In hindsight, it couldn’t have ended any otherwise. On December 20, 1968, Juventus Argentine legend Omar Sivori determined to hold his boots according to his turbulent character, i.e., on the finish of a battle.
Sivori introduced his retirement as quickly as he was handed a six-match ban by the Italian Soccer Affiliation, following the tumultuous occasions of a Napoli vs. Juventus matchup from three weeks earlier. Evidently, the battle between the Bianconeri and the Partenopei was as feisty a contest within the Sixties as it’s at this time.
When Sivori obtained his ban, although, he was not sporting the Juventus jersey anymore. Three years earlier, on the finish of eight profitable seasons with the Previous Woman, he had switched sides and moved to play for Napoli.
Among the many fundamental cause for his stunning transfer was his troublesome, to place it mildly, relationship with the Bianconeri’s new coach Heriberto Herrera. The Argentine striker’s wild genius didn’t appear to suit properly into the Paraguayan gaffer’s forerunning theories of whole soccer the place every participant was anticipated to contribute to construct up the play.
From then on, each time Sivori and “HH2” (as he was nicknamed to differentiate him from the extra well-known of the Herrera coaches – Inter’s Helenio…) met on the identical pitch, the confrontation was tense.
When Juve paid a go to to the Partenopei within the 1968/69 season, the Bianconeri defenders reserved a particular remedy to Sivori. After being fouled for the umpteenth time, the Argentine scored a pink card for hitting his marker Erminio Favalli and all hell broke free.
Because the brawl lastly cooled down, two extra gamers had been proven their marching orders together with Napoli’s supervisor Giuseppe Chiappella. Napoli gained the sport 2-1, however that’s the very last thing that issues on this story.
Three weeks later, the Italian Soccer Affiliation issued their verdict: Sivori was banned for six video games. It might have gone even worse, because the Partenopei defender Dino Panzanato gained a nine-game suspension, however that was sufficient for Sivori. He was 33, previous his prime, and laid low with a number of accidents. “I’m achieved”, he mentioned.
The next day, he introduced that he was leaving Italy for good, and he did so, as soon as once more, in no unusual vogue: As a visitor, throughout well-known Italian TV present Canzonissima…