What does a sleepy Tuscan town called Grosseto, 14 kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea and overlooking the alluvial plain of the Ombrone river, have in common with a crazy, nomadic and unorthodox Chilean centre forward? The answer is, the Serie B season of 2009/2010.
Grosseto and Pinilla: The Odd Couple
People can come together who are complete opposites and form a partnership that can only really be understood by themselves. This was the case for both Grosseto and Mauricio Pinilla all those years ago, it was like a holiday romance between the bad boy and the girl next door but for that year only, there were fireworks.
Grosseto is a sleepy Tuscan town that has a population of approximately 82,000 inhabitants. There are the usual churches and museums and the famous Medicean walls (commissioned by Cosimo Medici) are perhaps their most famous feature. The football club has an underwhelming history: their biggest achievement was winning Serie C1 in 2006/07 and in this current moment they languish in Serie D. All in all, as it is today, back in 2009, it was a sleepy town with a sleepy football club.
A Nomad Playing With Nomads
Enter stage left, Mauricio Pinilla, the nomadic footballer, party boy and, to some, a lunatic.
Back in 2009, President Piero Camilli had high hopes for his team and thought that they possibly could make it to Serie A for the first time if they had some fire power to back what was a solid, if not hugely impressive, team. His coach, Elio Gustinetti (formerly of Atalanta and Udinese fame) had assembled a group of players that were mostly from the lower divisions but had some players who had experienced Serie A. Thomas Job, the Cameroonian had spent time at Sampdoria and Cremonese, Alessandro Crescenzi had come directly from Roma’s youth system, Austrian Thomas Pichlmann had played for Hellas and, more importantly, Mauro Esposito was well know for a superb career at Cagliari. He would be crucial in his role with the incoming Chilean.
Most of this squad could be referred to as journeymen but none more so that Pinilla. He joined Grosseto in his mid-twenties and by this point he had already played for 10 clubs. Most notably, he had started out with Universidad de Chile before being spotted by Inter in 2003 and brought to Italy. He never played for them but loan moves to Chievo and Celta Vigo gave him the experience he needed although Inter eventually sold him to Sporting CP where he netted five times in 20 games.
More loan moves followed and after a brief spells in Scotland with Hearts and in Brazil at Vasco da Gama he found himself in Cypress with Apollon Limassol FC. The lowest point of his career was now upon him as he was then released by the club, and it looked like he would simply fade away.
From Rock Bottom To Rock Star
So, it came to be that, for whatever fate decided, or what ever was written in the stars, an Italian Serie B club decided to take a chance on him. He had obvious talent but rumours of a rock and roll lifestyle emerged with parties, music and a general disinterest in training came to light.
Perhaps the most famous story was when Pinilla got into a fight with Luis Jimenez. Jimenez was at Inter at the time and Pinilla at Vasco and the two met in a Santiago night club. The press had claimed (one year earlier) that Pinilla had spent the night with Maria Jose Lopez (wife of Jimenez) when he was away on international duty. Pinilla has approached the reconciling couple in the club but was told to back away by ‘the little wizard’, not heeding the warning, Jimenez then struck Mauricio with a blunt object several times, causing him to leave the club covered in blood.
There were signs, however, that Pinilla could turn his fortunes around. Firstly, the kit was simply perfect. Made by Errea, it was a beautiful red, with a white stripe on each sleeve. The white sash made it, it was like River Plate in reverse with the symbol of the town and the club in the bottom right, a Griffin with a sword: the Grosseto shirt was a thing of beauty.
2009/10: An Unforgettable Season
The season did not start well for ‘Il Grifone’, they had their highest attendance of the season against Torino on the opening day (just under six thousand) but the crowd could do nothing to stop their team slumping to a 0-3 defeat. The next game away against Triestina was no better and a lack-lustre display saw they lose again, 1-0. Little did the fans of Grosseto know, but all was about to change.
Pinilla took to the field against Cittadella away from home and his header from a corner gave the team the lead, they would draw 1-1 but the Chileans performance caught the eye but there was still the thought that this maybe a flash in the pan. He converted a penalty in his next match in a 2-1 at home to Modena but no goals in the next six games left many believing it was the old familiar story. Was it lifestyle? Mindset? Laziness? Or simple bad luck, either way this had the smell of Brazil, Cyprus, Scotland and Italy waving through the Tuscan breeze.
A match winning tap-in against Ascoli however, topped off an impressive game and now Pinilla, shaven head to boot, had an aura of military discipline about him and there were signs he had started to like the lifestyle tucked away in a scenic Italian provincial town. Two more games went by with no goals but then it seemed that Mauricio had seen the light: he realised that if he simply concentrated on getting the ball in the net and not focusing on the spectacular that he could really make a difference and he was a natural at it.
Talent Finally Fulfilled
The tap-in at Ascoli started, what was perhaps, Pinilla’s finest months as a footballer. He seemed more disciplined and he played with a twinkle in his eye even though he was ruthless in the task of scoring goals. Like the famed Renaissance cardinal, Cesare Borgias, he would enter with a smile on his face but left behind a knife in the oppositions’ back. Eight goals in seven games saw him rocket up the scoring charts and the goals were those of a striker who was looking for one thing, getting the ball in the net as quickly as possible. Headers, penalties, quick feet (against Lecce) but a purposeful finish, only once did he score from the edge of the box. His run ended in a 4-1 defeat to Torino although here he was up to his old tricks and attempted a beautiful overhead kick which unfortunately hit the post.
The rockstar Chilean was visibly annoyed on the pitch by firing a blank in Turin but six goals in his next four games showed that he really was becoming the player he had always promised to be. Grosseto were hammered 0-4 by Crotone at the end of February 2010 but this didn’t dampen the spirits of their new top goal scorer, aided often by Esposito, Pinilla was about to put in his finest performance in a ‘Grifone’ shirt and perhaps one of the best of his career.
Brescia v Grosseto: Pinilla at his Very Best
The trip was to Brescia to play in the iconic Stadio Mario Rigamonti. Grosseto took an early lead but then on 11 minutes Pinilla exploded, he received the ball deep in his own half, and there was no stopping him. He glided from deep, weaving in and out of four Brescia players before unleashing a missile from 30 yards that threatened to break the Brescia net.
This was Mauricio at his very best.
On the 38th minute, he received a ball on the edge of the box, but the defender made him run out towards the right-hand corner of the box. Pinilla managed to jump the tackle that came in and then from 20 yards, he hit a thunder bolt that was of equal power to the first, this was struck so hard with his right foot that the keeper hardly saw it. The game would end 3-2 to the visitors and the whole of Italy looked on in disbelief.
The South American continued to put the ball where it belonged but the Brescia performance was a high, astonishingly, for a man who had found it hard to get games, never mind double figures, he would finish the campaign with 24 goals in 24 games. This would be the best tally of his career.
Life After Grosseto
Grosseto finished only seventh in that campaign, but his performances had drawn the eyes of other teams in Italy and the season after he was wooed by Palermo and the beauty of Sicily. He scored only 10 goals in 35 appearances on the island, over two years and eventually was moved on to another island team, Cagliari where, over another two years he scored 14 in 49 appearances. He never hit the heights of that season in Grosseto again.
Mauricio Pinilla played for another six clubs before retiring in 2021 to work in the media. Whilst he is far from a household name in Italy – that can’t be said for the population of Grosseto who simply still adore him.
It is another story of what might have been had he stayed in Tuscany. This was a season where everything just went right, a season where his crazy celebrations and predatory instincts were branded into the hearts and minds of the locals.