Roberto Pruzzo (; born 1 April 1955) is an Italian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and coach who played as a forward. He represented

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

UEFA Euro 1980 The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship finals tournament was held in Italy. This was the sixth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first European Championship to feature eight teams ...

Club career

Born at Crocefieschi, in the province of Genova, Pruzzo made his debut in professional football for

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

in 1973. There he remained for six seasons, scoring 57 goals in 143 matches, winning the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

title during the 1975–76 season, as well as the top scoring award. Pruzzo passed to Roma in 1979, for the then record sum of 3 billions

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

s. Here he became famous as one of the most effective Italian forwards of the 1980s, winning one

scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

during the 1982–83 season, and four

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

s in 1980, 1981, 1983, and 1986. He also won the Serie A top scorer award three times, in 1981, 1982, and 1986, as well as the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

top scorer award in 1980. He also scored a goal in the 1984 European Cup Final, when Roma, playing at home, was beaten on penalties by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He ended his career in 1989 after a

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for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. He helped the club to a seventh-place finish in Serie A that season, and he scored the decisive goal against his former club in the UEFA Cup playoff match, from a Roberto Baggio assist, which allowed Fiorentina to qualify for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

the following season. Pruzzo is the sole Italian player to have scored 5 goals in a single

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

match (Roma vs.

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

, 1986).

International career

Despite a fantastic club career, Pruzzo only managed to play six games (no goals) for the Italy national team between 1978 and 1982. He represented his country at the 1980 UEFA European Championship in Italy, where they reached the semi-finals, finishing the tournament in fourth place, and also at the 1980 Mundialito. He was left out of Enzo Bearzot's 1982 World Cup-winning squad. Pruzzo did, however, score in an Italian shirt, representing Italy in the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

World Cup of Masters. Pruzzo scored twice in the opening round.

Style of play

A prolific goalscorer, Pruzzo was considered one of the best Italian forwards of his generation, and he is regarded as one of Roma's greatest players. He was known as a physically strong and hard-working centre-forward throughout his career, with good technique, link-up play, hold-up play, and an eye for goal, but was renowned in particular for his heading accuracy, elevation, and ability in the air.

Coaching career

In the late 1990s, Pruzzo started a much less notable coaching career which saw him at the helm of

Viareggio Viareggio () is a city and ''comune'' in northern Tuscany, Italy, on the coast of the Ligurian Sea. With a population of over 62,000, it is the second largest city in the province of Lucca, after Lucca. It is known as a seaside resort as well a ...

Teramo Teramo (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Italia) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

(

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

2),

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

(Serie C1) and a five summer days long time at

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

(

), during the change of ownership time from Franco Sensi to Maurizio Zamparini. He then served as assistant coach of Giuseppe Giannini at

1 teams

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

and Sambenedettese. He last served as head coach of

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

amateurs Centobuchi from December 2008 to March 2009. In the season 2012–13 he was named Sports manager of

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging ...

. In 2012, he was inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame.

Honours

Genoa *

: 1975–76 Roma *

: 1982–83 *

: 1979–80, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1985–86 Individual * Serie A top scorer: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1985–86 *

top scorer: 1979–80 * AS Roma Hall of Fame: 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruzzo, Roberto 1955 births Living people Serie A players Serie B players Genoa CFC players AS Roma players ACF Fiorentina players US Alessandria Calcio 1912 managers Italian football managers Italy men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1980 players Footballers from the Province of Genoa Palermo FC managers Men's association football forwards Italian men's footballers 20th-century Italian sportsmen