Roberto Rosato (; 18 August 1943 – 20 June 2010) was an

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 defender. A strong, hard-tackling, and reliable centre-back, he is regarded as one of Italy's greatest defenders. Rosato played for four different Italian clubs throughout his career, but is mainly remembered for his successful stint with

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 ...

, where he won several domestic and international titles. At international level, he represented

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 ...

in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s, reaching the final in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, and won

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

Club career

Rosato played for 15 seasons (351 games, 10 goals) in the

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 ...

for A.C. Torino (1960–66),

(1966–1973) and Genoa C.F.C. (1973–1977), before moving to

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...

(1977–79), playing in

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

for two seasons before officially retiring in 1979. He made his Serie A debut with Torino, in a 1–1 away draw against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

on 2 April 1961. Rosato is mostly remembered for his highly successful period with Milan, where he won several domestic and international trophies (1

A title, 3

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 ...

titles, 1 European Cup, 2

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 ...

s, and 1 Intercontinental Cup), forming a formidable back-line alongside Cudicini, Schnellinger, Anquilletti, and

Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a ...

. He made his Milan debut on 4 September 1966, in a 3–0 away Serie A win over Pisa; in total he made 269 appearances with the club, scoring 8 goals, 5 of which came in Serie A in 187 appearances.

International career

Rosato also played 37 matches 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 ...

from 1965 to 1973. An important member of the Italian national side, he gave one of his best performances during his debut under manager

Edmondo Fabbri Edmondo Fabbri (16 November 1921 – 8 July 1995) was an Italian football player and coach; a fast player, he mainly played as a winger. Playing career Fabbri was born in Castel Bolognese. During his club career, he played for several teams. H ...

in 1966, in a 1–1 away draw against

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 ...

; after the match, he was dubbed the “Hammer of Hamburg” (Il Martello d'Amburgo) by the media, due to his tenacity and determination throughout the match. He participated in two World Cups ( 1966 and

), where is widely remembered for an important goal-line clearance on Gerd Müller in Italy's 4–3 semi-final win over West Germany, which is known as " the Match of the Century". Rosato was also a member of the team that lost 4–1 to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final; after the tournament he was elected the best central defender of the tournament. At the end of the game he swapped shirts with Pelé. He sold the shirt for a record £157,750 at auction in 2002. was also part of the Italian team that won the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship and the Gold Medal at the

1963 Mediterranean Games The 1963 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the IV Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Naples 1963, were the 4th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Naples, Italy over 8 days, from 21 to 29 September 1963, where 1,057 athlet ...

Style of play

A powerful, consistent, hard-tackling, and tenacious man-marking centre-back, Rosato is regarded as one of the greatest and most complete Italian defenders of all time, due to his strong performances throughout his career. In addition to his tough, determined, physical, and aggressive style of play, he was also extremely composed and elegant on the ball, due to his notable technical ability and balance; he was also known for his commanding influence on the pitch.

Personal life

Rosato was frequently known by his team-mates and the media as "Angel Face" (Faccia d'Angelo) under manager Nereo Rocco, due to his delicate, handsome physical features, which were thought to contrast with his determination and ruggedness on the pitch. Rosato is born on the same day as his Milan team-mate and "twin", as he was known,

Gianni Rivera Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder. Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...

. Rosato died on 20 June 2010, at the age of 66, after struggling with a lengthy illness; after news of his death was aired, the Italian team wore black armbands in memory of Rosato in their

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

game against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

later that day.Italy to honor Rosato against New Zealand
Usatoday.Com (2010-06-20). Retrieved on 2015-07-18.

Honours

Club

Milan *

: 1967–68 *

: 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73 * European Cup: 1968–69 *

: 1967–68, 1972–73 * Intercontinental Cup:

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

International

Italy *

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is contes ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

* Mediterranean Games:

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 ...

Individual

* A.C. Milan Hall of Fame * Medaglia d'oro al valore atletico

References

External links

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosato, Roberto 1943 births 2010 deaths Italian footballers Italy international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Torino F.C. players A.C. Milan players Genoa C.F.C. players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1968 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Association football defenders Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games People from Chieri Footballers from Piedmont Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Turin