Franco Cucinotta (born 22 June 1952) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Born in Novara di Sicilia, Franco Cucinotta grew up in Montreux, Switzerland, the city to which his family had emigrated for work in 1960.
[2] While playing for Swiss club FC Zürich (1976–78), Cucinotta was the top scorer of the 1977 European Cup alongside Gerd Müller,[3] scoring a total of five goals in the competition, in which he helped Zürich to reach the semi-finals.
[4] He also finished the 1976–77 season as top scorer in the Nationalliga A, with 21 goals, scoring a total of 28 goals in all competitions,[2] which earned him nominations for the Swiss Footballer of the Year and the Swiss Foreign Footballer of the Year Awards.
[2] Cucinotta was a very fast centre-forward, with a keen eye for goal, who was also capable of playing as a winger.