Pierluigi Pizzaballa (; born 14 September 1939) is a retired

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, rugby ...

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 ...

Club career

Pizzaballa started his club career with

Atalanta B.C. Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Lice ...

, where he became one of the Serie A's top Italian goalkeepers, before moving to

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

in 1966. He subsequently played for

Hellas Verona F.C. Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

and

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

, and he finished his career back at Atalanta, earning 275 appearances in Serie A. In his career he won 4

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 ...

trophies (one with Atalanta, one with Roma, and two with Milan), a

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 ...

title with Atalanta, and a

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

with Milan.

International career

Pizzaballa earned one cap for 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 ...

on 18 June 1966, coming on as a substitute against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and was in the

Italian squad 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 ...

at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, although he did not play a match in the competition, as he was a backup to

Enrico Albertosi Enrico "Ricky" Albertosi (; born 2 November 1939) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest ever goalkeepers, he had a successful club career, winning titles with Fiorentina, Cagliari, and Mi ...

. Although he was considered one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation, he received little space with the national side due to the presence of many other notable goalkeepers during his time, in addition to Albertosi, such as Lorenzo Buffon,

Fabio Cudicini Fabio Cudicini (; born 20 October 1935) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1955 to 1972. Standing at , he was one of the tallest goalkeepers of his time. Despite never playing for the Italy national foot ...

Carlo Mattrel Carlo Mattrel (; 14 April 1937 – 25 September 1976) was an Italian footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. During his career, he was regarded as one of the top goalkeepers in Italy, and had a highly successful career at club level playing for ...

Roberto Anzolin Roberto Anzolin (; 18 April 1938 – 6 October 2017) was an Italian footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the best Italian goalkeepers of his generation, he played for several Italian sides, but is mostly remembered for hi ...

Giuliano Sarti Giuliano Sarti (; 2 October 1933 – 5 June 2017) was an Italian professional football player, who played in the position of goalkeeper. Throughout his successful career, he played for several Italian clubs, although he is mostly remembered for h ...

Lido Vieri Lido Vieri (; born 16 July 1939) is a former Italian football manager and former football player who played as a goalkeeper. He won the 1968 European Championship and was a runner-up at the 1970 FIFA World Cup with the Italy national team. ...

, and

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 th ...

Personal life

In addition to his unique name, success and ability as a footballer, Pizzaballa also achieved fame throughout his career because of his iconic surname, and also as his Panini Italian footballing card was supposedly extremely difficult to obtain.

Honours

Club

;

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 (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

: 1958–59 *

: 1962–63 ; Roma *

: 1968–69 ;

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

: 1972–73, 1976–77 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...

: 1972–73

References

External links

* 1939 births Living people Italian footballers Italy men's international footballers 1966 FIFA World Cup players Atalanta B.C. players A.S. Roma players Hellas Verona F.C. players A.C. Milan players Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Bergamo {{Italy-footy-goalkeeper-stub