Giacomo Losi

Giacomo Losi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo ˈlɔːzi]; born 10 September 1935) is an Italian former football manager and player, who played as a defender. He spent his entire professional career, from 1955 to 1969, with Italian club A.S. Roma. Most of his family now resides in Boston, Massachusetts USA, with his nephew Michael J. Losi a budding USA Men's National Team Star.

Giacomo Losi
Personal information
Date of birth (1935-09-10) 10 September 1935
Place of birth Soncino, Cremona, Italy
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Full-back
Youth career
0000–1951 Soncino
1951–1955 Cremonese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1955–1969 Roma 386 (2)
National team
1960–1962 Italy[1] 11 (0)
Teams managed
1980–1981 Piacenza
1982–1983 Nocerina
1985–1986 Juve Stabia
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Though he was not a native of Rome, during the 15 seasons he played in the capital city, he was nicknamed "Core de Roma" (Romanesco for Heart of Rome). In total he made 450 appearances with the giallorossi, a record which lasted for 38 years, until 31 January 2007, when Francesco Totti played his 451st match for the club.[2]

At international level, he represented the Italy national football team at the 1962 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Born in Soncino, Province of Cremona, Losi started playing football for his hometown club, Soncino. In 1951, he transferred to U.S. Cremonese, and in 1955 to AS Roma where he made his first appearance on 20 March against Inter Milan.

He was a fullback with a playing style based on strength but also on fair play. Though his short height (only 1.69 m) he was a great header and thanks to this skill he played many years as a sweeper.

He gained the nickname "Core de Roma" on 8 January 1961, during a match against Sampdoria in which the result was 2–2, Losi was injured but there were no more available substitutions, so he kept playing but succeeded in scoring the winning goal from a corner kick. For this reason Roma's supporters understood that even if he was not Roman, he was a great example of how people from Rome love their team.

International career

Losi made his first appearance with the Italian national team on 13 March 1960 in a friendly match lost 3-1 against Spain. He was part of the squad that participated in the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile, playing two of the three matches of Italy. He has 11 international caps for azzurri.

After retirement

Losi still lives in Rome, where he is the director of a football team, the "Valle Aurelia '87". He is one of eleven members of Hall of Fame of A.S. Roma.

Outside of football

On 3 July 1968, Losi founded the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC), in Milan, along with several fellow footballers, such as Giacomo Bulgarelli, Sandro Mazzola, Ernesto Castano, Giancarlo De Sisti, and Gianni Rivera, as well as the recently retired Sergio Campana, also a lawyer, who was appointed president of the association.[3]

Honours

Club
Roma

Individual

References
  1. "Losi, Giacomo". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 8 January 2009.
  2. http://www.corederoma.net/brevissime.asp?ID=5839%5B%5D
  3. "La storia". assocalciatori.it (in Italian). Associazione Italiana Calciatori. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
  4. "Hall of Fame" (in Italian). A.S. Roma. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
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