Piero Operto

Piero Operto (Turin, 20 December 1926 – Superga, 4 May 1949) was an Italian football player, who played as a defender.

Piero Operto
Personal information
Date of birth (1926-12-20)December 20, 1926
Place of birth Turin
Date of death May 4, 1949(1949-05-04) (aged 22)
Place of death Superga
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1948 Casale 71 (4)
1948–1949 Torino 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Operto came from Casale in the summer of 1948, after two good seasons with four goals. He was not yet 22 years old when he joined the Grande Torino, discovered by Mario Sperone, who made several pressures on the leadership to have him at Torino.[1] Due to Virgilio Maroso's injury, Operto found room in the team in the first matches of the 1948–49 championship. He debuted in Turin's internal race against Roma at the Stadio Filadelfia on 3 October 1948. Torino won 4–0, and Operto's performance impressed even those who did not know him yet. At the end of the season he collected 11 appearances;[2] Maroso's return to the club for a long time stopped him from playing with more continuity. With Guglielmo Gabetto, he was the only original Torinese in the team. Although he did not play much, he was summoned for the friendly match between Torino and Benfica. He lost his life on the return trip from Lisbon with his teammates in the Superga air disaster on 4 May 1949.[3] He was the younger brother of player Giovanni Operto. Piero Operto was buried at the Cimitero Monumentale in Turin.[4]

Style of play

He played as a left-back. He had a decent physical strength, and he often went on the left wing to launch balls and stretch the team. His best feature was the headshot, which he used on several occasions, given his excellent elevation.

Honours

Club
Torino

References
  1. "PIERO OPERTO". CALCIOITALIASTORY.IT. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  2. "Pietro Operto, 1948-1949. League: 11 appearances. | Il Grande Torino". Pinterest. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  3. "4 maggio 1949: tutta l'Italia piange il Grande Torino". Il Sole 24 ORE. Retrieved 2017-11-08.
  4. de Portillo, G. (2014). Granata in serie A.......... parola di Poeta. Youcanprint. ISBN 9788891158697. Retrieved 2017-11-08.


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