Fabio Cudicini
- Dag Jenkins
- Nov 15
- 3 min read
Fabio Cudicini was born in Trieste, on October 20, 1935.
His first club as teenager was Ponziana in Trieste and then in 1955 when he was 19 he moved to the Udinese youth setup. In his first year at Udine he also played 2 games for the first team. Udinese were in Serie B and won the league under former Lazio, Giuseppe Bigogno. The squad included former Lazio, Per Bredesen and Alberto Fontanesi.
With Udinese in Serie A Cudicini stayed another two seasons, playing 28 league games and 6 in Coppa Italia. The Zebrette finished 4th and 10th, still under Bigogno. In his second season in A the squad included former Lazio, Primo Sentimenti and Renzo Sassi plus future Lazio, Massimo Giacomini.
In 1958 Cudicini joined Roma. He stayed eight seasons, playing a total of 208 games. The Giallorossi finished 6th, 9th, 5th three times, 12th, 9th and 8th. His managers included Gunnar Nordahl, Alfredo Foni, Luis Carniglia, Juan Carlos Lorenzo and Oronzo Pugliese. In Rome he won the Coppa Italia (1964), the Fairs Cup (1961) and the Alps Cup with other Italian clubs (1960). Roma then bought Pier Luigi Pizzaballa and Cudicini moved on.
In 1966-67 he spent a season at Brescia in Serie A. The Rondinelle finished 13th under future Lazio, Renato Gei. Cudicini played 18 league games and 1 in Coppa Italia. One of his teammates was a young Ciccio Cordova (Lazio 1976-79).
In 1967 Cudicini joined Milan where he stayed five seasons. He played 183 games and won a Scudetto (1968), a European Cup (1969), a Cup Winners Cup (1968), a Coppa Italia (1972) and an Intercontinental Cup (1969). His manager was Nereo Rocco for the whole period. The squads included Lazio connections Massimo Giacomini, Guido Magherini and Alberto Bigon. They also included great players such as Gianni Rivera, Kurt Hamrin, Giovanni Trapattoni, Karl-Heinz Schnellinger, Giovanni Lodetti, Angelo Sormani, Pierino Prati and Romeo Benetti.
Cudicini then retired at 36.
He was less lucky with the Italian national team as in the period Enrico Albertosi was the main keeper and then Dino Zoff emerged. Cudicini was called up a few times but never won a cap.
Cudicini was an excellent club goalkeeper. He was nicknamed "Pennellone" in his Roman days due to his height, 1.92. He was also called the "Ragno Nero" (Black Spider) due to his habit of wearing black and his agility (this nickname was first given to him in Britain after a superb performance against Manchester United in 1968-69). Another Black Spider was of course Lev Jašin, considered one of the greatest keepers of all time.
Cudicini was tall but he was quick, agile and with a great sense of positioning. He was logically good on high balls but also surprisingly so on lower ones. He was not showy or flashy but very efficient.
He is a legend at Milan where he won all the most important trophies. He still holds the San Siro record for the most minutes unbeaten, 1132. He is considered one of Italy's best ever goalkeepers.
His son Carlo also became a goalkeeper and his clubs included; Milan, Como, Lazio (1996-97), Chelsea, Tottenham and LA Galaxy.
Fabio Cudicini died in Milan, on January 8, 2025.
Sources
Comments