Top Facts about Roberto Bettega, the Italian Former Striker

Roberto Bettega is a sports manager and former Italian footballer, who played as a forward. He was born in Turin on 27 December 1950.

One of the

top facts about Roberto Bettega

is that he played at Juventus most of his professional career. He joined the club youth team in the early 1960s and spent thirteen seasons as a professional player, winning seven league championships, a UEFA Cup and an Italian Cup. 

In the Italy national team he played in 42 matches from 1975 to 1983, scoring 19 goals. Bettega represented Italy in the 1978 FIFA World Cup and the 1980 European Championship, achieving fourth place in both tounaments.

Top Facts about Roberto Bettega, the Italian Former Striker

Roberto Bettega was born on 27 December 1950. He is an Italian former football player who played as an attacker.

As he was a prolific and athletic forward, Roberto Bettega is typically remembered for his fruitful time at his homeland team 

, where he won numerous trophies and established himself as one of Italy's best ever players due to his power, ability, goalscoring skill, and creativity.

Roberto Bettega was nicknamed La penna bianca ("White Feather") due to his grey hair, and Bobby Gol due to his sense of goalscoring.

At international level, he played for Italy at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1980 European Championships, helping his nation to fourth-place finishes on both tournaments. Due to injury, he was unlucky to play at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, which Italy won.

One of the top facts about Roberto Bettega is that in December 2009, he was officially appointed deputy director-general of Bianconeri. His role was to act as an intermediate between the footballers and coaching staff and the upper levels of the club, as well as taking an active involvement in all of Juventus transfer dealings. Bettega left the position a short time later in 2010 after Luigi Del Neri was appointed as manager.

Roberto Bettega at a glance

• Date of birth:

   27 December, 1950

• Place of birth:

   Turin

• Citizenship:

   Italy

• Nickname:

  La penna bianca, Bobby Gol

• Height: 

  1,84 m

• Position:

   Centre-Forward

• Former international:

   Italy

• International games/Goals:

   43/19

• Spouse:

   Emanuela Bettega

• Parents:

   Raimondo Bettega, Orsola Bettega

• Children:

   Alessandro Bettega, Luca Bettega, Elisabetta Bettega

Roberto Bettega club career

One of the

top facts about Roberto Bettega

is that he was born in Turin and joined the Juventus Primavera team in 1961 as a midfielder. He spent the 1968–69 season on the bench. When Roberto was 19 years old, he was loaned to the Varese F.C. in Serie B. Under Nils Liedholm, the manager of Varese, Bettega scored 13 goals to help the side finish top and make progress to Serie A.

Nils Liedholm said about Bettega, "He allies tremendous athletic strength with impressive technical skills. He is particularly strong in the air, and can kick the ball with either foot. All he needs is to build up experience, and then he will certainly be a force to be reckoned with." 

Roberto Bettega professional caree

Bettega returned to Bianconeri and made his Serie A debut in an away match against Catania on 27 September 1970. He netted the winning goal. Roberto Bettega ended the season with 13 goals in 28 games. The next season, Bobby Gol netted 10 goals in only 14 games.

Roberto Bettega scored a goal in the match against 

 on 16 January 1972, but this would be his last goal for a while because he had to go out of the match with a lung infection and the initial stages of tuberculosis. Though he was still able to contribute to Juventus's Serie A title win that season. He was not out for a long time, and returned to the team on 24 September of the same year, leading the club to their second consecutive league trophy that season. 

When 

 arrived at the team in 1976 as manager, Bettega became the key front man of la Vecchia Signora during the late 1970s. As a result, the former player who played at this position, Pietro Anastasi, moved to Inter Milan in the summer of that year, and La penna bianca partnered with his replacement, Roberto Boninsegna, leading the club to outstanding national and European achievement during this era, including back to back Serie A trophies, a Coppa Italia, and an UEFA Cup victory.

Bianconeri also reached the European Cup final match during the 1972–73 season, as well as the Intercontinental Cup final, and reached a semi-final finish in the 1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Roberto Bettega lifted the

trophy with Bianconeri again during the 1980–81 season, but did not play so much in Juventus's successful defense of their Serie A title during the 1981–82 season, as he suffered knee ligament injury in a collision with an opposing keeper during a 1981 European Cup game against Anderlecht.

After finally he regained full health, Roberto Bettega took to the pitch for the 1982–83 season, which was his last season with the team. He retired from playing in Europe after Juventus was defeated the 1983 European Cup Final by 

 in Athens.

In total, Roberto Bettega played in 326 league games for Juventus, netting 129 league goals and enjoyed a very prosperous professional career, winning seven league trophies from 1972 to 1982, the 1977 UEFA Cup, in which he scored in the final, and the 1978-79 Coppa Italia championships. He also lifted the Capocannoniere (Serie A top scorer) in the 1979–80 season. Considered as one of Juventus's greatest ever football players, Roberto Bettega scored 179 goals for Bianconeri in all tournaments, in 490 games, including 22 goals in 74 Coppa Italia matches, and 27 goals in 81 European matches.

After he retired from European football, Bettega played two summers in the NASL with the Toronto Blizzard, helping the club to two second-place finishes during his two seasons with the team.

Roberto Bettega international career

Regarding international career, the top fact about Roberto Bettega is that he played in 42 matches for Italy national team, scoring 19 goals from 1975 to 1983.

In 1975, Roberto Bettega got his first call-up to the Italian national team for a match against Finland. Then he managed to play in the 1978 FIFA World Cup where he scored two goals, including the winning goal against the host Argentina, to help Italy reach the second stage, where they lost to the Netherlands, which deprived them of a spot in the final match against Argentina.

Azzurri finished fourth after they lost the third place play-off to Brazil at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespuci, Buenos Aires. Roberto Bettega was named in the Team of the Tournament for his excellent performances. Bobby Gol also helped his nation to a fourth-place finish at the 1980 European Championship, a competition played on home soil.

Bettega was set to play for Italy at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, but as mentioned, he suffered a knee ligament injury due to a collision with the goalkeeper of

during a 1981 European Cup game. As a result, he was unlucky enough to miss the 1982 FIFA World Cup, in which Italy were won the title.

Roberto Bettega style of play

Roberto Bettega was regarded as a football player of remarkable tactical aptitude, and in his prime, he was one of the most feared Italian forwards in the world, due to his physical power and prolific goalscoring skill. 

A tall, speedy, agile, and sporty football player, Bettega shined in the air, and was known for his skill to score acrobatic goals, due to his elevation, harmonization, opportunism, and timing. Also, he had the ability to make attacking runs to get on the end of crosses, and was a perfect and great finisher with either foot as well as with his head.

His stylishness, skill in the air, and prematurely greying hair earned him the nickname Cabeza Blanca ("white head," in Spanish) in addition to other nicknames.

Considered one of the best Italian players of all-time, Roberto Bettega was also known as a complete and up-to-date team player, as he was talented of playing both as a midfielder and as a striker. Due to his energy, vision, passing ability and outstanding technical skills led him to be compared with former Bianconeri legend 

. Roberto Bettega was typically used as a centre-forward earlier on in his career, but was also able to play in numerous other attacking roles, including as a left winger, and was even deployed in a more creative role, as a supporting striker, or as an attacking midfielder, during his later professional career, especially after losing some of his natural speed, nimbleness, and agility.

In addition to his ability as a football player, Bobby Gol also stood out for his character, willpower, and leadership during his career. In spite of his playing skill, Bettega career is supposed to have been affected by his injuries, in particular during the later part of his career.

Roberto Bettega after retirement

Roberto Bettega later returned to Juventus at the request of the team's chairman at the time, Umberto Agnelli, who asked the Italian star to be vice-chairman of the board of directors. Bettega served the position between 1994 and 2006.

He returned to Juventus for a second time in 2009 as vice general manager. Though, his return was very short, after 

 became chairman and Giuseppe Marotta became CEO and general manager of the team in 2010.

Roberto Bettega personal life

Roberto Bettega married to Emanuela Bettega. They have three children, Alessandro Bettega, Luca Bettega and Elisabetta Bettega. Their son named Alessandro  also started his professional career in the Juventus system and was the captain of the Primavera team.

Roberto Bettega record

One of the

top facts about Roberto Bettega

is that he is the only player, together with Gigi Riva , Alberto Orlando , Francesco Pernigo , Omar Sívori and Carlo Biagi , to have scored a quatern with the Italian national team.

Roberto Bettega honours

Varese

• Serie B in 1969–70

Juventus

• Serie A in 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82

• Coppa Italia in 1978–79

• UEFA Cup in 1976–77

Individual

• Serie A Top-scorer: in1979–80

• Serie B Top-scorer in 1969–70

• FIFA World Cup All-star Team in 1978

Read more:

Follow 

 for the