Fabrizio Poletti (; born 13 July 1943) 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 ...

manager and player who played as a full-back. He is remembered for his career with

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, where he played for nine seasons, and won 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 ...

twice. He also represented the Italy national team, and was a member of the squad that reached the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

.FIFA Profile
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Club career

left, Poletti tackling Alberto Spencer Born in

Bondeno Bondeno ( Bondenese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Ferrara, in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, located about north of Bologna and about northwest of Ferrara. The municipality of Bondeno contains the ''frazioni'' (sub ...

, in the

province of Ferrara The province of Ferrara (; ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Italy, Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. Its capital is the city of Ferrara. As of May 2023, it has a population of 338,143 inhabitants over an area of . The province contains ...

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, Poletti is mainly remembered for his lengthy spell with

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 ...

club

(1962–71), after joining the club in 1962, at the age of 18, winning two

titles during his time with the club (during the 1967–68 and 1970–71 seasons). After being acquired by the senior team during the 1960–61 season, but not making any appearances, at the beginning of his club career, Poletti initially played on loan for AC Asti (1961–62) in

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 ...

, making his professional debut with the club, and scoring 2 goals in 24 appearances, before returning to Torino the following season. He made his debut with the club on 21 October 1962, in a 1–0 away defeat to

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 Serie A. During his nine seasons in Turin, he made 275 official appearances for the club (224 in Serie A, with 18 goals, 37 in the Coppa Italia, with 4 goals, and 14 appearances in European Competitions, with 1 goal, as well as 10 in friendly matches, bringing his total to 285 appearances), scoring 23 goals, and is the club's 14th highest appearance holder. Alongside his team-mate Natalino Fossati, he formed one of the strongest full-back pairings in Serie A at the time, developing into an efficient two-way full-back, who contributed both offensively and defensively, under the tutelage of manager

Nereo Rocco Nereo Rocco (; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italian association football, football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy ...

. During his time at the club, he was also the main penalty taker, despite being a defender, which allowed him to contribute with several goals throughout his career. Poletti later moved to

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

(1971–74), and subsequently for a season at Sampdoria, where he ended his career at the end of the 1974–75 season, making 5 appearances (and one additional appearance in a friendly). In total, he spent 13 seasons in

, making 294 appearances and scoring 20 goals, also making 344 career appearances, scoring 24 goals.

International career

Poletti earned six caps for the Italy national team between 1965 and 1970, making his debut on 16 June 1965 against

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. Poletti also made six appearances for the Italian B side, and was a member of the Italian team that won the gold medal at the

1963 Mediterranean Games The 1963 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the IV Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Naples 1963, were the 4th Mediterranean Games and the first Mediterranean Games held in Italy. The Games were held in Naples, Italy over 8 days, f ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. He also notably played for Italy in the

Semi-final victory against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, known as "the Match of the Century", coming on for the injured Roberto Rosato in extra-time; despite their performance, he and the Italian goalkeeper Albertosi are often held responsible for

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

's goal, due to a defensive misunderstanding between the two players. Italy went on to reach the

of the tournament, only to be defeated 4–1 by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Managerial career

In January 1978, Poletti replaced Gianfranco Bozzao as

Suzzara Suzzara ( Lower Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua, in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan and about south of the city of Mantua. Suzzara was given the honorary title of a city by ...

's coach in Serie D, but was unable to prevent the team's relegation to the Promozione league division. He is currently working and as a coach in Costa Rica, where he has resided after moving there in the 80s with his partner Maritza.

Personal life

Poletti has two children (Marco and Erika), three grandchildren (Milena, Fabiola, and Martina), and two great grandchildren (Samuele and Zoe). The evening of 15 October 1967, in Torino, he was hit by a motorist after crossing Corso Re Umberto, sustaining a minor injury to his leg; his close friend and team-mate Gigi Meroni, who was with him at the time following Torino's match against Sampdoria, was killed in the crash.

Honours

Torino *

: 1967–68, 1970–71 Italy *

Mediterranean Games The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The fi ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

runner-up:

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

Individual *Medaglia d'oro al valore atletico

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poletti, Fabrizio 1943 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers 1970 FIFA World Cup players Torino FC players Deportivo Saprissa managers Expatriate football managers in Costa Rica Men's association football defenders Asti Calcio FC players Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games Italian football managers Footballers from the Province of Ferrara 20th-century Italian sportsmen