Top Facts about Enrico Albertosi, the Maverick Italian Goalkeeper

Enrico "Ricky" Albertosi  is an Italian former football player. He was born on 2 November 1939. Enrico played as a goalkeeper and was regarded as one of Italy's best ever goalkeepers. He had a prosperous professional club career, winning trophies with Fiorentina, Cagliari, and Milan, before he retired with Elpidiense.

Enrico Albertosi also played for the Italian national side in the 1966 FIFA World Cup and the 1970 FIFA World Cup, in which Italy reached the final, as well as being a member of the Italy squads that played in the 1962 and 1974 FIFA World Cups. Albertosi was also included in the Italy team that lifted the 1968 European Championship.

Top Facts about Enrico Albertosi, the Maverick Italian Goalkeeper

Responsive and energetic Italian Enrico Albertosi was one of the best keepers in the world in the 1960s and 1970s. His professional career in Serie A took for more than 20 years, and he achieved triumph at numerous teams as well as having a long career in the Italian national side. Though, towards the end of his professional career his status was scarred by a match-fixing disgrace.

One of the

top facts about Enrico Albertosi

is that he first became famous when he made his Serie A debut for Fiorentina in 1958, and in a ten year stint in Florence he lifted two Italian Cup winners’ medals as well as the European Cup Winners’ Cup. During his spell at Fiorentina he was called up to the Italian national side, and was first choice keeper for the 1966 FIFA World Cup in England, but after Italy’s humiliating exit at the hands of North Korea he fell out of favour and missed out in the European Championships two years later in 1968.

In the same year, the keeper moved on the odd Sardinian team

, where he was a part of the team that shocked Italian football by winning the Serie A trophy in 1970.

Then he returned to the national team as the first keeper and went to that summer’s FIFA World Cup in Mexico and played a major part in Italy’s run to the final match, where they defeated West Germany in one of the

 before they lost to the great Brazil national side.

Enrico Albertosi moved to AC Milan in 1974, where he would lift another Italian Cup and a second Serie A trophy, in 1979.

In the next year, though, Albertosi became involved in one of the largest scandals to hit European football when he was accused, along with numerous other footballers and officials, of being involved in match fixing.

Albertosi was arrested but none of the players ever faced legal act, although they were all forbidden from playing football for a few periods of time. In the case of Enrico Albertosi it ended his profession at top-flight.

When his prohibition was over, Enrico came back to play in the fourth division of the Italian football for Elpidiense from 1982 to 1984, when he finally retired from playing at the age of 44. Since retiring from football, he has worked as a television commentator.

Enrico Albertosi quick information

• Date of birth:

   2 November, 1939

• Place of birth:

   Pontremoli, Italy

• Citizenship:

   Italy

• Height:

   1,82 metres

• Position:

   Goalkeeper

• Former International:

   Italy

• International appearance/Goals:

   34/0

Enrico Albertosi club career

Enrico Albertosi was born in Pontremoli, settled within the hills of Tuscany in late-1939. Albertosi followed in the paths of his goalkeeping father. At the youth level, he played for the Spezia youth academy for a season, before making his first appearance in Serie A at the age of 18 for Fiorentina on 18 January 1959, playing in a goalless draw with A.S. Roma. It was a performance that instantly marked him out as a star of the future. 

In spite of difficult rivalry with Giuliano Sarti during his first five seasons at the Tuscan team, where he initially mainly served as a back-up, Albertosi played for Fiorentina until 1968, winning a Mitropa Cup in 1966, a European Cup Winners' Cup in 1961 (the first ever edition of the tournament), and 2 Coppa Italia titles in 1961 and 1966.

Character quickly shown, for the next five seasons Enrico Albertosi was imperious for

. During this time, they never ended outside the top five in Serie A. 

Enrico Albertosi later transferred to Luigi Riva's team, Cagliari Calcio, where he helped to win Cagliari's well-known first and only Scudetto during the 1969–70 season, his second season with Cagliari Calcio, recording what was at the time the lowest number of goals conceded in a 16-team Serie A competition.

One of the

top facts about Enrico Albertosi

is that he later transferred to 

 in 1974, where he spent six years, and he won another Serie A title with the team during the 1978–79 season, along with another Coppa Italia during the 1976–77 season.

With 233 games for the team, he is Milan's fifth-most capped goalkeeper of all time, behind only 

 (with 380 games), 

 (with 330 games), Dida (with 302 games), and Lorenzo Buffon (with 300 games).

One of the top facts about Enrico Albertosi is that he was involved with the Italian "Totonero" betting scandal of 1980 and was eventually suspended for 2 seasons.

After Italy national team won the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, the Italian football federation decided to allow him to play again.

Albertosi ended his professional career in 1984 at the age of 44 after playing two seasons with Elpidiense in Serie C2. With 532 Serie A appearances, he is the 10th-highest appearance holder of all time in Serie A.

Enrico Albertosi international career

Regarding international career, Enrico Albertosi made his first appearance for the Italy national team on 15 September 1961, in a 4–1 friendly win against Argentina in Florence, under coach Giovanni Ferrari.

Albertosi’s final international game took place in June 1972, when Italy drew 1–1 in a friendly game with Bulgaria, played in Sofia.

Under new coach Edmondo Fabbri, Albertosi became a regular player in Italy's team. Albertosi played his first FIFA World Cup match with Italy in England 1966, where they were shockingly and poorly eliminated in the group stage.

In the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, Enrico Albertosi was once again named Italy's starting goalkeeper, due to his outstanding and reliable performances during the season with Cagliari. He started in all of Italy's games, and was involved in the so-called "Game of the Century", when Italy played against West Germany in the semi-final of the World Cup. In spite of conceding three goals in this game, and some moments of uncertainty and indecisiveness, Albertosi later was praised for a number of decisive acrobatic saves.

He is also remembered for criticizing 

 during the match, following the playmaker's fault when defending a set-piece, which led to Germany's equaliser goal. Rivera for a split second stepped away from the post, leaving it unmarked, and letting 

score his second goal to tie the match at 3–3 in the 110th minute. 

Gianni Rivera later redeemed himself by netting the match-winner just a minute later. Albertosi later played in the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final, where Italy became tournament runners-up as they lost 4–1 to Brazil.

In addition, Enrico Albertosi was also an unused team member in the 1962 World Cup in Chile under Ferrari, behind Lorenzo Buffon and Carlo Mattrel, and at the 1974 World Cup, behind his apparent profession rival 

, with whom he regularly challenged competition for the Italy number 1 shirt due to the coaches' rotation policy.

Albertosi was also an unused back-up goalkeeper behind Zoff at the 1968 European Football Championship, which Italy won on home soil, although he later succeeded to fight off competition from Zoff for a place in the starting line-up at the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

Albertosi was Italy's third keeper at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Nevertheless, in total, he played 34 times for the Italy national team from 1961 to 1972.

Enrico Albertosi style of play

Enrico Albertosi was a bodily resilient, unusual, whimsical, and athletic keeper, with a hot temper. He is regarded as one of the best and most remarkable Italian goalkeepers of all time and one of the best of his generation, due to his exceptional technical and physical qualities.

An talkative football players, he was a capable yet innovative keeper, who was known in particular for his reactions, haste, nimbleness, and aptitude to produce decisive, acrobatic and remarkable saves; though, 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, carefree and unmanageable character, which occasionally had a negative influence on the consistency of his performances.

Enrico Albertosi rivalry with Giuliano Sarti

Not everything was easy for Enrico Albertosi, though. Standing in his way of becoming the first keeper at the Stadio Artemio Franchi was the outstanding Giuliano Sarti. It led to a tense situation where two of Italian football’s most gifted stoppers could not be condensed into one position. It was a competition that would continue until Sarti left Fiorentina for Inter Milan in 1963. 

Over this period, Sarti mainly remained Fiorentina’s Serie A keeper, restricting Albertosi to just 30 league games during his first five seasons at the club. In turn, Enrico Albertosi was often handed the duties during cup matches.

Albertosi was in the squad when they lifted both the Coppa Italia and the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961, and he also kept goal in the 1962 Cup Winners’ Cup final replay, after Sarti had played in the first game. 

That 1962 replay did not take place until early-September, almost five months after the first match, by which time the 1962 World Cup finals had been held. As a peculiarity, of Fiorentina’s two goalkeepers, it was Albertosi who was called up to make the trip to Chile, as Italy’s third goalkeeper.

Albertosi eventually became La Viola’s undoubted number one when Sarti departed for Inter Milan. Within this, he had to show a huge amount of character to bounce back from a disastrous performance in that 1962 Cup Winners’ Cup final replay. In a 3-0 defeat against Atlético Madrid, Enrico Albertosi was blatantly at fault for all the goals.  

Sarti meanwhile, went on to the best successes with Inter Milan, winning two Scudetti, a brace of European Cups and back-to-back Intercontinental Cups. Albertosi’s competition with him was transferred to the international stage. They both played for Italy throughout the qualifiers for the 1966 FIFA World Cup. 

Enrico Albertosi and Italy's failure in 1966 World Cup

As it was mentioned before, in England, Albertosi played in his second World Cup by being Edmondo Fabbri’s first-choice keeper. Remarkably, his rival Sarti failed to be included in the squad at all. Italy was eliminated from the tournament hugely due to their loss to North Korea at Ayresome Park. Collectively, the national team might well have been attacked with tomatoes when they returned home, yet individually, Enrico Albertosi was relatively untarnished. 

Enrico Albertosi and the only goal of Karl-Heinz Schnellinger

In the semi-finals of the 1970 World Cup, Albertosi was on the brink of a fourth clean sheet of the tournament and an almost formulaic progression to the final, Albertosi was unexpectedly beaten by Karl-Heinz Schnellinger’s 90th-minute equaliser. 

It was the only goal Schnellinger ever scored at international level, and in the five years he had been an AC Milan player, he had never managed a Serie A goal for them.

By the end of extra-time, Italy had prevailed in a physically punishing game 4-3. In the final against Brazil, Albertosi would be beaten four more times, in the most iconic way imaginable. It is, of course, Albertosi whom Carlos Alberto swept that emblematic fourth goal past in the 1970 World Cup final. A man who had conceded only 11 league goals all season in Serie A had brutally been on the receiving end of a seven-goal avalanche in less than 210 minutes of football in Mexico. It says so much that Albertosi wasn’t glaringly at error for any of them. 

Enrico Albertosi rivalry with Dino Zoff

As Sarti began to fade in significance, the fast rise of Dino Zoff gained pace, and one of calcio’s most durable competitions was born. As the two-legged quarter-finals of the 1968 European Championship rolled into view, Enrico Albertosi was the clear number one, with Dino Zoff the number two. 

Italy were defeated 3-2 by Bulgaria in the first leg in Sofia. When Dinko Tsvetkov put the home side 2-1 up, Enrico Albertosi was injured in the build-up, dropping to the lawn seriously after an uncompromising collision that should have seen the visitors given a free-kick. It was a brave Zoff who climbed from the bench to complete the game. 

With Albertosi failing to get well in time for the return match at the San Paolo in Naples, Zoff was much more impressive at what was, at the time, his home stadium. A 2-0 win not only sent Italy into the four-team finals, but also opened the door for them to host the competition. 

For Enrico Albertosi, it gave him a contest against time to prove his health for the 1968 European Championship finals. Named by Valcareggi in the team and handed the number one shirt, the place in goal was his to claim. 

Uncertain that Albertosi is fully in good health, Valcareggi chose to take no risks and, with the number 22 on his back, it was Zoff who starred in goal for Italy as they went on to win the cup for what remains the one and only time for 53 years.

A summer that could be defined as good and bad for the keeper, along with watching Zoff taking his international position; he had also struggled that it was time to move on from Fiorentina. Inter Milan made their move, but having let Sarti join them five years earlier, La Viola were reluctant to do business over yet another international keeper of theirs. 

Even more firm to leave Florence, Enrico Albertosi agreed to head to Sardinia, to join Cagliari. With the art of timing actually against him once again, in the first season beyond his departure from the Artemio Franchi, Fiorentina lifted the Scudetto, with Cagliari trailing in as runners-up. The team were also runners-up in the Coppa Italia. 

On the international level, Zoff’s exploits in 1968 left Albertosi on the sidelines as the qualifiers for the 1970 World Cup began. Of the four matches Italy played throughout qualification, Dino Zoff was on duty in three, while Enrico Albertosi played only in one game. Though, the 1969/70 season saw a dramatic upturn in prosperities for Albertosi. 

Enrico Albertosi responded to the rise of Dino Zoff by having the best season of his life. In one of the amazing Serie A seasons, Cagliari won the title, finishing four points clear of Inter Milan, conceding just 11 goals.

Albertosi was chosen for the Italy team for Mexico 1970 along with five of his club teammates, in addition to Roberto Boninsegna, another former Cagliari footballer who had left the previous summer.

A difficult decision to be made between Albertosi and Zoff, Valcareggi chose Serie A’s title-winning goalkeeper to be his first-choice stopper in Mexico. Zoff had not had a bad season, by any means, finishing sixth with Napoli, while only three stoppers had conceded fewer goals than he had, but the record-breaking low number of goals shipped by Enrico Albertosi had been almost half the amount that Zoff had conceded.

An unbearable season to follow, 1970/71 was a marked dissatisfaction for Albertosi. Initially retaining his place as Valcareggi’s first-choice keeper for Italy, by February, Zoff had seized him once again, while Cagliari’s defence of their Serie A trophy proved to be a weak one, and their bid for European Cup was ended by Atlético Madrid in the second round. 

With the pressure of expectation lowered for the 1971/72 season, Cagliari were again in the race for the Serie A title, finally finishing fourth, but only four points behind the champions, Juventus. 

Enrico Albertosi found his good form once more, and when Zoff was injured before the two-legged quarter-final of the 1972 European Championship, he was called upon again, this time to play against Belgium.

A goalless draw in Milan and then a 2-1 defeat in Brussels, meant that Albertosi and Italy missed out on the chance to defend their title in the finals. In the next month, Albertosi unknowingly played his last match for Italy in a friendly against Bulgaria in Sofia. 

As Dino Zoff moved to Juventus, the domestic titles started to roll his way one by one. At the same time, Albertosi’s talented rival became Valcareggi’s undoubted number one. So all-encompassing was his presence that, from the autumn of 1972 to the very end of 1977, no other stopper started a senior match for the Italian national team other than Dino Zoff. 

Remaining involved, however, Albertosi was in the Italy team for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, which was his fourth World Cup. The call-ups finally ended in 1975, although there was a failed campaign from the media and the public to try to get him into Enzo Bearzot’s Italy for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. 

As the threat of Cagliari began to drift, Albertosi joined A.C. Milan after the 1974 World Cup, in spite of the fact he was quickly approaching 35. It was to be a magnificent era at the highest level of the Italian football, but one it would be shortly ended in the shameful stigma of the Totonero scandal of 1980.

Enrico Albertosi and Totonero scandal

One of the top facts about Enrico Albertosi is that he was involved in the scandal of 1980.  When the police arrested some of the famous footballers in March 1980, his good era with Milan came to an end. Disgraced with the same allegations that so many others were dishonoured, inclusive of Paolo Rossi, Albertosi’s punishment was a four-year ban, while A.C. Milan were demoted to Serie B, along with Lazio. Aged 40, in fact, this meant his professional career was over. 

When Italy won the World Cup in 1982, though, a delighted Italian Football Federation reduced the sentences of some players, inclusive of Albertosi. By now 42, it would have been easy for him to stay away from the professional career. However, Albertosi agreed to join Elpidiense of Serie C2, with whom he played for two seasons until his retirement in 1984. 

Enrico Albertosi personal life

One of the top facts about Enrico Albertosi is that he was married to Betty Stringhini.

Enrico Albertosi honours

Club

Fiorentina

• Coppa Italia in 1960–61, 1965–66

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960–61

• Mitropa Cup in 1966

Cagliari

• Serie A in 1969–70

Milan

• Serie A in 1978–79

• Coppa Italia in 1976–77

International

Italy

• UEFA European Football Championship in 1968

Individual

• Fiorentina Hall of Fame in 2018

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