Some gestures have become part of Italian football’s collective aesthetics. Think about Carlo Parola’s legendary overhead kick, which became so iconic that it was chosen by Panini to be depicted in their famous football sticker packs for decades.
Or, about Francesco Totti’s dismissive “four goal” sign after Roma trounced Juventus 4-0 in 2004.
For Torino, one of these iconic gestures is their captain Paolo Pulici’s diving header on May 16, 1976, to open the scoring in a game against Cesena that would seal the Granata’s seventh – and, to date, last – Scudetto, the first they won since the Tragedy of Superga.
Ahead of the last matchday in the 1975/76 campaign, Torino and Juventus shared the top spot in the Serie A table – that seems unthinkable nowadays, right?
Juventus traveled to Perugia to face the newly promoted Grifoni, while Torino welcomed Cesena to the then Stadio Comunale in Turin. A few minutes into the second half, poor Renato Curi (who would die one year later from heart failure, collapsing on the pitch during another game against the Bianconeri…) opened the scoring for Perugia, paving the way to Torino’s triumph.
It only made sense that the decisive goal for Toro would be scored a few minutes later by Pulici, whose heart was so Granata that, before taking the field in any game against their much-hated cross-city rivals, he used to clean his studs against a Juventus flag.
Pulici’s timing on 61 minutes was perfect as he anticipated his marker to head the ball past Cesena’s goalie Lamberto Boranga – another legendary character who went on to play in the amateur divisions until 2018, when he was 77 (!!!)
However, Torino had to suffer until the end as, ten minutes after Pulici’s opener, a misunderstanding between defender Roberto Mozzini and shot-stopper Luciano Castellini sparked Mozzini’s own-goal, leveling the score at 1-1.
All’s well that ends well, though. Juventus did not manage to equalize in Perugia, and so a tie was enough for the Granata to wrap perhaps the sweetest of their Scudettos, which they won over their Turin rivals.
Cesena were very happy as well, since the point they snatched in Turin helped them end a sensational sixth in the table and achieve qualification to the UEFA Cup for their first and only time.
So, was everybody happy at the Stadio Comunale? Not exactly. The Torino coach, Gigi Radice, was furious: Mozzoni’s own goal had prevented Torino from achieving another sensational record – winning all their home games in a season. Now that is striving for perfection.
