The Italian Villiam Vecchiexporter of the European champion Milan (1969) and former goalkeeping coach of Real Madrid, among other teams, died this Wednesday at 73 years old.
Vecchi (1948), known as the Hero of Thessaloniki, he was a member of the ‘rossoneri’ ranks for seven seasons, from 1967 to 1974, in which he managed to lift a European Cup Winners’ Cup on Greek soil, the one in 1973 against Leeds United, which bears his name engraved thanks to a performance that went down in Milan history.
In his career as a goalkeeping coach, Vecchi, the discoverer of the Italian Gianluigi Buffon during his time at Parma, was part of Carlo Ancelotti’s technical team at Milan (2001-2009) and at Real Madrid (2013-2015), with whom he added three Champions Leagues (2003 and 2007 with Milan, 2014 with Real Madrid).
“always close to Milanalways ‘rossoneri’. The Hero of Thessaloniki will keep stopping from up there. Infinite emotion in all the fans of AC Milan for the death of Villiam Vecchi. Condolences to the family of our historic number 1 and European Champion goalkeeping coach in 2003 and 2007,” Milan posted on its official Twitter account.
In addition to Milan, Vecchi wore the shirts of Cagliari, Como and Spal, all Italian teams. In total, the goalkeeper won a ‘Scudetto’ as a player, two Italian Cups, a European Cup, two Cup Winners y an Intercontinental Cup.
Real Madrid has also “deeply” lamented the death of Vecchi, expressing “its condolences and its love and affection for his family, his teammates, his clubs and all his loved ones.”
“During the two seasons that he was part of the Real Madrid coaching staff with Carlo Ancelotti as coach, Villiam Vecchi won 1 European Cup, 1 Club World Cup, 1 European Super Cup and 1 Copa del Rey…… Rest in peace”, the Madrid club stated in the statement.
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