Daniel Passarella was no respecter of his defensive rivals’ reputations. In an era when goals were at a premium in Serie A, he had a record which many strikers would have envied. That was never more the case than in the 1985/86 season when he rubbed shoulders with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Michel Platini and Diego Maradona at the upper end of the Capocannonieri table.
It is hard not to read those names and feel a pang of nostalgia for the times when Italian teams were restricted in the numbers of foreign players they could buy. An embargo was lifted in 1980 but, with only one Straniero allowed, clubs had to pick their overseas star wisely. In Florence – a city with a long-standing love affair with Argentinian players – they plumped for Daniel Bertoni, a World Cup winner in 1978. He would spend four happy years in Tuscany and take them to within a whisker of a third Scudetto – only to have it cruelly snatched away by arch-rivals Juventus.
Two years after his arrival, the restrictions were eased to allow two imports and the Viola decided to bring his countryman Passarella to keep him company. This was something of a theme among Serie A sides when they were limited in the number of overseas acquisitions they could make – think of Milan’s famous Dutchmen or Inter’s Germans. It was almost as if there was some kind of loyalty card offer on buying your stars from a particular nation.
Certainly, Fiorentina’s Argentinian duo proved to be a hit and, if anything, the defender would exceed the midfielder’s success in Tuscany. Together, they formed a formidable double act that the Florentine faithful came to love with pride and passion. Both names regularly appear in any all-time XI of foreign visitors to have donned the famous purple shirts. Nico Gonzalez and Lucas Martinez Quarta have quite a lot to live up to.
The sweeper quickly established himself as a solid performer with a team which was a regular at the top end of the table. He continually chipped in goals throughout his time in purple but the 1985 campaign, having turned 32, saw him at his prime. He hit the ground running and never looked back. In an age when matches were generally pretty tight, he became a matchwinner of some repute.
He opened his Serie A account that season in the third round of fixtures in a home clash with Milan. A gloriously thumping left-foot free-kick broke the deadlock against Nils Leidholm’s side and they never looked back with Paolo Monelli doubling their lead to secure the victory. The Argentinian had found his groove and was an undisputed leader of a quality side. In the following round he would batter home a penalty to help see off a plucky Lecce team.
He would deliver more set piece magic when Inter came to town a few weeks later. A penalty and another delicious free-kick completed a magnificent 3-0 win over his future employers. Another Nerazzurro in the making, Nicola Berti, would score in between the Argentinian’s two strikes with a trademark galloping run. This was a team – under the guidance of the eccentric Aldo Agroppi – which feared nobody.
It would take until round 10 – in the middle of November – for Passarella to find the net in Serie A away from home with reigning champions Hellas Verona (yes, you read that correctly) his victims. The Viola twice came from behind with another coolly converted spot-kick from the chap from Chacabuco sealing the final scoreline at 2-2. Another penalty saw off Avellino the following month before he managed his first goal from open play of the league season – a powerful header from a Giancarlo Antognoni free-kick in a 2-2 draw away to Udinese.
The second half of the season would be a little less prolific but it still saw some magical moments. They included another thunderbolt free-kick against Como on the day he was given a special medal celebrating his 100 games for the club. His most precious goals – for Fiorentina fans anyway – would come in the final weeks of his time with them.
It was week 27 that league-leading Juventus came to Florence – which is never a game like any other. Scuffles in a sell-out stadium preceded a game which saw coaches Giovanni Trapattoni and Agroppi lock horns. It would be the Tuscan’s axis of true quality – Antognoni and Passarella – which would break the deadlock as a cross from the former was looped home with a header by the latter. It was that man Berti – whatever happened to him? – who would deliver the coup de grace in a game which blew open the title race, giving chasing Roma hope. The Bianconeri would extinguish that dream in the end.
The Argentinian’s final Serie A game for Fiorentina would come at the home of arch-Tuscan rivals Pisa and it would be a fitting send-off. Having gone a goal down, he turned the game on its head with, almost inevitably, a set-piece double both for fouls on Berti. The first would see him brought down in the box and Passarella beat the keeper to his right before the midfielder was then dragged down just outside the area. A trademark sweet free-kick gave his team the win.
It would be his parting gift as Inter had been monitoring him closely and would take him to Milan for a couple of seasons. Before that, he was part of his country’s 1986 World Cup winning squad but would not play a single minute of the tournament. He came back to Italy for two decent seasons with the Nerazzurri – and a few more goals as well – but never quite at the level of his magical spell – a purple patch if you will – in the famous Florentine colours.
The man they called El Caudillo – The Chief – was an uncompromising competitor with refined footballing ability and vision to read the game. In the tactical climes of Serie A that made for a winning combination and often one which could decide a game. He was certainly one of the best Stranieri ever seen by Fiorentina fans and they still speak of him fondly to this day.
He had no finer campaign, though, than his final one with the club when it felt like every time he stood over a free-kick or a penalty it was guaranteed to find the back of the net. In addition, he was an aerial danger whenever others took a set piece that resulted in a cross. More often than not he would get his head on the ball before his fellow defenders in the opposition side. That made him something of a lethal weapon in attack as well as being able to stop opponents from finding the net at the other end of the pitch. A natural leader, he was a star from beginning to end of his time in Florence but never more so than in a golden campaign when he showed his attacking team-mates how to do their job – with a goal haul that none of them could come anywhere close to matching.