Roberto Tricella (; born 18 March 1959) is an Italian former

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. He was most frequently deployed as a sweeper throughout his career. Tricella played for Italian clubs

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

, Juventus, and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, winning 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 ...

with Inter, a

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 ...

title with Verona, and a Coppa Italia-

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

double with Juventus. 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 ...

at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

, and at the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

Club career

Tricella was born at

Cernusco sul Naviglio Cernusco sul Naviglio (; lmo, Cernusch, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northwestern Italy. With a population of 33,436 as of 2015 it is the 14th-largest municipality in the metropolitan city. It is loca ...

, near

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 ...

. During his club career he played for

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

(1977–79),

Hellas Verona 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 ...

(1979–87), Juventus (1987–90), and

(1990–92). With Inter, he made his

debut, also winning the 1977–78 Coppa Italia. He later moved to

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 ...

club Hellas Verona, and during the 1984–85 Serie A season, he notably captained

Osvaldo Bagnoli Osvaldo Bagnoli (born 3 July 1935) is an Italian former football coach and player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Born in the Bovisa district of Milan, Bagnoli began his professional career as a midfielder with his hometown club A.C ...

's Verona to an historic Serie A victory, the only league victory in the club's history. He later transferred to Juventus in 1987, as an intended replacement for

Gaetano Scirea Gaetano Scirea (; 25 May 1953 – 3 September 1989) was an Italian professional footballer who is considered one of the greatest defenders of his generation and one of the greatest defenders of all time. He spent most of his career with Juventus ...

, and during his final season with the club, he briefly served as the club's captain in 1989, and was able to capture a

and

double, under manager

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 ...

International career

Tricella earned 11 caps for the Italy national team from 1984 to 1987, and he was included in Italy's 1986 FIFA World Cup squad under

Enzo Bearzot Enzo Bearzot (; 26 September 1927 – 21 December 2010) was an Italian professional football player and manager. A defender and midfielder, he led the Italy national team to victory in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Nicknamed ''Vecio'' (standard I ...

, although he did not play in the tournament, serving as

's backup in the libero role. Under Bearzot's successor, manager

Azeglio Vicini Azeglio Vicini (; 20 March 1933 – 30 January 2018) was an Italian football coach and player, who also served as the President of the Technical Sector of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). One of Italy's most important coaches during ...

, he also received little space due to the presence of Franco Baresi on the team. He also competed for Italy at the

, where the team finished in fourth place after a semi-final defeat.

Style of play

A tenacious but fair defender, Tricella was known for his ability to time his challenges, as well as his ability to defend opponents in one on one situations, due to his mobility. He was also capable of starting quick attacking plays after winning back possession courtesy of his tactical intelligence, range of passing, and elegance on the ball. Although he was also capable of playing as a centre-back, he was most frequently deployed as a sweeper throughout his career, and stood out for his more modern interpretation of the role, which saw him often advance with the ball and launch counter-attacks with long passes, rather than simply clearing the ball away in the mold of a more traditional sweeper.

Honours

Verona *

: 1984–85 Inter Milan *

: 1977–78 Juventus *

: 1989–90 *

: 1989–90

References

External links

*
Profile at FIGC.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tricella, Roberto 1959 births Living people People from Cernusco sul Naviglio Italian footballers Italy international footballers Olympic footballers of Italy Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1986 FIFA World Cup players Inter Milan players Hellas Verona F.C. players Juventus F.C. players Bologna F.C. 1909 players UEFA Cup winning players Serie A players Serie B players Association football defenders Footballers from Lombardy Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan