Mauro Bellugi

Mauro Bellugi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmauro belˈluːdʒi]; 7 February 1950 – 20 February 2021) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender.^[1]

Mauro Bellugi

Mauro Bellugi with Inter Milan in 1972
Personal information
Full name	Mauro Bellugi
Date of birth	(1950-02-07)7 February 1950
Place of birth	Buonconvento, Italy
Date of death	20 February 2021(2021-02-20) (aged 71)
Place of death	Milan, Italy
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1969–1974	Inter Milan	90	(1)
1974–1979	Bologna	93	(0)
1979–1980	Napoli	30	(0)
1980–1981	Pistoiese	20	(0)
Total		233	(1)
International career
1972–1980	Italy	32	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Bellugi started his career with Inter Milan, making his debut for them on 31 August 1969 in a Coppa Italia match. In five seasons with Inter he played 90 Serie A matches, and 137 times in all senior competitions.^[2]

Bellugi later also played for Bologna F.C. (1974–79), S.S.C. Napoli (1979–80) and A.C. Pistoiese (1980–81).^[1]

International career

Bellugi played 31 matches for the Italy national football team from 1972 to 1979.^[1] He played five games in the 1978 FIFA World Cup,^[3] where Italy managed a fourth-place finish, and was also in the squad for the 1974 tournament.^[4] His final game for Italy was against Switzerland in Udine on 17 November 1979.^[5] He was an unused member of the Italian squad that managed a fourth-place finish at UEFA Euro 1980 on home soil.

Death

Bellugi died from complications of COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, thirteen days after his 71st birthday.^[6]