Antonio Juliano

Antonio Juliano
	Juliano in 1974
Personal information
Full name	Antonio Juliano
Date of birth	1 January 1943 (age 78)
Place of birth	Naples, Kingdom of Italy
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1956–1962	Napoli
Senior career*
Years	Team
1962–1978	Napoli
1978–1979	Bologna
Total
National team
1966–1974	Italy
	* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Antonio Juliano (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo juˈljaːno]; born 1 January 1943) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder.^[1] A creative playmaker, he was renowned in particular for his leadership, technical ability, and ball control, as well as for his vision, stamina, and passing range.^[2]

Club career[]

Juliano (middle) with Dino Zoff (left) and Kurt Hamrin, 1970

Juliano played the majority of his club career with Napoli (1962–78), winning the Coppa delle Alpi in 1966, and the Coppa Italia and the Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1976. He finished his playing career after a season with Bologna, retiring in 1979, after helping the club to avoid relegation.^[1]

International career[]

Juliano earned 18 caps for the Italy national football team between 1966 and 1974,^[1] and was a member of the championship-winning team of Euro 68. He was also in the Italian squad for three World Cup finals: 1966 (wearing the number 10 shirt),^[3] 1970^[4] and 1974.^[5] However, he played only one World Cup match, the 4–1 defeat by Brazil in the 1970 final, after coming on as a substitute.

After retirement[]

After retiring, he returned to Napoli as a sporting director, a role in which he oversaw the acquisitions of Ruud Krol in 1980, and of Diego Maradona, from Barcelona, in 1984.