss correctly following extra time against the Soviet Union, before winning the final over Yugoslavia 2–0 in the replay match, as well as being named to the Team of the Tournament. He was also named to the Team of the Tournament in the 1970 World Cup, where he helped his team to the final of the tournament, only to be defeated 4–1 by Brazil.

Regarded as one of the greatest full-backs of all time, Facchetti's pace, stamina, power, and excellent physical and technical traits allowed him to excel as an offensive full-back or wing-back. As a former forward and midfielder, he was known for his ability to make attacking runs down the left flank and get into good offensive positions in the area which allowed him to either score or assist goals due to his powerful shot and crossing ability, and was known for his tendency to cut into the centre in order to strike on goal, which was very unusual for full-backs at the time. He was among the best offensive full-backs, alongside Antonio Cabrini and Virgilio Maroso. Tall and hard-working Facchetti was adept in the air, he was highly regarded for his ability with either foot, as well as his distribution, and ball skills; he also excelled defensively, playing as a sweeper as he lost some of his pace later in his career, due to his technical skills, distribution, intelligence and ability to read the game or start plays from the back after winning back the ball, as well as his man-marking ability, positioning, anticipation, and tackling. A precocious talent in his youth, he also stood out for his longevity in his later career. In addition to his footballing ability, he was also known for his correct behaviour on the pitch, as well as his leadership; he was sent off only once throughout his entire career for sarcastically applauding the referee.

In March 2004, Pelé named Facchetti one of the Top 125 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebrations. Following Facchetti's death in 2006, he was named one of the year's Golden Foot "Football Legends", and was also the recipient of the FIFA Presidential Award. Known for his discipline as well as his playing ability throughout his career, the Premio internazionale Giacinto Facchetti was also established in his honour later that year, and is currently awarded annually to a football personality who was stood out for their honesty, correct behaviour, and sportsmanship. Also after his death, the Campionato Nazionale Primavera included Facchetti's name for the official renaming of the championship to Campionato Primavera Tim – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti. Inter posthumously retired the number 3 shirt in his honour. On 22 September 2008, a square in Cesano Maderno, a town of the Metropolitan City of Milan, was renamed in honour of Facchetti. Facchetti is featured in the football video game FIFA 14's Classic XI (a multi-national all-star team), along with compatriots Bruno Conti, Gianni Rivera, and Franco Baresi. In 2015, he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. EI-INA, an Airbus A320neo in the fleet of Italian flag carrier ITA Airways, bears his name. The aircraft was most notably used to transport Pope Leo XIV in his apostolic journey to Turkey and Lebanon.