After José Altafini, Nené and Angelo Sormani retired from Italian football in 1976, Sergio Clerici was the last foreigner playing in Italy until the reopening in 1980. Following the defeat in the 1966 World Cup against North Korea, the Italian federation had prohibited Italian clubs from signing any foreign players. This was a disaster for some Italian clubs but particularly Inter who had already signed Franz Bekenbauer and Eusebio.
Sergio Clerici, born in Sao Paulo on May 25 1941, had arrived in Italy in 1960-61 when he signed for Lecco coming from Portuguesa Santista (incidentally Neymar’s first youth club). A centre-forward, he stayed in Lombardy for six years, two in Serie A (where he did not score very much) and four in Serie B where he gave a considerable contribution in goals.
In 1967 he signed for Bologna but again had difficulty in scoring in Serie A. Then, starting from 1968-69 with Atalanta, he became a very valid goal scorer and continued to score for Verona, Fiorentina and especially Napoli under manager Luis Vinicio. In 1975-76 he went back to Bologna and stayed for a couple of years.
Vinicio convinced Lazio to sign him in 1977 and he stayed a year as an alternative centre-forward. He did not play much and his contribution was minimal. At the end of the season he left for Montreal Castors in the Canadian National Soccer League.
Lazio fans remember him for his goal against Inter which was the last goal scored by a foreign player in Italy until Daniel Bertoni scored for Fiorentina against Catanzaro on September 28, 1980.
Once he stopped playing football he became a manager and was in charge of Palmeiras, Santos and Inter de Limeira.
He played 16 games for Lazio (11 in Serie A, 4 in Coppa Italia and one game in the UEFA Cup) and scored two goals, one in Serie A and one in Coppa Italia.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia | UEFA Cup |
1977-78 | 16 (2) | 11 (1) | 4 (1) | 1 |
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