Otávio Fantoni

Otávio Fantoni (Portuguese pronunciation: [oˈtaviu fɐ̃ˈtoni]; Italian: [fanˈtoːni]; Belo Horizonte, 4 April 1907 – Rome, 8 February 1935),^[1] best known as Nininho or Fantoni II, was a Brazilian-born Italian professional football player, who played as a midfielder.

Otávio Fantoni

Personal information
Date of birth	(1907-04-04)4 April 1907
Place of birth	Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Date of death	8 February 1935(1935-02-08) (aged 27)
Place of death	Rome, Italy
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1929–1930	Palestra Itália	?	(?)
1930–1935	Lazio	108	(5)
International career
1934	Italy	1	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

He was born in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, into a family of Italian origin, which supported Cruzeiro, than known as Palestra Itália. In Cruzeiro, he played along with his cousins João Fantoni (Ninão) and Leonízio Fantoni (Niginho). In 1931, they were sold to Lazio, where they would be known by their surnames similar to a dynasty, where Nigão was Fantoni I, Nininho was Fantoni II and Niginho, Fantoni III.^[2]

Career

Fantoni made an appearance for the Italy national team on one occasion: in Vittorio Pozzo's selection in the 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification match, on 25 March 1934 against Greece, a 4–0 home victory.^[3][4]

Death

Less than one year after his victory on the FIFA match, he injured his nose in a game against Torino. The injury caused a generalized infection that would come to kill him on 8 February 1935 in Rome, Italy.