Francisco Lojacono

Francisco Ramon Lojacono (11 December 1935 – 19 September 2002) was a football player and manager, who played as a midfielder. Born in Argentina, he played for the Argentina and Italy national teams.

Early life Lojacano was born to an Italian Calabrian father and an Argentine mother (daughter of Italians).

Club career Lojacono began his playing career in Argentina with San Lorenzo, before moving to Italy to play with Vicenza, Fiorentina, Roma, Sampdoria, Alessandria and A.C. Legnano. Lojacono finished his career back in Argentina with Gimnasia La Plata. With six goals, he was the top-scorer of the 1962–63 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (the precursor of the modern UEFA Europa League), along with Roma teammate and compatriot Pedro Manfredini, as well as Brazilian forward Waldo of Valencia; Roma reached the semi-finals of the competition, losing out to eventual champions Valencia.

International career During his playing career, Lojacono represented both Italy and Argentina at international level, and was part of the Argentine squad that finished third in the 1956 South American Championship. He obtained eight caps with Argentina, all of which came in 1956, and eight caps with Italy between 1959 and 1962, scoring 5 goals for the latter national team.

Coaching career After retiring as a player in 1972, Lojacono began a career in coaching that took him to managing a numerous Italian clubs, namely Latina, Castrovillari, Benevento, Livorno, Cavese, Barletta, Casoria, Salernitana, Nocerina and Akragas.