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Nereo Rocco (Trieste, 20 May 1912 — 20 February 1979) was an Italian football player and manager. He is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy, and the first proponent of catenaccio in the country.
Playing career
Rocco, who played as a wing, had a modest playing career, spent mainly in Triestina, Napoli and Padova. He played 287 Serie A matches within 11 seasons, scoring 69 goals. Rocco was also capped one time for the Italy national football team.
Coaching career
Nereo Rocco made his coaching debut for Triestina in 1947. He obtained a surprising second place in the Serie A, which is still the highest result ever reached by the team. He left Triestina a few years later because of disagreements with the club chairmanship. In 1951 he briefly coached Treviso, then returning back to Triestina.
In 1953 Rocco is signed as coach of Serie B team Padova, being able to avoid a Serie relegation and obtaining a Serie A promotion the following season. The Serie A period of Rocco's Padova is still remembered as the most satisfactory ever, with even a third place in the 1957/1958 season despite a poor team.
In 1961, Rocco was appointed as new AC Milan coach, starting one of the most successful periods for the rossoneri, winning the Italian league and the Champions League. After a good stint at Torino, where he obtained the best results since the disappearance of the Grande Torino, in 1967 Rocco returned to AC Milan, where he immediately won another scudetto and the Cup Winners' Cup. He left AC Milan in 1973, after having won also another Champions League, an Intercontinental Cup, an Italian Cup and another Cup Winners' Cup. After one year in Fiorentina, Rocco decided to end his coaching career in 1974. In 1977 he was appointed by AC Milan as Technical Director and Assistant of coach Nils Liedholm. He died on February 20, 1979 in Trieste, his native city.
On October 18, 1992, a new stadium in Trieste, named after Nereo Rocco, was inaugurated.
Rocco, popularly known as El Paròn (Triestin for The Master), was popular also for his strong use of the Triestin dialect.
Italian football managers | Italian footballers | Natives of Trieste | 1912 deaths | 1979 deaths | A.C. Milan | S.S.C. Napoli players
"Nereo Rocco"