Comunardo Niccolai, who played as a defender in the 1960s and 1970s, especially for Cagliari, died on Tuesday at the age of 77: in 1970 he was among the winners of the first and so far only Scudetto in Cagliari’s history. Niccolai was hospitalized in Pistoia after having fallen ill.
He played for Cagliari from 1964 to 1976 and in those years he became famous on one hand for the many own goals he scored (above all the one against Juventus in 1970, in an important match for the Scudetto victory, which ended 2-2), but on the other hand he distinguished himself as a strong and reliable defender: The Sports Gazette writes that he is considered “the best stopper in the history of Cagliari” (stopper was the ancestor role of the central defender). In the year of the Scudetto, also thanks to him, Cagliari conceded only 11 goals in 30 games.
Niccolai was called up for the 1970 World Cup, where the Italian national team came in second, but he played very little. After retiring, he worked for many years for the Federation, as a selector of the national teams and, between 1993 and 1994, as coach of the women’s national team.
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