Gino Pivatelli (; born 27 March 1933) is a former

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 ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

and manager who played as a striker. An agile and technically gifted

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, with a powerful right-footed shot, although he was a prolific goalscorer, he was also a highly versatile player, who was capable of playing in a creative role as a second striker or

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, in deeper midfield positions, or as a defender, in addition to his usual position of forward.

Club career

Throughout his club career, Pivatelli most notably played for A.C. Milan (1961–63); he also played for Hellas Verona F.C. (1950–53),

Bologna F.C. 1909 Bologna Football Club 1909, commonly referred to as Bologna (), is an Italian professional football club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. The club have won seven top-flight titles, two C ...

(1953–60), and

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Campania that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli has ...

(1960–61). After being dropped from the Inter Youth Side, Pivatelli was acquired by Verona in 1950, with whom he made his

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

debut at the age of 17, scoring his first professional goal in his second appearance with the club, in a 4–1 victory over

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

. The following season, he was promoted to the starting line-up, and scored a total of 25 goals in 68 games for his team during the next three seasons, also helping the struggling club avoid relegation. After joining Bologna in 1953, he made his

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 Cop ...

debut with the club on 13 September 1953, in a 2–1 home win over

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 kno ...

. With the Emilian side, he was the Serie A top-scorer during the 1955–56 Serie A season, with 29 league goals in 30 appearances, and was the only Italian player to win the Capocannoniere title during the 1950s. In total, he scored 105 goals for Bologna during his seven seasons with the club. After playing with Napoli for the 1960–61 season, he joined Milan in 1961, and was part of the side that won the

title in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, and the European Cup in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

under manager Nereo Rocco, after which he subsequently retired from playing professional football.

International career

Pivatelli was included in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

in Switzerland, although he did not appear during the tournament. He made his senior international debut for Italy on 30 March 1955, at the age of 22, wearing the number 10 shirt, and scoring the match-winning goal in a 2–1 friendly away victory over reigning World Champions

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, in Stuttgart. He scored his second international goal against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

on 22 December 1957, in a 1958 FIFA World Cup qualifying match. In total he earned 7 caps and scored 2 goals for the national team between 1954 and 1958.

Honours

Club

;Milan *

: 1961–62 * European Cup: 1962–63

Individual

* Serie A Top Goal-scorer: 1955–56 (29 goals)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pivatelli, Gino 1933 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Verona 1954 FIFA World Cup players AC Milan players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Hellas Verona F.C. players Italian footballers Italy men's international footballers S.S.C. Napoli players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers Calcio Padova managers Men's association football forwards UEFA Champions League winning players AC Monza managers Footballers from Veneto