Giovanni Lodetti (; born 10 August 1942) is an Italian former professional

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

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 ...

. A hard-working player, he usually supported his more creative teammates defensively, excelling as a

defensive 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 ...

due to his stamina and his ability to read the game. Despite his supporting role in midfield, he also possessed good technique and creativity, as well as an eye for goal, which also saw him participate in his teams attacking moves.

Club career

Lodetti is mostly remembered for his time as a

with Italian club

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

, with which he achieved great domestic and international success in the 60s alongside playmaker

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 ...

, winning two

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 Copp ...

titles (the first during his debut season), 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 ...

, two European Cups, a

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

, and an Intercontinental Cup. He later also played for

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also know ...

, and

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

, before retiring in 1978.

International career

Lodetti also represented the Italian national side at the

1966 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 t ...

in England, where they were eliminated in the first round. He was also a member of the national squad in Italy's victorious

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 ...

campaign on home soil. Although he was set to participate in the 1970 World Cup, in which Italy reached the final, he was dropped last minute due to an injury to

Anastasi Anastasi may refer to: Surname * Andrea Anastasi (born 1960), Italian volleyball player * Anne Anastasi (1908–2001), American psychologist * Giovanni Anastasi (1540–1587), Italian painter * Giovanni Anastasi (merchant) (1780–1860), merchan ...

, which led manager Ferruccio Valcareggi to call up

Roberto Boninsegna Roberto Boninsegna ( born 13 November 1943) is an Italian former football player, who mainly played as a forward. After retiring, he worked as a football manager. As a player, he represented the Italian national side at two World Cups, reachi ...

and Pierino Prati in his place. In total he represented his national team 17 times between 1964 and 1968, scoring two goals. He also represented the under-21 side in their victorious campaign 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 athlete ...

Honours

Club

A.C. Milan *

: 1961–62, 1967–68 *

: 1966–67 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

: 1962–63, 1968–69 *

: 1967–68 * 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 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 ...

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 of 1968, 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 Czechos ...

Individual

*A.C. Milan Hall of Fame

References

External links

Profile
at MagliaRossonera.it
Profile
at EmozioneCalcio.it
International caps
at FIGC.it 1942 births Living people Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan Association football midfielders Italian footballers Serie A players Serie B players A.C. Milan players U.C. Sampdoria players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Novara F.C. players Italy international footballers UEFA European Championship-winning players 1966 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1968 players Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games UEFA Champions League winning players Footballers from Lombardy {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1940s-stub