 Bertini withInter Milan c. 1970 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1944-01-07)7 January 1944 (age 82) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Prato,Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1962–1963 | Prato | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1963–1964 | Empoli | 31 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 1964–1968 | Fiorentina | 97 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| 1968–1977 | Inter Milan | 211 | (31) | ||||||||||||||
| 1977–1978 | Rimini | 22 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 364 | (50) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1966–1972 | Italy | 25 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Mario Bertini (Italian pronunciation:[ˈmaːrjoberˈtiːni]; born 7 January 1944) is an Italian former professionalfootballer who played as adefender andmidfielder. Throughout his career Bertini played for Italian clubsEmpoli,Fiorentina,Inter Milan,Prato, andRimini; he spent nine seasons with Inter, winning aSerie A title in 1971. At international level, he played for theItaly national team on 25 occasions between 1966 and 1972, scoring twice, and was a member of the team that reached the1970 FIFA World Cup Final.
During hisSerie A club career, Bertini played for several Italian teams:Empoli (1963–64),Fiorentina (1964–68), and most notablyInter Milan (1968–77), where he remained for nine seasons, winning theScudetto in1971; he had previously also won aCoppa Italia and aMitropa Cup double with Fiorentina in 1966. He also won theSerie C in1963 whilst playing withPrato for a season (1962–63). He ended his career inSerie B, in 1978, after a season withRimini (1977–78).
Bertini earned 25 caps for theItaly national team between 1966 and 1972.[1] He missed out on the 22-man Italy squad for the1966 FIFA World Cup, although he was still brought to England by managerEdmondo Fabbri, along withLuigi Riva, as an additional reserve in order to gain experience with the national side.[2] Bertini played in the1970 FIFA World Cup, where he wore thenumber 10 shirt,[3] as Italy managed a second-place finish. In thefinal, he markedPelé in his movements in depth outside the area, althoughBrazil eventually defeated Italy 4–1.[4]
A quick, well-rounded, and hard-workingdefensive midfielder, Bertini was mainly known for his stamina, strength, and tackling abilities, and was also capable of playing as adefender due to his defensive attributes; although he primarily served as a ball-winner, he was a complete midfielder who was also known for his eye for goal frommidfield, due to his powerful striking ability from distance, as well as his accuracy from penalties and ability to make later attacking runs from behind into the penalty area.[3][5]
Fiorentina
Inter Milan
Prato
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