Pietro Anastasi

Pietro Anastasi

Pietro Anastasi (1971)
Personal information
Date of birth (1948-04-07) April 7, 1948
Place of birth Catania, Italy
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Forward
Youth career
1964–66 Massiminiana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1966–1968 Varese 66 (17)
1968–1976 Juventus 205 (189)
1976–1978 Internazionale 46 (7)
1978–1981 Ascoli 58 (9)
1981–1982 Lugano 14 (10)
National team
1967 Italy under-21 6 (2)
1968 Italy B Team 4 (2)
1968–1975 Italy 25 (8)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Pietro Anastasi (born 7 April 1948), nicknamed Petruzzu 'u turcu by fans, was an Italian footballer who played mainly in the role of a striker. Anastasi is regarded as one of the best Italian strikers of his generation,[1] and he was a fast and agile striker, with good reactions. He was also a prolific, intelligent and opportunistic goalscorer, who was capable of making attacking runs to advance into more effective goalscoring positions.[1] In this role, he was also capable of playing with his back to goal and laying off the ball for team-mates; he also played on the wing on occasion, due to his reliable technique, and crossing ability.[2][3]

Club career

Anastasi was born in Catania, Sicily. During his career (1964–1982) he played for Massiminiana, Varese, Juventus, Internazionale and Ascoli. In the Serie A, he played 338 matches and scored 105 goals (For Juventus, he played 205 games and scored 78 goals).[1] Although he never won the Serie A Top Goalscorer award, he was the third highest goalscorer in the League on three occasions, during the 1968–69, 1969–70 and 1973–74 seasons.

He made his professional Debut with Missiminiana di Catania in Serie D, showing promising goalscoring prowess during the 1965–66 season, in which he scored 18 goals. He was subsequently purchased by Varese in Serie B, the team with which he gained promotion to Serie A, scoring 6 reti in 37 partite, and making his Serie A debut on 24 September 1967, against Fiorentina, at the age of nineteen. During his first season in Serie A, he scored an impressive 11 goals, 3 of which were scored in Varese's shocking 5–0 wn over Juventus on 4 February 1968, a performance which enabled him to be called up to the Italian national side.[4]

Due to his precocious performances, he was purchased by Juventus in 1968 for a world record of 650 million Lire at the time, and with the Turin club, he won three Serie A titles, also helping the club to the final of the last edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1971, a tournament in which he was top scorer, with 10 goals. Juventus were defeated by Leeds in the final, however. He currently holds the record for the most goals in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup by a Juventus player (12), as well as the all-time record for goals in the Coppa Italia by a Juventus player (30). Alongside Roberto Baggio, he is the joint 10th highest goal-scorer for Juventus in Serie A, with 78 goals, and the joint 4th all-time Juventus goalscorer in European and International competitions, with 22 goals. With Juventus, he was also the top-scorer of the 1974–75 edition of the Coppa Italia, in which Juventus reached the second round, finishing second in their group, and missing the final by a single point. Anastasi also reached the final of the 1972–73 European Cup with Juventus, where they were defeated 1–0 by Ajax. In total, he scored 130 goals for Juventus, in 303 appearances.[1]

In 1976, Anastasi began to find less space within the first team Juventus squad, partially due to his disagreements with manager Carlo Parola, and he transferred to Inter in exchange for Roberto Boninsegna. With Inter, Anastasi won the 1977–78 Coppa Italia, making a substitute appearance in the final against Napoli, although his Inter performances were not as consistent or prolific as those with Juventus. As a result, he was sold to Ascoli in 1978, and he remained at the club for three more Serie A seasons, scoring 9 goals. In December 1979, he scored his 100th goal in Serie A in a 3–2 win over his former club, Juventus. He spent his final year playing for FC Lugano in the Swiss League, during the 1981–82 season, before retiring.[5]

International career

With the Italy national football team, he was a member of the squad that won the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship on home soil, a tournament during which he made his debut, scoring a goal in the final against Yugoslavia, with a right-footed volley from just outside the area.[6] He was initially set to take part in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico with Italy, but he was unable to participate due to injury. In his place, and that of midfielder Giovanni Lodetti, two strikers were called up: Roberto Boninsegna and Pierino Prati, as Italy went on to reach the final.[7] Anastasi also participated at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal against Haiti. In total, he played 25 international matches for Italy between 1968 and 1975, scoring 8 goals.[5][8]

After retirement

Today, Anastasi is a TV pundit for the Italian network 7 Gold and SKY.[9]

Honours

Club

Team

Juventus[3]
Inter[10]

Individual

International

Italy[3]

UEFA European Championship: 1968

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Journey through the Stars: Pietro Anastasi". Juventus.com. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  2. ↑ "Pietro ANASTASI". Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Stefano Bedeschi (7 April 2013). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Pietro ANASTASI" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "grandi imprese: Varese-Juventus (5-0) Miracolo" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Pietro Anastasi fotografia del turbolento ’68: per il ‘Pelè bianco’ milioni a palate e compressori" (in Italian). Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Your Favourite UEFA Goal: Euro 1968 Anastasi". UEFA.com. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  7. ↑ "L' azzurro amaro di Anastasi ko in Messico, fuori in Germania" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Nazionale in cifre: Anastasi, Pietro" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Giorgio Dell’Arti (10 October 2013). "Pietro Anastasi" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Pietro Anastasi" (in Italian). Inter.it. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Roberto Di Maggio; Davide Rota (4 June 2015). "Italy - Coppa Italia Top Scorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  12. ↑ "Fairs/UEFA Cup Topscorers". Retrieved 23 December 2014.

External links

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