Cult Hero: Giorgio Chinaglia (New York Cosmos)

admin

16th, July 2007

2 Comments

chinaglia_cosmos.jpgChinaglia, a striker, was born in Italy but grew up in Wales, where he began his football career, with Swansea Town. But he made his name with Lazio, where he played for seven seasons, scoring more than 100 goals in that time. He remains a cult hero with Lazio fans. Chinaglia was also one of the first big-name players to go to America to play in the NASL (North American Soccer League). He did so in his prime, aged 29, rather than at the end of his career, and was a huge success for the Cosmos, scoring an amazing 242 goals in 254 games. Here’s one of those goals, and what a peach it is too…

Posted in Miscellaneous

Share this article: Email

2 Comments

  1. Kaya says:

    “Once In a Lifetime” features a large amount of interview coverage of him. I was born too late to have known the NASL, but I loved this movie for the presentation of the short history of the league. Pele disappointingly refused to be interviewed for the movie, but Chinaglia talked his mouth off. Lots of good tales of licentious behavior and intrigue.

  2. dp says:

    Not to mention he absolutely partied his ass off in New York. Remember, this was New York in its ‘Bronx is Burning’ era, leisure suits, Studio 54, sleazy Times Square, and endless mountains of nose candy for everybody. Even Der Kaiser got down. And Chinaglia was a lunatic before he even got to New York, so he went absolutely ape when he saw what was up.