{{Short description|Italian footballer (born 1939)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Angelo Sormani | image = Angelo Sormani Italia.jpg | caption = | full_name = Angelo Benedicto Miguel Sormani | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1939|7|3|df=y}} | birth_place = Jaú, Brazil | death_date = | death_place = | height = | position = Striker | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = XV de Jaú | youthyears2 = | youthclubs2 = Santos | years1 = 1959–1961 | clubs1 = Santos | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1961–1963 | clubs2 = Mantova | caps2 = 64 | goals2 = 29 | years3 = 1963–1964 | clubs3 = Roma | caps3 = 25 | goals3 = 6 | years4 = 1964–1965 | clubs4 = Sampdoria | caps4 = 30 | goals4 = 2 | years5 = 1965–1970 | clubs5 = Milan | caps5 = 137 | goals5 = 45 | years6 = 1970–1972 | clubs6 = Napoli | caps6 = 53 | goals6 = 7 | years7 = 1972–1973 | clubs7 = Fiorentina | caps7 = 9 | goals7 = 0 | years8 = 1973–1976 | clubs8 = Vicenza | caps8 = 57 | goals8 = 12 | totalcaps = 375 | totalgoals = 101 | nationalyears1 = 1962–1963 | nationalteam1 = Italy | nationalcaps1 = 7 | nationalgoals1 = 2 | manageryears1 = 1980 | managerclubs1 = Napoli | manageryears2 = 1987 | managerclubs2 = Roma }}
'''Angelo Benedicto Miguel Sormani''' ({{IPA|it|ˈandʒelo sorˈmaːni|lang}}; {{IPA|pt|ˈɐ̃ʒelu soʁˈmɐni}}<!-- FACT-CHECK: unsure if it is pronounced *An*gelo (as in the Portuguese-language name) or An*ge*lo (imitating Italian), tentatively using the Portuguese pronunciation. -->; born 3 July 1939) is a Brazilian-born Italian former football manager and player, who played as a forward; he was capable of playing anywhere along the front-line, as a centre-forward, as well as in an attacking midfield role, or also as a winger on the right flank. Born in Brazil, he represented the Italy national team at the 1962 FIFA World Cup. While lacking pace, he was a physically strong, creative and intelligent player with excellent technical ability; throughout his career, he was known for his tactical versatility, power and determination, as well as his capability to take part in and initiate attacking plays due to his passing ability.<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org>{{cite web|url=http://www.storiedicalcio.altervista.org/angelo_sormani.html|title=Angelo Sormani|publisher=Storie di Calcio|language=it|access-date=18 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="hall of fame">{{cite web|url=https://www.acmilan.com/en/angelo-benedicto-sormani|title=A.C. Milan Hall of Fame: Angelo Sormani|publisher=A.C. Milan|access-date=13 May 2017}}</ref> Following his retirement, he also worked as a manager, coaching two clubs for which he formerly played: Roma, and Napoli.<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/>
==Club career== Before moving to Italy to play in Serie A, where he would spend most of his professional life, Sormani began his club career in his home country of Brazil, where he initially played for Santos FC; he was initially used as a backup striker to Pelé, but despite this limitation, he was able to move into the starting line-up due to his versatility, and his ability to adapt to any position along the front line.<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/>
After moving to Italy, Sormani made his Serie A debut with A.C. Mantova in 1961, spending two seasons with the club (1961–63), where he displayed his talent and potential, earning the nickname "the white Pelé". He subsequently attracted the attention of larger clubs, and he moved to A.S. Roma for the 1963–64 season, for an at the time world record of 500 million Lire in 1963, in addition to 250 million more, including the value of the three players Mantova received from Roma in exchange: Torbjörn Jonsson, Elvio Salvori, and Karl-Heinz Schnellinger. During the single season he spent with the capital club, he won the Coppa Italia, although he was unable to display consistently the talent he had demonstrated whilst playing at Mantova. After a difficult season, Sormani spent the 1964–65 season with U.C. Sampdoria, where he also struggled, before moving to A.C. Milan in 1965, where he flourished, and achieved notable domestic and international success. During his time at Milan, he finally fulfilled his potential and established himself as one of the league's top players, winning the 1967–68 Serie A title, the Coppa Italia during the 1966–67 season, the 1967–68 European Cup Winners' Cup, the 1968–69 European Cup, and the 1969 Intercontinental Cup.<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/>
After his successful time with Milan, in 1970, he moved to S.S.C. Napoli for two seasons, before spending the 1972–73 season with Fiorentina. He moved to Vicenza Calcio in 1973, where he spent three seasons, before ending his career in 1976.<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/>
==International career== Born in Brazil, Sormani made seven appearances and scored two goals for the Italy national team between 1962 and 1963,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.figc.it/nazionali/DettaglioConvocato?codiceConvocato=982&squadra=1|title=Nazionale in cifre: Sormani, Angelo Benedetto|website=figc.it|publisher=FIGC|language=it|access-date=24 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044043/http://www.figc.it/nazionali/DettaglioConvocato?codiceConvocato=982&squadra=1|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> after obtaining Italian citizenship due to his Italian origins (grandson of emigrants from Garfagnana (paternal grandparents) and the Polesine (maternal grandparents));<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/><ref>{{cite web|last1=Cervi|first1=Gino|title=Azzurro oriundo, ma serve in un Mondiale?|url=http://www.gqitalia.it/sport/calcio/mondiali-calcio/2014/06/09/azzurro-oriundo-mumo-orsi-paletta-i-mondiali-dei-naturalizzati/|website=GQ Italia|date=9 June 2014 |access-date=16 May 2016}}</ref> he represented Italy at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile, where they were eliminated in the first round.<ref>{{FIFA player|58273}}</ref>
==Honours== '''Roma'''<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/> *Coppa Italia: 1963–64
'''Milan'''<ref name=storiedicalcio.altervista.org/> *Serie A: 1967–68 *Coppa Italia: 1966–67 *European Cup: 1968–69 *European Cup Winners' Cup: 1967–68 *Intercontinental Cup: 1969
'''Individual''' *A.C. Milan Hall of Fame<ref name="hall of fame"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Italy Squad 1962 World Cup}} {{Navboxes | title = Angelo Sormani managerial positions | list1 = {{A.S. Roma managers}} {{S.S.C. Napoli managers}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sormani, Angelo}} Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:Italian men's footballers Category:Italy men's international footballers Category:1962 FIFA World Cup players Category:Serie A players Category:Serie B players Category:Santos FC players Category:Mantova 1911 players Category:AS Roma players Category:UC Sampdoria players Category:AC Milan players Category:SSC Napoli players Category:ACF Fiorentina players Category:LR Vicenza players Category:Italian people of Brazilian descent Category:Brazilian people of Italian descent Category:Italian football managers Category:SSC Napoli managers Category:AS Roma managers Category:Men's association football forwards Category:UEFA Champions League–winning players Category:Footballers from Jaú Category:20th-century Italian sportsmen