Beloved ‘70s defender Mauro Bellugi recently had both legs amputated due to complications related to the COVID-19 infection, he told journalist Luca Serafini in an interview on the site AltroPensiero. Now 70-year-old, Bellugi played at Inter, Bologna and Napoli and took part to two World Cups with Italy, in 1974 and 1978. He collected 32 caps with the Azzurri.
Bellugi, who won the title with Inter in 1970/71 one, was hospitalized on November 4th after contracting Coronavirus. The situation progressively worsened over time also due to other problems that had long affected his legs, which made the amputation inevitable.
Despite the grim situation, Bellugi joked about it: “They removed also the leg with which I scored against Borussia Moenchengladbach”, recalling the infamous ‘Partita della Lattina’ a 1971 game that was then replayed because Roberto Boninsegna was hit on the head with a can from the stands. He bagged his only career goal in the second match. “I will now get prosthesis similar to Oscar Pistorius ones”, he added.
He notched over 90 appearances with both Inter and Bologna and has been a pundit on some local TV stations over the last few years.