Benedicto de Moraes Menezes, known in Italy as Benedicto (or Benedetto) Zacconi was born on February 10, 1910, in Rio de Janeiro.
He started his career with Brasil de Pelotas and in 1927 he signed with Botafogo and stayed for five years winning the Campeonato Carioca in 1930 and 1932. He also played for Brazil in the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. After a year at Fluminense, in 1933 he moved to Italy and played for Torino. He played a couple of years in Piedmont appearing in 57 league games with seven goals.
In 1935 he signed for Lazio. He arrived in Italy as a forward but was moved to defence and that is where he played in the Capital. Zacconi was not particularly tall, but very agile and could certainly play football. He stayed until 1939, with 121 appearances and four goals. One his goals was historic. On January 15 1939, Lazio played the derby at Testaccio and for the first time in history the Biancocelesti beat their eternal rivals “away from home” thanks to his goal in the 3rd minute and another one by Umberto Busani six minutes from time.
In 1939 he went back to Brazil and stopped playing. Unfortunately, he died from cancer on February 11 1944 in Rio at only 34 years of age. But his goal at Testaccio means he will forever be in the S.S. Lazio history books.
Lazio career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | Mitropa Cup |
1935-36 | 29 | 26 | 3 | - |
1936-37 | 34 | 30 | - | 4 |
1937-38 | 28 | 26 | - | 2 |
1938-39 | 30 (4) | 28 (4) | 2 | - |
Total | 121 (4) | 110 (4) | 5 | 6 |
Sources
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