Angelo Anquilletti (; 25 April 1943 – 9 January 2015) was an Italian football defender. A tough yet fair player, Anquiletti was a successful right-sided full-back, who was known for his strength, energy, work-rate, positioning, marking ability, anticipation, and his ability to read the game; he also excelled in the air and was confident on the ball and at distributing it to teammates, which also enabled him to be deployed as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

towards the end of his career. He is mostly remembered for his lengthy spell with AC Milan and for being a member of the Italian UEFA Euro 1968 winning squad. Anquiletti was known by the fans as "Angelo Anguilla" (Angelo the Eel), due to his man-marking ability, and wore the number 2 shirt throughout his successful Milan career.

Club career

Anquiletti Started his career in

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

with Solbiatese during the 1964–65 season. In 1964 he played with

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

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 ...

, making his debut on 16 November 1964, at the age of 21, in a 1–0 away win over

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...

; he remained at the club for two seasons. From 1966 to 1977 played for AC Milan, where he achieved notable success, forming an impressive defensive line-up during his 11 seasons with the club alongside Cudicini, Trapattoni, Rosato, and Schnellinger, which was nicknamed the ''

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force the ...

''. He was notably part of their

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 ...

victory in 1969, also winning the 1967–68 Serie A title, two European Cup Winners' Cups ( 1967–68 and 1972–73), the

1969 Intercontinental Cup The 1969 Intercontinental Cup (football), Intercontinental Cup was a Two-legged tie, two-legged association football match contested between 1969 European Cup Final, 1968–69 European Cup champions A.C. Milan, Milan and 1969 Copa Libertadores winn ...

, and four

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 ...

titles (1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1976–77). He notably scored two goals against

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

in the first leg of the first round of the victorious 1967–68 edition of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Overall, he made 418 appearances for Milan, and is the club's ninth all-time appearance holder; 278 of his appearances came in Serie A, 71 in the Coppa Italia, 63 in European Competitions, and 6 in other competitions. He ended his career with

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of M ...

, spending 2 more seasons in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named 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 been ...

before retiring in 1979, at the age of 36. Overall, he played 326 games in the

for Atalanta and Milan, and 41 games in Serie B, although he was unable to score a goal in the Italian leagues throughout his career.

International career

Anquiletti earned 2 caps for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

, and was part of Italy's UEFA Euro 1968 squad that won the tournament on home soil under Valcareggi, despite not making an appearance throughout the cup. He made his international debut in January 1969, in a friendly tournament in Mexico which preceded the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to 21 June in Mexico, it was the first World Cup tournament held outside ...

, making his only two appearances for Italy against

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

that year. He struggled to find space in the national side due to the presence of Tarcisio Burgnich and Fabrizio Poletti in his role.

Death

Anquiletti died on 9 January 2015, at the age of 71, after struggling with a long illness.

Career statistics

Club

''*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup''

Honours

AC Milan *

: 1967–68 *

: 1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1976–77 *

: 1968–69 *

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

: 1967–68, 1972–73 * Intercontinental Cup: 1969 Italy *

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 ...

(on the roster, did not play any games). Individual * AC Milan Hall of Fame

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anquilletti, Angelo 1943 births 2015 deaths Italian footballers Italy international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Atalanta B.C. players A.C. Milan players A.C. Monza players UEFA Euro 1968 players UEFA European Championship-winning players A.S.D. SolbiaSommese Calcio players Association football defenders UEFA Champions League winning players