It was like a foreign country for...
Luis Silvio Danuello (Pistoiese 1980-81)
There are bad foreign players and there are bad foreign players. The hapless Luis Silvio was definitely of the latter class - the crown prince of dodgy stranieri. Silvio arrived in Italy during changing times.The ban on overseas’ footballers had just been lifted, opening the way for fresh imports for the start of the 1980-81 season. Obviously some teams were a little rusty on the art of buying abroad. While great names like Roberto Falcao, Ruud Krol and Liam Brady arrived to don the shirts of Roma, Napoli and Juventus respectively, other signings were not so inspirational. The biggest blunder came from little Pistoiese.
Luis Silvio arrived from Brazil with an impressive portfolio having played for giants of the world game like Marilia and Ponte Prete Campinas. He was said to be a crowd-pleasing forward. Indeed he did please crowds - those of Pistoiese’s opponents. He was to last just six Serie A games under Coach Lido Vieri before being told not to embarrass the orange and blue shirts again. It later transpired that the game which convinced Pistoiese to sign him was a set-up and the Tuscan club had landed themselves a novice. Silvio later admitted that he had moved to Serie A to pursue an ambition of owning his own bar.
Pistoiese slumped back down to Serie B after an appalling season – a side that was recently ranked amongst the ten worst ever to appear in Serie A. Strangely, despite his lack of fortune on the field, Luis Silvio fell in love with Tuscany and has stayed in the region. He is often seen selling ice creams at Pistoiese home games. A genuinely true story, but needless to say on the playing field it was like a foreign country for Luis Silvio Danuello.
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Born:
Julio Mesquita (Brazil), 28/1/60
Position:
Ice cream vendor
Serie A apps: 6
Serie A goals: -
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