Roberto Rosato (; 18 August 1943 – 20 June 2010) was an 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 defender. A strong, hard-tackling, and reliable

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he is regarded as one of Italy's greatest defenders. Rosato played for four different Italian clubs throughout his career, but is mainly remembered for his successful stint with

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, where he won several domestic and international titles. At international level, 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 ...

in two

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 ...

s, reaching the final 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 ...

, and won

UEFA Euro 1968 The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in Italy. This was the third UEFA European Championship, an event held every four years and organised by UEFA. The final tournament took place between 5 and 10 June 1968. It ...

Club career

Rosato played for 15 seasons (351 games, 10 goals) in 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 ...

for

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 ...

(1960–66),

(1966–1973) and

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 ...

(1973–1977), before moving to

Aosta Aosta ( , , ; ; , or ; or ) is the principal city of the Aosta Valley, a bilingual Regions of Italy, region in the Italy, Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel and the G ...

(1977–79), playing 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 ...

for two seasons before officially retiring in 1979. He made his Serie A debut with Torino, in a 1–1 away draw against

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 ...

on 2 April 1961. Rosato is mostly remembered for his highly successful period with Milan, where he won several domestic and international trophies (one

A title, three

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 ...

titles, one

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, two

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

s, and one Intercontinental Cup), forming a formidable back-line alongside Cudicini, Schnellinger, Anquilletti, and Trapattoni. He made his Milan debut on 4 September 1966, in a 3–0 away Serie A win over

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

; in total he made 269 appearances with the club, scoring 8 goals, 5 of which came in Serie A in 187 appearances.

International career

Rosato also played 37 matches for the Italy national team from 1965 to 1973. An important member of the Italy national side, he gave one of his best performances during his debut under manager

Edmondo Fabbri Edmondo Fabbri (16 November 1921 – 8 July 1995) was an Italian football player and coach; a fast player, he mainly played as a winger. Playing career Fabbri was born in Castel Bolognese. During his club career, he played for several teams. ...

in 1966, in a 1–1 away draw 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 ...

; after the match, he was dubbed the “Hammer of Hamburg” (Il Martello d'Amburgo) by the media, due to his tenacity and determination throughout the match. He participated in two World Cups (

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

), where is widely remembered for an important goal-line clearance on

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 ...

in Italy's 4–3 semi-final win over West Germany, which is known as " the Match of the Century". Rosato was also a member of the team that lost 4–1 to

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 ...

in the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final; after the tournament he was elected the best central defender of the tournament. At the end of the game he swapped shirts with

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

. He sold the shirt for a record £157,750 at auction in 2002. was also part of the Italian team that won the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship and 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 ...

Style of play

A powerful, consistent, hard-tackling, and tenacious man-marking

, Rosato is regarded as one of the greatest and most complete Italian defenders of all time, due to his strong performances throughout his career. In addition to his tough, determined, physical, and aggressive style of play, he was also extremely composed and elegant on the ball, due to his notable technical ability and balance; he was also known for his commanding influence on the pitch.

Personal life

Rosato was frequently known by his team-mates and the media as "Angel Face" (Faccia d'Angelo) under 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 ...

, due to his delicate, handsome physical features, which were thought to contrast with his determination and ruggedness on the pitch. Rosato is born on the same day as his Milan team-mate and "twin", as he was known,

Gianni Rivera Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the media, he played the majority of his club career wi ...

. Rosato died on 20 June 2010, at the age of 66, after struggling with a lengthy illness; after news of his death was aired, the Italian team wore black armbands in memory of Rosato in their

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

game against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

later that day.Italy to honor Rosato against New Zealand
Usatoday.Com (20 June 2010). Retrieved on 2015-07-18.

Honours

Milan *

: 1967–68 *

: 1966–67, 1971–72,

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

: 1968–69 *

: 1967–68,

* Intercontinental Cup:

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

Italy *

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

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 ...

Individual * A.C. Milan Hall of Fame * Medaglia d'oro al valore atletico

References

External links

*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosato, Roberto 1943 births 2010 deaths Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Torino FC players AC Milan players Genoa CFC players 1966 FIFA World Cup players 1970 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1968 players European champions for Italy UEFA European Championship–winning players Men's association football defenders Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in football Competitors at the 1963 Mediterranean Games People from Chieri Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Turin 20th-century Italian sportsmen UEFA Champions League–winning players