Luigi 'Gigi' Corino was born in Benevento, on April 26, 1966
He started playing football with his hometown club Benevento. He made his debut for the Sanniti in C1 in 1983.
In 1983-84 he was at Sambenedettese in Serie B but never played.
In 1984-85 he was back with the "Stregoni" (The Sorcerers) in his hometown. The Giallorossi finished 11th in C1 and Corino played 29 league games under future Lazio manager Giuseppe Materazzi.
In 1985 he first joined Udinese but before getting a game moved to Genoa in Serie B. He played 6 league games under Tarcisio Burgnich and the Grifone (The Griffin) finished 7th.
In 1986-87 he was back at Benevento in Serie C1. The manager was Rosario Rampanti and they got relegated. Corino again played 29 league games with his home club. One of his teammates was a future one at Lazio, Raffaele Sergio.
In 1987-88 he moved further south to Catanzaro in Serie B. The Giallorossi from Calabria had a good season and finished 5th under Vincenzo Guerini. Corino played 28 league games.
The next season he stayed with Catanzaro, first under Tarcisio Burgnich (1-7) and then Gianni Di Marzio (8-38). The "Aquile del Sud" (The Eagles of the South) finished 11th and Corino played 31 league games.
The 1989-90 would be his last in Calabria and it ended badly with relegation. The managers were Fausto Silipo (1-14), Renzo Aldi (15-20) and then Silipo again (21-38). Corino played 34 league games.
In 1990-91 he joined Triestina in Serie B. It was another negative season as the Giuliani were relegated, first under former Lazio player Massimo Giacomini (1-15) and then Fernando Veneranda (16-38). Corino played 33 league games.
In 1991-92 he made a surprise move to Lazio in Serie A. The manager was Dino Zoff and the Biancocelesti finished 10th. Corino played 20 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia.
In 1992-93 the Roman Eagles finished 5th and returned to Europe after fifteen years. Corino played 19 league games and 4 in Coppa Italia.
The 1993-94 season would be his last in Rome. Lazio finished 4th (UEFA Cup again) but Corino only played 2 league games due to a serious injury. He came back on April 24 against Lecce for the last 20 minutes and received a standing ovation from the 50,000 crowd.
In 1994-95, with new manager Zdenek Zeman on his way and bringing José Antonio Chamot with him, Corino was sold to Brescia in Serie A. He only played 1 league game and 1 in Coppa Italia under Mircea Lucescu before leaving for Cosenza in Serie B. His teammates with the Leonessa included Lazio connections Roberto Baronio, Marco Ballotta, Daniele Adani, Marco Piovanelli and Maurizio Neri plus a young Andrea Pirlo. For the record Brescia were relegated.
Corino was already in Calabria again, in Cosenza. The "Lupi della Sila" (The Wolves of the Sila) finished 15th under future Lazio manager Alberto Zaccheroni. Corino played 14 league games. One of his teammates was former Lazio Luciano De Paola.
In 1995 he moved on again and joined Ancona in Serie B. It was a negative season for the Dorici ending up in relegation. The coaches were first former Lazio keeper Massimo Cacciatori (1-35) and then Marcello Neri (36-38). Corino played 10 league games.
In 1996-97 he was back in Trieste, with Triestina in Serie C2. The Alabardati finished 11th under Giorgio Roselli and then Adriano Lombardi. Corino played 17 league games.
In 1997-98 he was back down south with Cavese from Cava de' Tirreni. The Aquilotti were in C2 and finished 12th. Corino played 19 league games.
In 1998 he came back to Rome and joined nearby Tivoli in the C.N.D amateur league. The Superbi finished 14th and Corino played 5 league games.
In 1999 he moved down to Sicily, to Messina in C2. The Giallorossi won promotion to C1 under Stefano Cuoghi. The following year, under former Lazio teammate Paolo Beruatto and then Carlo Florimbi, Messina won promotion again, this time to Serie B. In his third year on the Straits, Messina finished 12th in B under Daniele Arrigoni. In his three seasons in Messina, Corino played 45 league games. In his final year he played alongside former Lazio, Alessandro Iannuzzi.
At 36 he retired and went into coaching.
He started as assistant to Daniele Arrigoni for a period at Palermo in Serie B. Arrigoni did not last the season so Corino went too. Palermo eventually finished 6th.
In 2003-04 he was assistant to Arrigoni again this time at Frosinone in C2. They came in during the season and got the Ciocari promoted to C1 in top position.
In 2004-05 he was a technical adviser at Cagliari.
In 2005 he was briefly assistant manager at Torino in Serie B.
In 2006 he returned to Frosinone for two years as Primavera coach (U19's).
In 2008-09 he was coach with Matera in Serie D for nine matches (1-9) with 5 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats but was then replaced.The "Bue" (The Ox) eventually finished 7th.
In 2009 he moved to Pomigliano (Naples) in Serie D. He stayed two years with 7th and 2nd places.
In 2011-12 he collaborated with Cesena in Serie A with Arrigoni as manager. The "Cavalluccio" (The seahorse) was relegated.
In 2014-15 he was head coach at Battipagliese (Salerno) in Serie D but only until February. The "Zebrette" eventually finished 15th and stayed up after a playoff with local rivals Sorrento.
Since 2015 he has been assistant to the Italy Lega Pro team.
Gigi Corino was a defender. He usually played in the middle, marking the opposition centre-forward. He was a tough, rugged defender who would give and take in equal measure. Apparently, Paul Gascoigne always wanted him on his side in training games, respecting his “British” style of defending but also probably to avoid his hard tackles. Corino always gave 100% in every game and was a fan favourite. Despite not being one of the most stylish or talented defenders he had his own chant, "Mi diverto solo se, solo se gioca Corino, gioca bene o gioca male lo vogliamo in nazionale" (something along the lines of, I only enjoy myself if Corino plays, whether he plays well or badly we want him in the national team). The chant was inherited years later by Guerino Gottardi.
Corino played 46 games for Lazio but is still one of the more popular players to have worn the Lazio jersey. He himself, despite his origins, has become a hard-core Lazio fan. In an interview he once quoted, "If I should die tomorrow, I would like to be die in a Lazio shirt".
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1991-92 | 21 | 20 | 1 |
1992-93 | 23 | 19 | 4 |
1993-94 | 2 | 2 | - |
Total | 46 | 41 | 5 |
Sources
Comments