Vittorio Mero was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 player.

Career

Born at Vercelli

Vercelli

Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...

, he started his career with an amateur team, Belvedere, in 1990-1991, and made his debut at the professional level at the age of 17 for A.S. Casale Calcio

A.S. Casale Calcio

Associazione Sportiva Casale Calcio is an Italian football club, based in Casale Monferrato, Piedmont.The club currently plays in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione....

. The following year Mero signed for Parma F.C.

Parma F.C.

Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

, playing with the Primavera team before being sold to A.C. Crevalcore, with whom he won the Serie C

Serie C

The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico , commonly known as Lega Pro , is the governing body that runs the third and fourth highest football divisions in Italy, the Prima Divisione and Seconda Divisione respectively. It also includes the sole professional club of San Marino...

2 league. In 1995 he was signed by Ravenna

Ravenna Calcio

Ravenna Calcio is an Italian association football club, based in Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1913 and refounded in 2001....

, team for which he played three seasons, obtaining a promotion to Serie B

Serie B

Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

. He moved to Brescia

Brescia Calcio

Brescia Calcio , known simply as Brescia, is the largest football club in the Lombard city of Brescia, where it was founded in 1911.In the 2009–10 season, in the return leg of the Serie B playoff final, they defeated Torino 2-1 at home , returning to Serie A after a 5-year absence...

 in 1998, obtaining his first promotion to Serie A

Serie A

Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 and making his European debut as team captain in the 2001-2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup

UEFA Intertoto Cup

The UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition was discontinued...

, in which Brescia reached the finals, eventually losing to Paris Saint-Germain.

Death

Vittorio Mero, nicknamed Sceriffo (Sheriff) by his coach Nedo Sonetti

Nedo Sonetti

Nedo Sonetti is an Italian veteran football manager.-Career:Sonetti was born in Piombino, southern Tuscany and lives now in Gorle.He played in Serie B and Serie C for Spezia Calcio 1906 and Reggina....

 for his diligence and reliability, died on January 23, 2002, in a car accident in the A4 highway near Rovato

Rovato

Rovato is a comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is bounded by other communes of Cologne and Cazzago San Martino. It is located in Franciacorta ar the foot of Monte Orfano.-External links:**...

. Brescia Calcio honoured him by retiring the #13 jersey.