40 Facts About Giorgio Chinaglia

Giorgio Chinaglia grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with Swansea Town in 1964.

Giorgio Chinaglia played international football for Italy, making 14 appearances and scoring 4 goals between 1972 and 1975, including two appearances at the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

Giorgio Chinaglia was the first player in Italian football history to be called up internationally from the second division.

In 1976, Giorgio Chinaglia left Lazio to sign with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.

In 1980 Giorgio Chinaglia scored a record 50 goals in regular- and post-season play, plus another 26 in friendly matches.

In 2000, Giorgio Chinaglia was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in the United States and was named the greatest player in Lazio's history during the club's centenary celebrations; with 29 goals, he is the highest-scoring Lazio player in international competitions.

Giorgio Chinaglia is the Italian player with the best goalscoring ratio in domestic championships, with 319 goals scored in 429 league matches played across both Italy and the United States.

Giorgio Chinaglia was given the nickname "Long John", a reference to Giorgio Chinaglia's physical style of play, as well as his resemblance to the similarly large Welsh footballing legend John Charles who played in Italy and Wales.

Giorgio Chinaglia was born in Carrara, Tuscany in 1947, but in 1955, he moved to Cardiff, Wales with his father Mario, mother Giovanna and his sister Rita, because of unemployment in Italy following World War II.

At age 13, Giorgio Chinaglia was spotted scoring a hat trick for Cardiff Schools, and joined Swansea Town in the Football League Third Division as an apprentice in 1962.

Giorgio Chinaglia made his senior debut for Swansea in October 1964 at Rotherham United, with his League debut following in February.

Giorgio Chinaglia was banned from playing in Serie A, the top division, for three years because he had played professionally outside of Italy, and his father fixed him up with Massese, a Serie C club in Massa near his home.

Giorgio Chinaglia scored nine goals in his second season, which was insufficient to prevent Lazio from being relegated to Serie B the following season.

Giorgio Chinaglia helped Lazio to gain promotion to Serie A during the following season, leading the club to a second-place finish in Serie B that year, and finishing the season as the leading goalscorer in Serie B, with 21 goals.

Giorgio Chinaglia was named the club's captain during his final season in Italy, concluding his European career with 14 goals.

Giorgio Chinaglia scored 122 goals in 246 appearances in all competitions for Lazio, scoring 13 goals in 28 Coppa Italia appearances, and nine goals in 11 European matches.

In Rome, Giorgio Chinaglia's family faced abuse from opposing fans and threats of kidnap by terrorist groups, and he voiced frustration at Italian tax and corporate laws that he said led to business failures.

In 1972, Giorgio Chinaglia began investing in American real estate while on a tour of the United States with Lazio.

Giorgio Chinaglia joined the Cosmos in 1976 and finished his career in New York with 397 goals in outdoor games and 38 goals in 21 indoor, a total of 435 goals in 413 matches.

Giorgio Chinaglia led his team in scoring for 13 straight seasons, six at Lazio and seven at the Cosmos, scored two or more goals 54 times for the Cosmos, of which 14 were playoff games, scored three or more goals in a game 16 times, five in the playoffs, and scored seven goals in a playoff game against the Tulsa Roughnecks in 1980 as well as seven goals in an indoor game against the Chicago Sting on 8 December 1981.

Giorgio Chinaglia won the NASL Most Valuable Player Award in 1981.

Giorgio Chinaglia scored 49 goals in 41 playoff games for the Cosmos for his career and scored five goals in five Soccer Bowls, three of which were game winners.

In 1980 Giorgio Chinaglia scored 76 goals in 66 total matches, including 32 goals in 32 regular-season games and 18 goals in seven playoff games.

In December 1981, Giorgio Chinaglia played indoor soccer, and in his first game against the Chicago Sting, he set an individual all-time NASL indoor record for most goals in a single match, by scoring seven.

Giorgio Chinaglia became a close associate of Warner Brothers president Steve Ross, part-owner of the franchise, and was known to thoroughly enjoy the cultural diversions that New York provided.

Giorgio Chinaglia did not make the final 22-man squad, but Valcareggi took him to Mexico for experience.

In 1971, after Lazio were demoted to Serie B, Giorgio Chinaglia became the first Italy national team player in modern history to be selected from a second-tier division club.

Giorgio Chinaglia scored on his debut in a friendly match against Bulgaria, on 21 June 1972, in Sofia.

In 1973, Giorgio Chinaglia returned to Britain with the Azzurri to face England in a friendly match.

Giorgio Chinaglia was known for his powerful and accurate shot, heading ability, and clinical finishing, both inside and outside the area, as well as his athletic and acrobatic ability in the air.

Giorgio Chinaglia was known for his leadership throughout his career, in particular during his time at Lazio.

Giorgio Chinaglia drew negative attention to himself in the press due to his lifestyle off the pitch, which included certain legal problems throughout his career, as well as accusations of criminal activity.

In 1979, Giorgio Chinaglia became a naturalized American citizen, telling The New York Times Magazine reporter Diane Ackerman that he proudly kept his citizenship papers in his locker next to his bottle of Chivas Regal.

Giorgio Chinaglia was Lazio's club president from 1983 to 1985, and was investigated by Italian authorities over a failed attempt to buy the club in 2006 over money laundering allegations involving suspected associates of the Casalesi clan, a clan of the Camorra crime syndicate.

Giorgio Chinaglia had previously attempted to buy another Italian club, US Foggia, in 2004, but that attempt failed after money laundering allegations and he fled to the United States.

In October 2006, Giorgio Chinaglia was accused of extortion and manipulation and an arrest warrant was issued by the Guardia di Finanza, but he remained a fugitive due to him residing in the United States.

Football Show co-host Charlie Stillitano said Giorgio Chinaglia never returned to Italy because "He never wanted to take the chance".

At the time of his death, Giorgio Chinaglia was co-host of a daily football talk show, The Football Show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Giorgio Chinaglia died in Naples, Florida of a heart attack on 1 April 2012.

Giorgio Chinaglia's body was brought back to Rome for burial at Cimitero Flaminio, in the chapel of the Maestrelli family, where former Lazio coach Tommaso Maestrelli is buried.