Ezio Vendrame

Ezio Vendrame (21 November 1947 – 4 April 2020) was an Italian writer, manager, and footballer, who played as a midfielder. Due to his style of play, physical appearance, and lifestyle of the pitch, he earned the nickname "The Italian George Best."

Despite his talent in his youth, he ultimately failed to live up to his potential, however, and spent the remainder of his career in the lower divisions of Italian football, first in Serie C, spending two seasons with Padova – collecting 57 appearances – and subsequently Azzanese for a season; during his time with the former club, he became known for three incidents in particular. The first incident came in a 0–0 home draw against Cremonese during the 1976–77 season; in order to entertain the crowd during a rather dull and goalless match (the match had been fixed so that it would ultimately end in a 0–0 draw, as Cremonese only needed a single point to obtain promotion to Serie B, with two games of the season remaining, while the result would not have affected Padova), he picked up the ball at the edge of the opposing penalty area and subsequently ran towards his half, dribbling through all the players of the opposing team as well his own team, including his own goalkeeper – after wrong–footing him with a fake shot – before finally stopping the ball on the goal–line and then starting the play back up again. The second incident occurred when he stopped a home match at the Stadio Silvio Appiani in order to say hello to his friend singer–songwriter Piero Ciampi, whom he noticed was among the crowd watching the game in the stands. The third incident came in an away match against his former club Udinese, who were fighting to obtain promotion to Serie B at the time. Vendrame had reportedly been offered seven million lire to "play badly," during the match. He initially accepted, as Padova were facing financial difficulties at the time, and players only received match bonuses of 22,000 lire per point, the minimum amount allowed by the FIGC. However, during the match, after being jeered by the home crowd, he scored two goals to help Padova to a 3–2 away win, one of which came from an Olympic goal. Prior to scoring the latter goal, Padova won a corner, which Vendrame proceeded to take; he reportedly told the opposing fans through his gesticulations that he would score from the ensuing corner kick, and subsequently went on to score. After the match, he only received his customary 44,000 lire bonus for a two–point victory, as he decided to break the agreement. He then moved to Audace San Michele, a team from Verona, in Serie C 1977–78. Vendrame later played in Serie D for a season with Pordenone – helping the club win the league title and earn promotion to Serie C2 during the 1978–79 season – and finally in the amateur divisions with his hometown club Juniors Casara, with whom he was disqualified in 1981 after behaving aggressively towards a for snatching the yellow card and whistle from the referee during a match. The lifetime ban was first commuted, at the regional level, to a 5-year ban and then amnestied for Italy's victory at the 1982 World Cup. With the ban cancelled, he played for US Opitergina in the 1982–83 season and then, after returning to the ranks of S.a.S. Juniors, where he ended his career as a footballer in the 1985-86 season, he began his career as a coach.

Coaching career Following his retirement, Vendrame pursued a coaching career with little success; he coached the youth teams of Pordenone, Venezia, and Sanvitese, but often came into conflict with the parents of the members of the youth teams he coached. Vendrame died of cancer and COVID-19 at the age of 72 on 4 April 2020.

Honours Pordenone Serie D: 1978–79 (Promotion to Serie C2)

Individual Vicenza player of the season: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74 Padova player of the season: 1975–76, 1976–77 Pordenone player of the season: 1978–79