 Albertosi with Cagliari in 1973 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Enrico Albertosi | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1939-11-02)2 November 1939 (age 86) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Pontremoli,Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.82 m (5 ft11+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1958 | Spezia Calcio 1906 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958–1968 | Fiorentina | 185 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1968–1974 | Cagliari | 177 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1980 | Milan | 170 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1984 | Elpidiense | 44 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 576 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1961–1974 | Italy | 34 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Enrico "Ricky" Albertosi (Italian pronunciation:[enˈriːkoˈriːkialberˈtoːzi,-oːsi]; born 2 November 1939) is an Italian formerfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever goalkeepers,[1][2] he had a successful club career, winning titles withFiorentina,Cagliari, andMilan, before retiring withElpidiense. He also played for theItaly national team in the1966 World Cup and the1970 World Cup, in which Italy reached the final, as well as being a member of the Italy teams that took part in the1962 and1974 World Cups. Albertosi was also included in the Italy squad that won the1968 European Championship.[3]
Born inPontremoli, at club youth level, Albertosi represented theSpezia youth academy for a season, before making his debut inSerie A at the age of 18 forFiorentina on 18 January 1959, playing in a goalless draw withA.S. Roma. Despite heavy competition fromGiuliano Sarti during his first five seasons at the Tuscan club, where he initially mainly served as a back-up, Albertosi represented Fiorentina until 1968, winning aMitropa Cup in 1966, aEuropean Cup Winners' Cup in1961 (the first ever edition of the competition), and 2Coppa Italia trophies in 1961 and 1966. He later transferred toLuigi Riva's side,Cagliari Calcio, where he helped to win Cagliari's legendary first and onlyScudetto during the1969–70 season, his second season with the Sardinian club, recording what was at the time the lowest number of goals conceded in a 16-team Serie A campaign. He later transferred toA.C. Milan in 1974, where he remained for six years, and he won yet anotherSerie A championship medal with the club during the1978–79 season, along with another Coppa Italia during the1976–77 season.[1][3][4][5][6] With 233 appearances for the club, he is Milan's fifth-most capped keeper of all time, behind onlyChristian Abbiati (380),Sebastiano Rossi (330),Dida (302), andLorenzo Buffon (300).[7]
Albertosi was involved with the Italian "Totonero" betting scandal of 1980 and was ultimately suspended for 2 seasons. After Italy won the1982 World Cup in Spain, the Italian football federation decided to let him play again. He ended his career in 1984, after playing two seasons withElpidiense inSerie C2, at the age of 44.[4] With 532 Serie A appearances, he is the 10th-highest appearance holder of all time inSerie A.[3][4][6][8]
Albertosi made his debut for theItaly national team on 15 September 1961, in a 4–1 friendly victory againstArgentina in Florence, under managerGiovanni Ferrari. His final international game took place in June 1972, when Italy drew 1–1 in a friendly match withBulgaria, held in Sofia.[1][4][6]
Under new managerEdmondo Fabbri, Albertosi became a regular in Italy's squad; he played his first World Cup with Italy inEngland 1966, where they were surprisingly and disappointingly knocked out in the first round. In the1970 World Cup in Mexico, Albertosi was once again named Italy's starting goalkeeper, due to his excellent and consistent performances throughout the season with Cagliari. He started in all of Italy's matches, and was involved in the so-called "Game of the Century", when Italy playedWest Germany in the semi-final of the tournament; despite conceding three goals in this match, and some moments of hesitation and indecisiveness, Albertosi later won praise for a string of decisive acrobatic saves. He is also remembered for beratingGianni Rivera during the match, following the playmaker's error when defending a set-piece, which led to Germany's equaliser: Rivera briefly stepped away from the post, leaving it unmarked, and allowingGerd Müller to score his second goal to tie the match at 3–3 in the 110th minute; Rivera later redeemed himself by scoring the match-winner a minute later. Albertosi later appeared in the1970 World Cup Final, where Italy became tournament runners-up as they lost 4–1 toBrazil.[1][4][5][9][10]
Albertosi was also an unused squad member in the1962 World Cup in Chile under Ferrari, behind Lorenzo Buffon andCarlo Mattrel, and at the1974 World Cup, behind his perceived career rivalDino Zoff,[11] with whom he often faced competition for the Italy number 1 shirt due to the coaches' rotation policy. Albertosi was similarly an unused back-up goalkeeper behind Zoff at the1968 European Football Championship, which Italy won on home soil, although he later managed to fight off competition from Zoff for a place in the starting line-up at the 1970 World Cup. He missed out on a place as Italy's third goalkeeper at the1978 FIFA World Cup, however. In total, he played 34 times for the national team between 1961 and 1972.[1][4][5][12]
Albertosi was a physically strong, eccentric, whimsical, and athletic goalkeeper, with a hot temper; he is regarded as one of the greatest and most spectacular Italian goalkeepers of all time and one of the best of his generation, due to his outstanding technical and physical attributes. An extroverted footballer, he was an efficient yet creative goalkeeper, who was known in particular for his reactions, speed, agility, and ability to produce decisive, acrobatic and spectacular saves; however, in spite of his reputation, longevity, and general consistency, at times he was also criticised for his poor work-rate and mentality throughout his career, as well as his humorous, light-hearted and undisciplined character, which occasionally had a negative impact on the consistency of his performances.[1][3][5][6][13]
Italy squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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