Roberto Anzolin (; 18 April 1938 – 6 October 2017) was an Italian footballer, who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Regarded as one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation, he played for several Italian sides, but is mostly remembered for his successful time with

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

at club level. At international level, he represented the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

and was a member of Italy's squad at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

Club career

Anzolin made his professional debut with

Marzotto Valdagno A.S.D. Boca Ascesa Val Liona is an Italian association football club located in Val Liona, Veneto. It currently plays in Eccellenza. History The origins of football in Grancona go back to 1969 when was founded A.C. Grancona Calcio that was ...

(1956–59) before moving to

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

for two seasons. The club had purchased him for 40 million Lire, beating AC Milan by 5 million Lire, and offering him an annual salary of 5 million Lire. Before playing his final match of the 1960–61 Serie B season, he was informed of his transfer to

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

winners

, who signed him on a 14 million Lire contract. Palermo obtained

Tarcisio Burgnich Tarcisio Burgnich (; 25 April 1939 – 26 May 2021) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a defender. Throughout his career, Burgnich played for Udinese, Juventus, Palermo, Internazionale, and Napoli; although he won title ...

in exchange for their keeper, as well as

Rune Börjesson Rune Börjesson (5 April 1937 – 21 February 1996) was a Swedish professional footballer who played as a forward. He was the Allsvenskan top scorer in 1959 and 1960 while at Örgryte IS, and later played professionally in Serie A with Juventus ...

on loan, and 100 million Lire. Juventus FC (circa 1969) - Giuliano Sarti and Roberto Anzolin

Anzolin is most noted for having played most of the 1960s with Italian Serie A giants

, making 305 appearances (230 of which were in the league) with the club between 1961 and 1970. During his time at the club, he won a

championship during the 1966–67 season, as well as a

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

during the 1964–65 season. He also won a minor international trophy with the club, the

Coppa delle Alpi Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...

, in 1963. With Juventus, he also reached the semi-finals of the

1967–68 European Cup The 1967–68 European Cup was the 13th European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Manchester United, who beat Benfica 4–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. The European Cup title marked the tenth ...

, losing to Benfica. After his time with Juventus during the 60s and early 70s, he played for

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

for a season in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

, helping his club to gain promotion also thanks to a notable unbeaten streak of 792 minutes. He subsequently moved to Lanerossi Vicenza as a second keeper, before ending his career at the age of 40, playing in

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

with

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

Riccione Riccione (; rgn, Arciôn ) is a ''comune'' in the Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy. As of 2018, Riccione had an estimated population of 35,003. History The oldest archaeological findings in Riccione's area date to the 2nd cen ...

, and JuniorCasale, winning two consecutive "semi-professional" Coppa Italia trophies with Monza, between 1973 and 1975. After retiring, however, he was called upon by

Valdagno Valdagno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, north-eastern Italy. The town was the birthplace of the textile manufacturing company Marzotto, and home to the Italian hotel chain "Jolly Hotels" Geography The town extends along the ...

in the minor

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's lo ...

League, to replace their sick goalkeeper, and he played 26 matches, conceding only 4 goals, at the age of 46.

International career

Anzolin was also part of the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

squad in the

as a substitute behind starting keeper Albertosi, as well as Pizzaballa. He made his only appearance for the ''Azzurri'' in a friendly pre-World Cup match against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 29 June 1966, which ended in a 5–0 victory for Italy, as he was later kept out of the squad by

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at the ...

.Mexico – International Results Details 1960–1969
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Style of play

Anzolin playing for Juventus in 1965, while saving on a Messina's attack. During his prime, Anzolin was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in Italy, due to his consistency and shot-stopping ability. He was an effective, reactive, and agile goalkeeper, with a good positional sense, who was very quick to come off his line and collect low balls in the area, although at times he was caught out on crosses as he was neither particularly tall nor physically imposing. Because of his name, agility, and his relatively small stature and slender build for a goalkeeper – standing at –, he was given the nickname "the mosquito" (''la zanzara'', in Italian).

Personal life

During his successful time with Italian club

, Anzolin met and married his wife, Gabriella. Together, they had two children.

Honours

;

: 1966–67 *

: 1964–65 *

: 1963

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anzolin, Roberto 1938 births 2017 deaths Italian footballers Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players Juventus F.C. players Palermo F.C. players L.R. Vicenza players Atalanta B.C. players A.S.D. Riccione 1929 players Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football goalkeepers Casale F.B.C. players People from Valdagno Footballers from Veneto Sportspeople from the Province of Vicenza