Sergio Cervato

A left back with a defender’s edge and a forward’s strike, Sergio Cervato gave Fiorentina one of the most complete wide defensive profiles in Italian football of the 1950s. He could mark tightly, tackle with authority and read the timing of duels, but what made him unusual was the quality of his left foot: long passes, free kicks, penalties and powerful shots that turned a defensive player into a genuine set piece threat. In Fiorentina’s 1955 to 1956 Scudetto side, his role was not merely protective. He gave the team progression from the back, leadership, aggression and technical superiority on the left side. Cervato was mentally hard, competitive and direct, closer to the old Italian idea of defensive seriousness than to decorative attacking full back play, yet far too gifted on the ball to be called just a stopper. A captain type, a dead ball weapon and one of the great Italian left backs before the modern era.