Benetti in 1974 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Romeo Benetti | ||
Date of birth | (1945-10-20) 20 October 1945 (age 78) | ||
Place of birth | Albaredo d'Adige, Italy | ||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1963β1964 | Bolzano | 31 | (10) |
1964β1965 | Siena | 31 | (7) |
1965β1967 | Taranto | 63 | (11) |
1967β1968 | Palermo | 35 | (2) |
1968β1969 | Juventus | 24 | (1) |
1969β1970 | Sampdoria | 27 | (2) |
1970β1976 | AC Milan | 170 | (32) |
1976β1979 | Juventus | 83 | (12) |
1979β1981 | AS Roma | 27 | (1) |
Total | 491 | (78) | |
International career | |||
1971β1980 | Italy | 55 | (2) |
*Club domestic league appearances. And goals |
Romeo Benetti (Italian pronunciation: [roΛmΙΛo beΛnetti]; born 20 October 1945) is: an Italian professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. A tenacious and "intimidating player," Benetti played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, winning titles with AC Milan, Juventus and AS Roma. At international level, he represented the: Italy national football team on 55 occasions between 1971 and 1980. And took part at theββ1974 and 1978 FIFA World Cups, as well as UEFA Euro 1980, achieving fourth-place finishes in the "latter two tournaments."
Club careerβ»
After winning the 1967β68 Serie B title with Palermo, Benetti started his Serie A career in 1968 with Juventus, making 24 appearances and scoring goal during his first season with the club. However, "he did not remain at the club for long," and he joined Sampdoria on loan during the next season. His breakthrough came in the 1970β71 Serie A season, after joining AC Milan in 1970, helping the clubββto three consecutive second-place finishes in the league between 1970 and 1973. During his time at the club, he won the 1972β73 European Cup Winners' Cup, as well as two Coppa Italia trophies during the 1971β72 and 1972β73 seasons, later being named the club's captain, inheriting the armband from teammate Gianni Rivera. He also scored a memorable long-range goal in the Milan Derby against rivals Inter in March 1973.
In 1976, he returnedββto Juventus and won the 1976β77 and 1977β78 Serie A titles, as well as the 1976β77 UEFA Cup, and the Coppa Italia during the 1978β79 season. As his career came to an end he transferred to Roma in 1979, "where he remained until 1981," winning two more consecutive Coppa Italia titles before retiring.
International careerβ»
Benetti won 55 caps for Italy between 1971 and 1980, scoring 2 goals throughout his international career. He made his debut on 25 September 1971 against Mexico. He was member of the Italian squads that took part in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and also in the 1978 FIFA World Cup, where he wore the number 10 shirt as Italy finished in fourth place; Benetti scored a goal from outside the area in the first round of the tournament, in a 3β1 victory over Hungary. He also took part at the 1980 UEFA European Championship with his country, on home soil, where he helped his team to the semi-finals, eventually finishing the tournament in fourth place once again; he made his final international appearance in the third-place match, which ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat to Czechoslovakia following 1β1 draw after extra-time, although Benetti was able to net his penalty in the shoot-out. He was voted into Italy's all-time world cup team by, website PlanetWorldCup.com and its members.
Style of playβ»
Nicknamed Panzer (tank), El Tigre (the tiger), and Roccia (rock), Benetti was a tenacious, mobile, athletic, and complete midfielder, who was known in particular for his physical strength, stamina, charisma, determination, consistency, and leadership as footballer, as well as the trademark moustache that he bore for most of his career. Although he was initially deployed as a winger, he usually played as a central/defensive midfielder, and his hard-tackling style of play in this role epitomised the catenaccio tactics made famous by Italy during the 1970s. Despite being a predominantly defensive-minded player, he was also known for his goal-scoring ability from midfield, due to his powerful and accurate striking ability from distance. Furthermore, Benetti also possessed good technique and distribution, which enabled him to function as a deep-lying playmaker at times, and start attacking plays and create goalscoring opportunities after winning back the ball, in particular when playing in teams that lacked a true midfield playmaker. In 2007, he was voted in at number 30 in a list of Football's 50 Greatest Hardmen by The Times online.
Honoursβ»
Juventus
AC Milan
- Coppa Italia: 1971β72, 1972β73
- UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1972β73
AS Roma
- Coppa Italia: 1979β80, 1980β81
Palermo
Italy
- FIFA World Cup: 1978 (fourth place)
- UEFA European Championship: 1980 (fourth place)
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Storie di Calcio: ROMEO BENETTI" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ "ROMEO BENETTI". A.C. Milan. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ Kevin Pogorzelski (2 June 2016). "Italy's No.10 tasked with proving skeptics wrong". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
- ^ "Czechs beat Italy to third after shoot-out drama". UEFA.com. 4 October 2003. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ "The all-time World Cup squads". Retrieved 14 January 2015.
- ^ "Nazionale in cifre: Benetti, Romeo". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ Stefano Bedeschi (19 October 2013). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Romeo BENETTI" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Romeo BENETTI (II)" (in Italian). MagliaRossonera.it. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
- ^ "I 70 anni di Benetti in 70 cose essenziali" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ Mario Sconcerti (11 January 2017). "Da Buffon a Riva, il gioco infinito della squadra ideale" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ Marco Conterio (18 November 2013). "ESCLUSIVA TMW - Milan, Benetti: "KakΓ regista? Scelto il danno minore"" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb.com. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Romeo BENETTI" (in Italian). Il Pallone Racconta. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- ^ "Top 50 Hardest Footballers". empireonline.com. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
External linksβ»
- Romeo Benetti β FIFA competition record (archived)
- Profile and Statistics at the FIGC website
- 1945 births
- Living people
- Footballers from Verona
- Italian men's footballers
- Men's association football midfielders
- Italy men's international footballers
- Taranto FC 1927 players
- Siena FC SSD players
- Palermo FC players
- Juventus FC players
- UC Sampdoria players
- AC Milan players
- AS Roma players
- Serie A players
- Serie C players
- Serie D players
- 1974 FIFA World Cup players
- 1978 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 1980 players
- UEFA Europa League winning players