Giacomo Bulgarelli

Giacomo Bulgarelli (; 24 October 1940 – 12 February 2009) was an Italian international footballer who played as a midfielder. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever midfielders, Bulgarelli spent his entire club career with Italian side Bologna, where he also served as the team's captain; an important figure with the club, he is the team's record all-time appearance holder, and won the Serie A title with the Bolognese side in 1964, among other trophies. Following his retirement, he had a brief spell in America with the Hartford Bicentennials in 1975, and later also had a successful career as a football commentator in the 90s.

At international level, Bulgarelli represented Italy at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where the team finished in fourth place, and in two FIFA World Cups; he made his senior international debut at the 1962 edition of the tournament, and marked the occasion with two goals, becoming Italy's youngest ever World Cup goalscorer. He was also a member of the Italian side that won UEFA Euro 1968.

Club career Bulgarelli was born in Portonovo di Medicina, Bologna.

He won the title with the club in 1964, after they defeated Herrera's "Grande" Inter Milan 2–0 in a play-off match; this was the only time in history that the league title had been decided in such a manner. He also won the Coppa Italia twice with the club during the 1970s, as well as a Mitropa Cup and an Anglo-Italian League Cup. In the 1974 Coppa Italia final against Palermo, he scored Bologna's first penalty in the 4–3 shoot-out victory following a 1–1 draw. During the match, Bulgarelli won a penalty in the 90th minute of play, which was later converted by Giuseppe Savoldi to tie the game. In the shoot-out, Bulgarelli had initially missed Bologna's first penalty, by referee Sergio Gonella had him retake it, because he believed that Palermo's goalkeeper Sergio Girardi had moved too soon; Bulgarelli scored his second attempt, and Bologna eventually won the shoot-out. With 488 appearances in all competitions, Bulgarelli is Bologna's record all-time appearance holder.

He finished his career with a brief spell in 1975 with the Hartford Bicentennials in the USA.

International career Bulgarelli played three matches for Italy at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

He made his senior debut for the Italy national team at the 1962 World Cup, on 7 June, scoring two goals in a 3–0 win in Italy's final group match against Switzerland, which were unable to prevent the team from being eliminated in the first round. With these goals, he became the youngest ever goalscorer for Italy at the FIFA World Cup, at the age of 21 years and 226 days. He played all three matches for Italy at the 1966 World Cup. Throughout the tournament, he also featured as the team's captain ahead of Sandro Salvadore in the team's infamous and historic 1–0 defeat to North Korea in Middlesbrough, on 19 July, which led to the Italians' elimination from the World Cup. During the match, Bulgarelli was forced off due to a knee injury when the score was still 0–0, leaving the Italians a man down for the remainder of the match, as substitutions were not permitted at the time. His only other appearance as Italy's captain came on 18 June 1966, in a friendly match against Austria.

He was a member of the Italy squad that won the 1968 UEFA European Championship on home soil,

He died in Bologna, on 12 February 2009, after a lengthy illness.

Honours

Club Bologna