Carlo Tagnin was born in Alessandria, on November 18, 1932.
He spent his late teenage years in the Torino youth sector before joining hometown side Alessandria in Serie C on loan in 1952. He and the "Orso Grigio" (The Grey Wolf) had a good season winning promotion to Serie B. He played 31 league games and scored 10 goals.
In 1953-54 he moved back to Torino in Serie A but only got 7 league games under future Lazio Jesse Carver first and then, from October, Annibale Frossi. The Granata finished 9th. He played with Vittorio Sentimenti III and Lelio Antoniotti.
In 1954 he joined Simmenthal Monza in Serie B and stayed three seasons. The Brianzoli finished 13th, 3rd and 8th. He played 78 league games with 3 goals.
In 1957-58 he moved home to Alessandria in Serie A. The Grigi finished 12th under Luciano Robotti and he played 29 league games with 3 goals (SPAL, Vicenza, Sampdoria).
In 1958-59 he joined Lazio. The manager was Fulvio "Fuffo" Bernardini and Lazio finished 11th. Tagnin however helped Lazio lift their first ever trophy, as the 1957-58 Coppa Italia was played between June and September 1958. Tagnin played 6 games in that triumphant run and scored 1 goal (Napoli) and then played 29 league games with 1 goal (SPAL) and 1 game in the 1959 Italia.
In 1959 he moved south to Bari in Serie A. He stayed two seasons, the first under Paolo Tabanelli (1-19) and Francesco Capocasale (20-34) and the second under Capocasale again (1-7), Onofrio Fusco (8) and Luis Carniglia (9-34). In the first the Galletti finished 13th while in the second they were relegated after playoffs (Lecco 2-4, Udinese 0-0). In Puglia Tagnin played 64 league games with 4 goals and 2 games in Coppa Italia. In Bari he was involved in an unfortunate episode of attempted match fixing and was suspended for a year.
He reappeared in 1963 at the top as he joined Helenio Herrera's Inter. The Nerazzurri finished 2nd (lost first and only title playoff to Bologna 0-2) but won the European Cup beating Real Madrid 3-1 in Vienna. Tagnin played 20 league games with 1 goal (winner vs SPAL), 1 game in Coppa Italia and 9 in the European Cup triumph (including the final). He had to watch Alfredo Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskás and Francisco Gento. He marked Di Stefano and literally followed him everywhere, the Spaniard famously complaining to Luís Suarez about this treatment.
The following year was even better as the Nerazzurri won both the Scudetto and the European Cup, defeating Eusebio's Benfica 1-0 in San Siro. "Il Biscione" (The Serpent) also won the Intercontinental Cup beating Argentines Independiente 1-0 after extra-time in the third game (0-1 away, 2-0 at home, before away goals). Tagnin played 16 league games, 2 in Coppa Italia, 4 in the European Cup and 2 in the Intercontinental Cup.
In 1965-66 he returned to Alessandria for one last season. The "Mandrogni" were in Serie B and finished 13th under former Lazio Federico Allasio (1-5), Aristide Coscia (6-19) and Hungarian László Székely (19-38). Tagnin played 28 league games.
At 35 Tagnin retired, took a break and then went into coaching. In 1972-73 he was at Albese in Serie D and the "Langaroli" finished 2nd. In 1973-74 he moved to Savona in Serie D but was replaced during the season and the "Striscioni" (The Large Stripes) were eventually relegated.
He then joined Inter's youth sector for eight years between 1975 and 1983 before returning to Alessandria's for two years. His last job was in 1985-86 as Alessandria's first team coach in C2 finishing 3rd.
Tagnin was a solid tackling, hard working midfielder. He was a classic "portatore d'acqua" (water carrier) or less romantically "un cagnaccio" (a cur). He would do the dirty work for the more creative and classy players such as Luís Suarez and Mariolino Corso at Inter.
It was at Inter he reached the peak of his career winning a Scudetto and two European Cups and in one final literally marking Alfredo Di Stefano off the park (or maybe kicked in those days).
He was only at Lazio for one season but it was a memorable one. He was in the line-up that won Lazio's first ever trophy, the 1958 Coppa Italia. A team no doubt easily reeled off by generations of proud Lazio fans in the 1950's and 1960's.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1958-59 | 33 (1) | 29 (1) | 4 |
Sources