Francesco "Ciccio" Graziani is an Italian football manager and former football player who played as a forward.
13 Facts About Francesco Graziani
2.
Francesco Graziani began his career with Arezzo in 1970, and later joined Torino in 1973, where he remained until 1981, winning a Serie A title in 1976 and the Capocannoniere title as the Serie A top goalscorer in 1977; with 122 total goals scored for Torino, he is the seventh-highest scorer in the history of the Torinese club behind Valentino Mazzola.
3.
Francesco Graziani subsequently moved to Fiorentina, where he narrowly missed out on the Serie A title in his first season, and later played for Roma between 1983 and 1986, winning two Coppa Italia titles and reaching the 1984 European Cup Final.
4.
Francesco Graziani later spent two seasons with Udinese, before ending his career with Australian club APIA Leichhardt in 1988.
5.
Francesco Graziani is the father of Gabriele, who was a professional footballer.
6.
Francesco Graziani played eight seasons for Torino, making his debut in Serie A on 18 November 1973 against Sampdoria and scoring his first goal in the top flight on 16 December of that same year against Bologna.
7.
In total, Francesco Graziani scored 122 goals in 289 games for Torino, divided as follows: 221 appearances in the league, 45 appearances in the Coppa Italia and 23 appearances in European competition.
8.
Francesco Graziani formed, in those years, the famous pair nicknamed Gemelli del gol with his teammate Paolo Pulici.
9.
Francesco Graziani helped Torino reach the Coppa Italia final in 1980, but was one of the players who failed to score his penalty in the resulting shoot-out defeat to Roma at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
10.
Francesco Graziani was an important international player for Italy: he represented the Azzurri at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, as a reserve behind Paolo Rossi, where they finished in fourth place, and subsequently at the 1980 European Championship on home soil, where he made four appearances, scoring once, as Italy finished in fourth place , after reaching the semi-final of the tournament.
11.
Francesco Graziani appeared in all of Italy's matches as the nation went on to win the tournament for the third time in their history.
12.
Francesco Graziani led the team to an immediate promotion to Serie D, being popular to the public because of his hot-blooded attitudes, especially during league matches.
13.
Francesco Graziani later worked for Mediaset as a football pundit.