Want to know about the Italians who have made it big in the world of sports over the years? Find out about the big achievers from the various sports that Italy is known to excel in.
The Italians are into sports just as much as they are into food. Over the years the Italians have made some remarkable achievements in the world of sports at individual as well as team levels. Although there are a lot of famous people that have risen to fame out of Italy, Italian sportsmanship seems to be ever on the high. Italians have managed to spread information about their culture and country through the well known sportsmen that belong to the boot shaped land. It will come as no surprise that in the contemporary world some of the most popular Italian people are actually their sportsmen.
The big achievers in the world of sports
When you talk about sports and Italy football is undoubtedly going to be the first sport to talk about. The current world champions have won the World Cup three times prior to their victory in 2006. The only country that has a one up on the Italians in football is Brazil with 5 World Cup victories. When you trace the football history of the country the first person to make history is Vittorio Pozzo. This individual is the only person to coach a team to two successive World Cup victories. The 1934 and 1938 world cup victories were secured under his leadership.
There are many football players whose names are almost synonymous with Italy. Dino Zoff the 1940’s footballer is considered to be the all time greatest goal keeper in the history of the Italians participation in the game. The impressive athlete has a wonderful track record which includes a World Cup victory as Captain of the team in 1982. Another footballer from a decade later that has made his mark on history is Macro Tardelli. The footballer made it big not so much as an Italian national team participant as he did as a midfielder for Juventus. The Italian team has a unique strategy which is based on offensive defending so as to say. There is no Italian footballer who understood this terminology more than Franco Baresi who was a solid defender in the national team during the 1960s. Roberto Baggio is probably the most famous Italian footballer as voted by the sports fans. He happens to be the only Italian player to have scored in three different World Cup tournaments.
Italy has also made a mark in the world of Yachting with the famous Luna Rossa and its impressive win over the American favorite in the semifinals in the America’s Cup 2000. Italy had also reached the final with II Moro di Venezia in years gone by. Valentino Rossi is one of the most famous contemporary Italian sports stars. He is regarded as the undisputed champion of the motorcycling world and has a number of MotoGP wins under his built. Loris Caopirossi and Giacomo Agostini are other stars of the game to have made a significant impact.
