Franco Causio was born in Lecce on 1 February 1949 and was one of the pillars of Italian football in the ‘70s and ‘80s, both at club and international level. He made his debut in the professional game in the 1964/65 season with his hometown club Lecce in Serie C. After a brief spell with Juventus, he spent time at Reggina and then Palermo, with whom he made his first appearance in the top flight, before playing at the very highest levels. He returned to Juventus in 1970 and played for the Bianconeri for eleven seasons, winning six Scudetti, the UEFA Cup (1976/77) and the Coppa Italia (1985/86). He moved to Udinese in 1981 before joining Inter in 1984. He returned to Lecce to play in their first season in Serie A (1985/86) and then joined Tiestina the following season, where he ended his playing career in 1988.

He made his debut for Italy on 29 April 1972 in a goalless draw with Belgium, which was played in Milan. He was part of the Italy squad for three World Cups: 1974, 1978 and, most notably, Spain 1982, from which the Azzurri emerged as Champions of the World. His final game for his country came on 12 February 1983 in a 1-1 away draw against Cyprus. He made a total of 63 appearances for Italy and scored six goals.

 

Giuseppe Rossi was born to Italian parents in Teaneck, New Jersey (USA) 35 years ago.

In light of his time in Spain, Enzo Bearzot nicknamed him “Pepito”, while Marcello Lippi handed him his Italy debut on 11 October 2008 in a goalless away draw against Bulgaria, back when he was 21 years old.

The Italian-American striker had refused a call-up from the USMNT as he wanted to play for the Azzurri.

Rossi scored his first Italy goal on 6 June 2009 in a friendly against Northern Ireland and, little more than a year later, he wore the Captain’s armband for the first time, in a friendly against Romania.

In his own personal trophy collection, he can count the title of top scorer at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, while he made a total of 30 appearances and scored seven goals for the Azzurri.