Orlando Rozzoni was a massive centre forward for the time, similar, so they say, to Christian Vieri if one wants to have a general idea.
Born in Treviglio on July 23 1937, he started playing for his hometown team before going to play for Atalanta in 1955. After just a year he moved to Florence where he played for Fiorentina for two years. This was followed by a year for Spal before being signed by Lazio in 1959.
He immediately became a fan favourite. He was big, powerful, a classic old-fashioned
centre forward. He was nicknamed “Orlando Furioso” like the main character of the Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto.
His first year was a good one: 13 goals and a good feeling with his attacking partner Humberto Tozzi. Year two was not so good, not for him personally, but the team was relegated to Serie B. He played very little in Serie B since Lazio, in economic difficulty, were forced to sell him to Udinese.
He came back after a year and was decisive in Lazio’s promotion. However he did not play as much as he could have done: in a match against Como he fractured his knee and the recovery was slow. In the 1963-64 season he struggled with his form and only scored one goal. He was sold to Catania in 1964 but came back for a third time in 1965. He hardly ever played due to a not too comfortable relationship with manager Umberto Mannocci.
He went back to Spal in 1966 where he stayed for two seasons. His final two seasons were with Ternana and Rapallo.
He never stopped being a fan favourite and Lazio Club Milan is named after him and Renzo Garlaschelli. He died in 2009.
He played 100 games for Lazio (74 in Serie A, 20 in Serie B and 6 in Coppa Italia) scoring 41 goals (26 in Serie A, 10 in Serie B and 5 in Coppa Italia).
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1959-60 | 27 (16) | 25 (13) | 1 (1) | |
1960-61 | 34 (15) | 30 (11) | 4 (4) | |
Sep-Oct 1961 | 3 | - | 2 | 1 |
1962-63 | 18 (10) | - | 18 (10) | - |
1963-64 | 15 (1) | 15 (1) | - | - |
1965-66 | 4 (1) | 4 (1) | - | - |
Total | 100 (41) | 74 (26) | 20 (10) | 6 (5) |
Sources
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