Derby match-winner Enzo passes away

Fabio Enzo, Roma’s derby match-winner in October 1966, passed away on Monday. He was 74.

Enzo scored the only goal of the game on 23 October 1966, heading home from Joaquin Peirò’s cross to put the Giallorossi in front – a lead they would not relinquish on the way to a 1-0 triumph.

“When its your goal that decides the derby – it’s a feeling you can’t describe,” Enzo would later say.

That decisive strike against Lazio was just the third Serie A appearance for the club for young Enzo, who was born in Venice in 1946.

Just 20 years old, he had been playing for Tevere Roma in Serie D the year before his breakthrough moment.

Long on the radar of club scout Walter Crociani, the leap to the big leagues was never going to be easy – although, standing 1.90 metres tall, reaching Peirò’s cross on that memorable afternoon was perhaps a much easier task.

Yet, despite his height and size, Enzo was best used as a winger for much of his career - and most notable for the power of his shot. For a period, he was on military training alongside Gigi Riva and Dino Zoff. When the trio practised together, Zoff credited Enzo with having a more powerful shot than Riva, one of Italy’s greatest ever players.

Enzo ended up scoring 10 goals in his 42 competitive appearances for Roma.

“I liked the way he launched himself into every moment on the pitch, with admirable courage and conviction,” Adriano Zecca, a former Roma player himself, said.

“He had a great shot, from almost anywhere on the pitch. He had no problem with the physical side of the game either, but if you played the ball long his pace made him hard to stop too. He could have been Rodolfo Volk’s successor.”

That did not quite happen, though, as he was eventually sold to Cesena in 1969. He would continue playing until 1983, carving out a solid career for himself among Italy’s lower leagues.

His best moments, then, perhaps came with the Giallorossi – and not just on the pitch, either. He was the roommate of a young Fabio Capello during his time at the club, where the duo would talk about football and cinema – Pier Paolo Pasolini was a favourite – until three in the morning.

He remained a Roma fan for the rest of his life, and even in retirement would occasionally make the 600km trip from hometown Cavallino Treporti to the Olimpico just to watch his old side.

Rest in peace, Fabio.