Renzo Burini was born in Palmanova (Udine), on October 10, 1927.
Renzo Burini was born in Palmanova (Udine), on October 10, 1927.
He first started kicking a ball among prisoners in their yard time as his father worked as a prison guard.
In 1946-1947 he played for his local Palmanova in Serie C. In 1948 he made the big move to Milan, also helped by the promise of a job in a knitwear factory.
His debut came on January 4 1948 and he scored a brace in an 8-1 win over Bari. He played for Milan for six years playing 190 games in Serie A with 87 goals. He played alongside the "Gre-No-Li" trio of Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm and won the Scudetto in 1950-51 (after a 44 year drought). With the Rossoneri he was an extremely prolific attacking winger.
In the 1952-53 season he broke his leg in February and the following year was sold to Lazio. At Lazio he adapted his role and became more of a midfielder.
He played six seasons for Lazio helping them to their first historic triumph, the Coppa Italia in 1958. He performed particularly well in derbies, scoring a brace in a 3-1 victory in 1955 and a goal and an assist in a 2-1 win in 1958. He played 140 league games for Lazio and scored 35 goals plus 8 in Coppa Italia with 5 goals.
In 1959 at 32 he left Rome and signed for Cesena in Serie D. They won promotion to Serie C where he would play for another two seasons. In his last season he scored the winning goal in the derby against Ravenna, allowing Cesena to avoid relegation. He made 66 appearances in Romagna scoring 13 goals.
At International level he took part in the Italy squad at the London Olympics in 1948 but never played. He made his full Italian debut in 1951 against Portugal and scored in a 4-1 victory. He earned three more caps (Jugoslavia, Switzerland and West Germany).
After retiring he worked as a coach. First at Cesena for a couple of years in the youth sector then as head coach at Forli for a year. He then had experiences as coach but mainly as assistant at Pro Patria, Monza, Pro Patria again and finally Omegna (Verbania).
Burini was an exceptionally quick player especially in the first part of his career. He started off as an attacking winger with the ability to set up but also to score lots of goals. He later became more of a midfielder but never lost his eye for goal.
In 2017, on his 90th birthday, Milan honoured him with a special ceremony in the stadium, handing him a number 7 shirt with his name (it was given by Daniele Massaro who Burini had nurtured in the Monza youth sector).
At Lazio he is also remembered fondly as a great player over six years with plenty of goals, especially the three in the local derbies. Burini too kept Lazio in his heart and would often turn up at the Lazio fans club meetings in Milan where he lived.
Renzo Burini died in Milan at the age of 92 in 2019.
Appearances and goals for Lazio
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Coppa Italia |
1953-54 | 32 (6) | 32 (6) | - |
1954-55 | 31 (8) | 31 (8) | - |
1955-56 | 30 (7) | 30 (7) | - |
1956-57 | 18 (5) | 18 (5) | - |
1957-58 | 26 (12) | 20 (7) | 6 (5) |
1958-59 | 11 (2) | 9 (2) | 2 |
Total | 148 (40) | 140 (35) | 8 (5) |
Sources