Fabrizio Poletti (; born 13 July 1943) is a former Italian football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

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

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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 ...

, where he played for nine seasons, and won the

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 ...

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 (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

of 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 ...

.FIFA Profile
/ref>

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 Emilia-Romagna, located about north of Bologna and about northwest of Ferrara. The municipality of Bondeno contains the '' frazioni'' (su ...

, in the

province of Ferrara The province of Ferrara ( it, provincia di Ferrara; egl, pruvîncia ad Fràra) is a province in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Its provincial capital is the city Ferrara. As of 2016, it has a population of 354,238 inhabitants over an area ...

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

, Poletti is mainly remembered for his lengthy spell with

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 ...

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 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 ...

, 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 ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

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 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, winning s ...

. 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 (, 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 ...

(1971–74), and subsequently for a season at

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

, 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 6 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 ...

between 1965 and 1970, making his debut on 16 June 1965 against Sweden. Poletti also made 6 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. The Games were held in Naples, Italy over 8 days, from 21 to 29 September 1963, where 1,057 athlete ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He also notably played for Italy in the

Semi-final victory against

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, known as "the Match of the Century", coming on for the injured

Roberto Rosato Roberto Rosato (; 18 August 1943 – 20 June 2010) was an Italian footballer, who played as a defender. A strong, hard-tackling, and reliable centre-back, he is regarded as one of Italy's greatest defenders. Rosato played for four different ...

in extra-time; despite their performance, he and the Italian goalkeeper Albertosi are often held responsible for Gerd Müller'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 ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

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 a ...

'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 car 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

, was killed in the accident.

Honours

Club

;Torino *

: 1967–68, 1970–71

International

;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 Co ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

(Runner-up):

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and 1 ...

Individual

*Medaglia d'oro al valore atletico

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poletti, Fabrizio 1943 births Living people Italian footballers Italy international footballers 1970 FIFA World Cup players Torino F.C. players Deportivo Saprissa managers Expatriate football managers in Costa Rica Association football defenders Asti Calcio F.C. players Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games Italian football managers