Massimo Piscedda

Massimo Piscedda was born in Rome, on March 14 1962.

Source Wikipedia

He played all his youth football with Lazio and in 1981 was sent to Siena on loan.

The Tuscan Bianconeri were in Serie C2 and won promotion in first place under Guido Mammi. Piscedda played 32 league games.

In 1982 he joined Sanremese on loan in C1. The Matuziani finished 12th and Piscedda played 33 league games.

In 1983-84 he returned to Lazio. The Biancocelesti had just returned to Serie A, after three years in B, and legend Giorgio "Long John" Chinaglia was the new owner. It was a difficult year, first under Juan Carlos Morrone and then Paolo Carosi, but Lazio survived on the last day of the season. Piscedda played 15 league games and 5 in Coppa Italia.

In 1984-85 he was sent out on loan again, this time to Taranto in Serie B. The Rossoblu from Apulia got through four different managers (Bruno Pinna, Angelo Becchetti, Lauro Toneatto and Umberto Buonfrate) and were relegated. Piscedda played 31 league games.

In 1985 he came back home to Lazio and this time it was to stay. Lazio were back in Serie B after a disastrous season and Chinaglia was about to leave (December). The new manager was promotion specialist Luigi Simoni but off field uncertainties meant things did not go to plan and Lazio finished 11th. Piscedda only played 3 league games as he was put out of the squad for most of the season for having refused to join Ternana.

In 1986-87 Lazio started the season with a nine-point handicap due to Claudio Vinazzani's alleged involvement in the Totonero- bis betting scandal. Lazio with a new manager, Eugenio Fascetti, had an epic season and survived after a three-team playoff in July with Campobasso and Taranto. The feat made the players heroes for life at Lazio. Piscedda played 21 league games plus the 2 playoff games and 5 in Coppa Italia with his first goal for Lazio, against Taranto.

In 1987-88 Lazio won promotion back to Serie A under Fascetti. Piscedda played 26 league games with 1 goal (Brescia) and 2 games in Coppa Italia.

In 1988-89 Fascetti surprisingly left after divergences on transfer strategies and was replaced by Giuseppe Materazzi. Lazio finished 11th (with 19 draws) but won a local derby after ten years with a Paolo Di Canio winner. Piscedda played 25 league games and 9 in Coppa Italia.

The 1989-90 season would be his last with Lazio. The Biancocelesti finished 9th and Piscedda only played 7 league games. Lazio had bought defenders Roberto Soldà, Cristiano Bergodi and Raffaele Sergio and the Roman defender from Corviale got less playing time.

In 1990-91 he played for Avellino in Serie B. The Irpini finished 13th under Francesco Oddo (Massimo Oddo's father). Piscedda played 30 with 3 goals (Lucchese, Verona, Padova, all winning goals). His teammates included, former Lazio, Claudio Garella (1976-77) and Francesco Fonte (1983-85).

In 1991-92 he played one last season, at Ascoli in Serie A. The Bianconeri started under Giancarlo De Sisti and finished with Massimo Cacciatori (Lazio-1978-85) but ended up relegated. Piscedda played 18 league games. Two of his teammates were former Lazio, Bruno Giordano (1975-85) and Pedro Troglio (1989-91).

Piscedda then retired at 30.

Since retiring he has become an Italian Federation man. He started coaching the Serie C national team and then had spells with Italy U16's and U17's (2001-03), the U18's and U19's (as assistant, 2003-06). In 2006 he then had two brief stints at Messina in Serie A, as assistant to Bruno Giordano. He then returned to the Federation and coached the U20's (2007-08), U18's and U19's (2008-09), Italy B (2011-20) and Italy's University team (2015- won gold at University Games). He still works for the Football Federation as a talent scout.

He also works as a pundit for the national network, RAI.

Piscedda was a defender. He could play as left-back or 'libero'. He is 1.79 and 75 kilos. He was a solid defender, not particularly quick but with good positioning and a skilful left foot. He played 68 games in Serie A and 111 in Serie B.

He grew up with Lazio and then played 120 games for the Biancocelesti. He was part of the heroic -9 squad and put the cross in for Fabio Poli's playoff winner against Campobasso. He won promotion the following year and then stayed two years in Serie A. He is an integral part of the Lazio family, is considered a true Laziale and is still often heard on local radio programs talking about Lazio.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Serie A	Serie B	Coppa Italia
1983-84	20	15	-	5
1985-86	3	-	3	-
1986-87	28 (1)	-	23	5 (1)
1987-88	28 (1)	-	26 (1)	2
1988-89	34	25	-	9
1989-90	7	7	-	-
Total	120 (2)	47	52 (1)	21 (1)

Sources

Wikipedia