Cagliari The Great Cagliari of the Scudetto loses another of its champions. He passed away in Pistoia at 77 years old Communard Nicholas. An illness while he was in hospital proved fatal.
Niccolai was born in Uzzano in the province of Pistoia on December 15, 1946. Before arriving at Cagliari he had also worn the Torres jersey in the 1963/64 Serie C tournament. In the following season he bought Cagliari with whom he remained for all the first 12 seasons of the Sardinians in Serie A, playing 228 matches and scoring 4 goals.
In the career of the Tuscan stopper, the 1969/70 season, the one of the championship, clearly stands out. But for many seasons he was a real bCagliari defence wingman together with the free Beppe Tomasini. A very high performance which allowed him to also wear the national team jersey three times including one at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
He went down in football history as the king of own goals even though his colleagues in Italy, like Ferri and Baresi, have done more. The historic one in the 1970 scudetto challenge against Juve. The match ended 2-2 and was opened by his header that anticipated Albertosi. In total six own goals that however do not tarnish his profile as a great champion, the best stopper in the history of Cagliari. (enrico gaviano)
