Pierino Prati

Pierino Prati

Prati amongst Hamburger SV defenders during the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final 1968 in Rotterdam
Personal information
Date of birth	13 December 1946
Place of birth	Cinisello Balsamo, Italy
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1965–1966	Salernitana	19	(10)
1966–1973	Milan	143	(72)
1966–1967	→ Savona (loan)	29	(15)
1973–1977	Roma	82	(28)
1977–1978	Fiorentina	8	(0)
1978–1979	Savona	25	(10)
1979	Rochester Lancers	6	(3)
1979–1981	Savona	54	(24)
National team
1968–1974	Italy	14	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 May 2015. † Appearances (goals)

Pierino Prati (born 13 December 1946 in Cinisello Balsamo) is a retired Italian footballer who played mainly as a forward. Prati was capable of playing anywhere along the front-line, as a striker, supporting forward, and as a winger. At Milan, he was often deployed on the left wing due to his pace, technique, distribution, and his powerful and accurate shot.^[1] He began his career playing in Serie C1 with Salernitana, winning the title and promotion to Serie B during the 1965–66 season.^[1] His son, Cristiano, is also a footballer, who plays in the lower Italian divisions.^[1]

Club career

Also known as "Pierino the pest",^[1] Prati is mostly remembered for his highly successful and prolific stint with Italian club A.C. Milan under manager Nereo Rocco in the 60s and 70s, during which he achieved great international and domestic success, winning a Serie A title, a European Cup, two Cup Winners' Cups, an Intercontinental Cup, and two Coppa Italia titles, forming an excellent partnership with Gianni Rivera.^[1] He made his Serie A debut with the club during the end of the 1965–66 season, on 18 September 1966, in a 2–1 win over Venezia, but was briefly loaned to Serie B club Savona during the 1966–67 season. He later helped Milan to win the 1967–68 Serie A title, finishing the season as the top goalscorer in the Italian league, with 15 goals. He was also notably part of their European Cup victory in 1969, scoring a hat-trick in the 4–1 defeat of Ajax in the final, and six goals in total throughout the competition. He is the last man to have scored a hat-trick in the Champions League/European Cup Final. Ferenc Puskas (twice) and Alfredo Di Stefano (both of Real Madrid) are the only other players to have achieved this.^[2] Overall, he played for 12 seasons (233 games, 100 goals) in the Serie A for A.C. Milan, A.S. Roma and ACF Fiorentina.^[1] He also played for Savona one again in Serie C2 in his later career, as well as the Rochester Lancers in the NASL.^[1]

International career

Prati also played for the Italy national football team. He was most notably a member of the Italian side that won the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship on home soil, during which he made his debut on 6 April, scoring a goal in a 3–2 win against Bulgaria in the first leg of the quarter-finals, and another in the 2–0 victory in the return leg. He played the first final match alongside Pietro Anastasi, but was replaced by Luigi Riva in the re-match, the striker who would often keep him on the bench for Italy. With his national team, Prati also reached the final of the 1970 FIFA World Cup, losing out to Brazil. In total, he was capped 14 times for the national side between 1968 and 1974, scoring 7 times.^[1][2][3][4]

Career statistics

Club

Source^[1]

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Salernitana	1965–66	19	10	-	-	-	-	19	10
Milan	1965–66	2	0	-	-	-	-	2	0
Savona	1966–67	29	15	-	-	-	-	29	15
Milan	1967–68	23	15	7	3	8	4	38	22
	1968–69	30	14	3	1	7	6	40	21
	1969–70	21	12	3	3	4	2	30	17
	1970–71	29	19	10	3	-	-	39	22
	1971–72	21	6	11	4	7	2	39	12
	1972–73	17	6	-	-	4	2	21	8
Roma	1973–74	23	8	3	0	-	-	26	8
	1974–75	29	14	10	8	-	-	39	22
	1975–76	10	2	3	3	6	0	19	5
	1976–77	20	4	2	1	-	-	22	5
	1977–78	-	-	4	1	-	-	4	1
Fiorentina	1977–78	8	0	-	-	-	-	8	0
Savona	1978–79	25	10	-	-	-	-	25	10
Rochester	1979	6	3	-	-	-	-	6	3
Savona	1979–80	27	12	-	-	-	-	27	12
	1980–81	27	12	-	-	-	-	27	12
Total for Milan		143	72	34	14	30	16	207	102
Career total		366	162	56	27	36	16	458	205

Honours

Club

Milan^[5]

• Serie A: 1967–68
• Coppa Italia: 1971–72, 1972–73
• European Cup: 1968–69
• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1967–68, 1972–73
• Intercontinental Cup: 1969

Salernitana^[1]

• Serie C1: 1965–66

International

Italy^[1][6]

• UEFA European Championship: 1968
• FIFA World Cup: 1970 (Runner-up)

Individual

• Serie A Top Goalscorer: 1967–68 (15 goals)^[5][7]
• A.C. Milan Hall of Fame^[5]

References

1. "Pierino PRATI (II)" (in Italian). magliarossonera.it. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
2. Pierino Prati – FIFA competition record
3. "Nazionale in cifre: Prati, Pierino". www.figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
4. "Racconti Mondiali: Messico 1970 - Pierino Prati" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
5. "A.C. Milan Hall of Fame: Pierino Prati". acmilan.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
6. "Pierino Prati" (in Italian). Eurosport. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
7. Roberto Di Maggio; Igor Kramarsic; Alberto Novello (11 June 2015). "Italy - Serie A Top Scorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2015.

External links

• Pierino Prati at National-Football-Teams.com