MILAN – With just under three months to go before the start of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, France Football has published a list of the 100 most important players in the history of the tournament. The respected French publication has so far only released the first names on the list but one of these is Giacinto Facchetti.
In particular, France Football focused on the performances of Facchetti at the 1970 World Cup where he was captain of the Azzurri and he distinguished himself at the competition as one of the best left-backs with his tactical versatility and strength. Italy eventually lost in the final against Brazil after the legendary 4-3 win against West Germany in extra-time at the semi-final stage. Giacinto Facchetti will also be remembered as the first Italian defender to wear the captain’s armband at two consecutive World Cups (Mexico 1970 and West Germany 1974) before Paolo Maldini (France 1998 and Japan/South Korea 2002) and Fabio Cannavaro (Germany 2006 and South Africa 2000) repeated the feat.
France Football reprinted what it wrote in 1970 a few days before the start of the World Cup: “Giacinto Facchetti is a perfect gentleman. Captain of Italy, he’s kind, intelligent, smiley and he is able to speak French. He personally experienced the disaster against North Korea in 1966 and he’s not forgotten it. He was then the Italy captain at the 1968 European Championship. Today, he’s found his balance and is convinced that Italy will have a good World Cup.”
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