Pierluigi Cera (; born 25 February 1941) is a former Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

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or as a defender, most notably for

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 ...

, and the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

Club career

Cera was born in Legnago. During his club career, he played for

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

(1957–64),

(1964–73), and

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

(1973–79). He made his Serie A debut with Verona, in a 2–0 away defeat to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on 4 May 1958. He later captained Cagliari to the

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 ...

title in

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 ...

, the first and only league title in the club's history.

International career

At international level, Cera earned 18

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for the

between 1969 and 1972; he made his debut on 22 November 1969, in a 3–0 win over

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in a World Cup qualifier, and subsequently played in 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 ...

, including the

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against

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, in which Italy finished in second place following a 4–1 defeat.

Style of play

A versatile player, Cera was capable of playing both as a midfield

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

, and also as a defender. He occupied the role of a Libero or sweeper in his later career, due to his vision, passing, creativity, and ability to bring the ball out from the back, as well as his consistent defensive attributes, which made him, alongside

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

, one of the first offensive sweepers of his time.

Honours

Club

Cagliari *

: 1969–70

International

Italy *

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):

Individual

* Cagliari Greatest XI of all-time

References

1941 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers 1970 FIFA World Cup players Hellas Verona FC players Cagliari Calcio players AC Cesena players Footballers from Legnano 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-defender-1940s-stub