Italy legend Enrico Albertosi discusses his title wins at Cagliari and Milan, the 1970 World Cup run and why he’d love to play for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The goalkeeper hit many heights during his career, including the Scudetto with Cagliari and Milan, plus the ‘Game of the Century’ when Italy beat Germany 4-3 in the 1970 World Cup semi-final.
“Nobody could’ve imagined Cagliari would win the Scudetto, but we managed it after an extraordinary run,” Albertosi told ItaSportPress.
Italy legend Enrico Albertosi discusses his title wins at Cagliari and Milan, the 1970 World Cup run and why he’d love to play for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
The goalkeeper hit many heights during his career, including the Scudetto with Cagliari and Milan, plus the ‘Game of the Century’ when Italy beat Germany 4-3 in the 1970 World Cup semi-final.
“Nobody could’ve imagined Cagliari would win the Scudetto, but we managed it after an extraordinary run,” Albertosi told ItaSportPress.
“It’s certainly a different experience to winning it with Milan, because the expectation was to win with the Rossoneri, and the criticism was ferocious if we didn’t.
“As for the 1970 World Cup, we only went in hoping we’d get through the group stage, something Italy hadn’t done for a while at that time. We scored one goal in three group games, but still got through and suddenly everything changed, we surpassed all expectations.
“Winning the Final against Brazil would’ve been incredible, but that was a stratospheric team, probably their strongest of all time. Unfortunately, the strain of playing extra time against Germany in the semi-final took a lot out of us. It would’ve been a more balanced game otherwise, in my view.”
Now 80 years old, Albertosi reveals he is excited by the new developments in goalkeeping.
“I would’ve settled in perfectly with the current trend of goalkeepers using their feet to start moves from the back. Even at that time, I would often go off my line and anticipate the opposition with my feet. In training sessions, I’d play as a forward.
“That did mean sometimes conceding horrible goals, but my positioning helped us avoid a lot of tricky situations too. Nobody paid attention to it at the time.
“If I was to get the chance to play for one of today’s teams, I’d choose Manchester City. I love the way Pep Guardiola uses the positioning of his goalkeepers in that more advanced role. It’d be great fun to play in that tactical system.”
Does Albertosi see Italian goalkeepers in his image nowadays?
“When he started, I’d have said Gigi Buffon, because he was so wild and took risks. Mattia Perin seems to have a similar approach.”