Luís Vinício

Luís Vinícius de Menezes, more famously known as Vinício (born 28 February 1932 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil) is a professional football player, who played as a centre forward. Although he is a Brazilian, Vinício played his entire career in Italy, and because of this, he was excluded from the Brazilian national side, in a similar manner to José Altafini; unlike Altafini, however, Vinício chose not to play for the Italian national side. Following his professional footballing career, he later became a manager.

Luís Vinício
Luís Vinício with Vicenza (1960s)
Personal information
Full name Luís Vinícius de Menezes
Date of birth (1932-02-28) 28 February 1932
Place of birth Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1951–1954 Botafogo 42 (24)
1955–1960 Napoli 152 (69)
1960–1962 Bologna 47 (17)
1962–1966 Vicenza 116 (61)
1966–1967 Internazionale 8 (1)
1967–1968 Vicenza 25 (7)
Teams managed
1968–1969 Internapoli
1969–1970 Brindisi
1970–1971 Ternana Terni
1971–1973 Brindisi
1973–1976 Napoli
1976–1978 Lazio
1978–1980 Napoli
1980–1982 Avellino
1982–1984 Pisa
1984–1986 Udinese
1986–1988 Avellino
1991–1992 Juve Stabia[1]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

At age 23 Vinício came to Italy, joining the Naples representative club Napoli during the 1955–56 season. He style was considered generous and powerful on the field, which soon gained him the nickname 'O lione (lion) from the Napoli faithful. In total for the club he played 152 games and scored 69 goals in a 5-year period.

He moved on next to Bologna in 1960; he performed well during his first season with the club, during which he managed to win the Mitropa Cup in 1961, but during the successive season, Vinício was used less frequently, due to competition from youngster Harald Nielsen.

In the summer of 1962 he returned disconsolate to Brazil, after finding little football action in recent years with Bologna. However, soon he was recalled to Italy from the management of Lanerossi Vicenza, who offered him a new contract. To Vinício, joining Vicenza was like a second birth in Italian football.

After an average first year, he re-found his form, and became extremely prolific in front of goal, scoring 17 goals in the 1963–64 season, which helped the club to a 6th place finish in Serie A. In 1964–65 his performances were still decisive, as he helped Vicenza to a tenth place finish in championship. The following season, he scored 25 goals, finishing the season as the Serie A top scorer; his top-scoring record of 25 goals in a single Serie A campaign would not be equalled again until Marco van Basten in 1991–92.

In the summer of 1966, he left Vicenza because Helenio Herrera signed Vinício to play for Internazionale. His tenure in nerazzurro did not bring much luck however; he competed only 8 games for the club and scored one goal.

For the final season of his playing career, he returned to Vicenza at age 36. This season saw him take his total goal scoring record, for all games player in Serie A during his career to over 150 goals.

Coaching career

Following his professional footballing career, Vinício later became an experienced football manager, coaching many different clubs, including Lazio and Napoli; he won the 1971–72 Serie C title while coaching Brindisi, and narrowly missed out on the Serie A title during his time with Napoli, leading a side which became renowned for their exciting attacking football, inspired by the Dutch Total Football, in an era in which defensive catenaccio tactics still dominated Italy.[2]

References
  1. "Brazilian Players in Italy". RSSSF.com. 22 June 2007. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008.
  2. "Il Napoli di Luis Vinicio" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
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