Franco Cucinotta

Franco Cucinotta (born 22 June 1952) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent his entire career in the Swiss Super League, and during the 1976–77 season, he was the top scorer in both the Swiss League, and the European Cup with FC Zürich.

Franco Cucinotta
Personal information
Date of birth (1952-06-22) 22 June 1952
Place of birth Novara di Sicilia, Italy
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1974 FC Lausanne-Sport ? (?)
1974–1976 FC Sion ? (?)
1976–1978 FC Zürich ? (?)
1978–1979 FC Chiasso ? (?)
1979–1981 Servette FC ? (?)
1981–1983 FC Sion ? (?)
Total ? (?)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Novara di Sicilia, Franco Cucinotta grew up in Montreux, Switzerland, the city to which his family had emigrated for work in 1960.[1] He also later began his professional footballing career in Switzerland, and despite being Italian, is one of the few Italian footballers to have never once played in Italy, spending his entire career in the Swiss League.[2]

While playing for Swiss club FC Zürich (1976–78), Cucinotta was the top scorer of the 1977 European Cup alongside Gerd Müller,[3] scoring a total of five goals in the competition, in which he helped Zürich to reach the semi-finals.[4] He also finished the 1976–77 season as top scorer in the Nationalliga A, with 21 goals, scoring a total of 28 goals in all competitions,[2] which earned him nominations for the Swiss Footballer of the Year and the Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year Awards.[5]

Cucinotta also played in Switzerland for FC Lausanne-Sport (1970–74), FC Sion (1974–76; 1981–83), winning the Swiss Cup in 1982, FC Chiasso (1978–79), and Servette FC (1979–1981), winning the Swiss League Cup in 1980, and retiring in 1985.[2][6][7]

After retirement

After retiring, Cucinotta worked in insurance, and, after his divorce in 1988, also later moved to Africa for work, where he remained until 2007. He later returned to Switzerland, where he pursued a career in finance.[2]

Style of play

Cucinotta was a very fast centre-forward, with a keen eye for goal, who was also capable of playing as a winger.[1][2] Due to his abilities, he was compared to fellow Sicilian footballer Pietro Anastasi.[8]

Honours

Club
Servette[2][6][7]
Sion[2][6][7]

Individual

References
  1. Bruno Bernardi (20 March 1977). "Il sogno "italiano" di Cucinotta". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 19. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. Jacques Wullschleger (2 July 2012). "Un buteur à la vie riche" (in French). Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. (in German) Weltfussball.de profile
  4. RSSSF - European Champions' Cup 1976-77
  5. Erik Garin (20 June 2007). "Switzerland - Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  6. (in German) dbFCZ profile
  7. "Franco Cucinotta" (in Italian). Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  8. Giorgio Gandolfi (16 March 1977). "L'Anastasi di Svizzera". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 13. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  9. Erik Garin (26 January 2007). "Switzerland 1976/77". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  10. Roberto Di Maggio; Roberto Mamrud; Jarek Owsianski; Davide Rota (11 June 2015). "Champions Cup/Champions League Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
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