Pedro Manfredini, one of the greatest forwards in Roma’s history, passed away on Monday. He was 83.
The Argentina international, who joined Roma in 1959, spent just over five years with the Giallorossi – scoring an impressive 104 goals in 164 games for the club. He remains fifth on the club’s list of all-time leading goalscorers.
During his career with the Giallorossi he won both the Inter-City Fairs Cup (1961) and the Coppa Italia (1964) and also finished as Serie A’s joint-top goalscorer during the 1962-63 season.
Manfredini was an unusual player for his time – blessed with an impressive change of direction, a love for one-on-one take-ons and an endless desire to work for the team, in today’s game he may well have progressed as a false nine.
He was prolific, though: Averaging 0.63 goals per game, only Rodolfo Volk (0.66) and Enrique Guaita (0.68) have superior records in Giallorossi history.
Able to move to Italy thanks to his Italian paternal grandfather, he moved to Roma as a league winner with Racing Club Avellaneda and a Coppa America winner with Argentina – having beaten a Brazil side that included Pele in 1959.
He marked his league debut in October of that year with a brilliant goal after just four minutes – and never really stopped from there.
Incredibly popular with supporters, his goals often provided vital in memorable wins. He scored nine hat-tricks in Giallorossi – earning him the nickname ‘Man-tre-dini’. For the 1960-61 season he began with 15 goals in just nine games.
One of seven Roma players to have finished as Serie A top goalscorer (most recently being joined in that group by Francesco Totti and Edin Dzeko), he earned his place in that class.
The fans always cheered his name. He will always hold a special place in the club history.