He was known as ‘the mayor of Rome’ – and he was such a great player that later in his career the great Pele would go on to say that he was the best player in the 1982 World Cup.

But Bruno Conti had a very humble start – his home village of Nettuno was actually known as the baseball capital of Italy.

It was the site of a major US Naval Base during World War 2 – and the Italian boys would watch in fascination as the American GI’s would play baseball on the beach. Eventually they started to teach the locals and a small league formed.

Bruno was so good as a lefty pitcher that he was scouted by – and offered a trial with the NY Yankees – which would be the right team for an Italian – being the club of: Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra.

But he chose soccer and became a legend of both club and country. I met him at his AS Roma facility where he could not have been nicer. It was a real honor to sit with the man and hear his storied career.

I hope you find it as interesting as I did – SoccerPod #19 – the great Bruno Conti.

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