There will be a minute’s silence before all Serie A games this weekend in honour of Carlo Mazzone, as tributes pour in remembering his greatest phrases, wild runs and that bond with Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti and Pep Guardiola.
The news only broke this afternoon that Mazzone had died at the age of 86, just hours before the 2023-24 season kicks off.
Mazzone was a great coach and to this day holds the record for 797 Serie A matches on the bench, but he was also a native Roman who refused to hold anything back, verbally or physically.
His most famous incident saw him run the length of the pitch to shout at the Atalanta fans who had been abusing him for 90 minutes, just as Brescia grabbed the equaliser in a 3-3 draw.
It was at Brescia that he first worked with Baggio and Guardiola, forming a friendship that remained to his dying day, so much that Guardiola personally called up to invite Mazzone to the Champions League Final in 2019.
Totti was effectively launched into the Roma squad by Mazzone on a regular basis and made this touching statement.
“Father, coach, teacher. Simply, Carlo Mazzone. Eternally grateful, Mister.”
His style of speaking in strictly Roman dialect made for many an amusing anecdote, including one presented today by Buffon.
“Parma were 1-0 up with 15 minutes to go and I made a triple save to secure the result against Brescia. At the end of the game, Mazzone came over and in a crowd of people he said: ‘Buffon… what did I do to you to deserve that?? You seemed like Lazarus today… you kept rising back up!’
“Carlo Mazzone represents a football icon that captured my heart. His overwhelming passion that spilled out into his teams was truly unique and unrepeatable.
“The news of his death leaves a hole that cannot be filled, but his impact will always remain.”
Another of his most famous anecdotes was told by Amedeo Carboni when going on an attack from full-back for Roma.
“Amedeo, how many games have you played?”
“350, coach.”
“And how many goals did you score?”
“Four.”
“Then where the **** do you think you are going, Amedeo, get back in defence!”
He should’ve coached the national team in 2002 instead of Trapattoni who left Baggio home.
RIP Mister..