Roberto Bettega
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Roberto Bettega | ||
Date of birth | 27 December 1950 | ||
Place of birth | Turin, Italy | ||
Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Youth career | |||
Juventus | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1969–1983 |
Juventus | 326 | (129) |
1969–1970 |
→ Varese (loan) | 30 | (13) |
1983–1984 |
Toronto Blizzard | 48 | (11) |
Total | 404 | (153) | |
International career | |||
1975–1983 | Italy | 42 | (19) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Roberto Bettega (Italian pronunciation: [roˈbɛrto ˈbɛtteɡa]; born 27 December 1950) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward.
A prolific and athletic player, Bettega is mostly remembered for his successful time at his hometown club
At international level, he represented Italy at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1980 European Championships, helping his team to fourth-place finishes on both occasions; he was unable to take part at the 1982 World Cup, which Italy won, due to injury.[2][5]
In December 2009, Bettega was officially appointed deputy director-general of Juventus. His role was to act as an intermediary between the players and coaching staff and the upper echelons of the club, as well as taking an active involvement in all of the Old Lady's transfer dealings.[2] Bettega left the role a short time later in 2010 after the appointment of Luigi Del Neri as manager.[6]
Club career
Early career
Born in
Nils Liedholm said of Bettega, "He allies tremendous athletic strength with impressive technical skills. He is particularly strong in the air, and can kick the ball with either foot. All he needs is to build up experience, and then he will certainly be a force to be reckoned with."[1]
Professional career
Back at
He scored a goal against Fiorentina on 16 January 1972, but this was to be his last for a while because he was forced out of the game with a lung infection and the initial stages of tuberculosis, although he was still able to contribute to Juventus's Serie A title victory that season. He was not out for long, and returned on 24 September of the same year, leading the team to their second successive league title that season.[7]
With the arrival of
Bettega won the Serie A title with Juventus yet again during the
In total, Bettega made 326 league appearances for Juventus, scoring 129 league goals
After retiring from European football, Bettega played two summers in the
International career
Bettega played 42 times for Italy national team, scoring 19 goals between 1975 and 1983. In 1975, Bettega got his first call-up for a match against Finland. He went on to play in the 1978 FIFA World Cup where he scored two goals to help Italy reach the second round, where they were defeated by the Netherlands, which denied them a spot in the final. Italy finished fourth after losing the third place play-off to Brazil at Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespuci, Buenos Aires.[12] Bettega was named in the Team of the Tournament for his performances. Bettega also helped Italy to a fourth-place finish at the 1980 European Championship, a tournament played on home soil.[13]
He was set to represent Italy at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, but suffered a knee ligament injury in a collision with an opposing goalkeeper during a 1981 European Cup match against Anderlecht, missing out on the '82 tournament, in which Italy were victorious.[2][3][5][14]
Style of play
Bettega was regarded as a player of noteworthy tactical intelligence, and in his prime, he was one of the most feared Italian strikers, due to his physical strength and prolific goalscoring ability.[2] A tall, quick, agile, and athletic player, Bettega excelled in the air, and was known for scoring acrobatic goals, due to his elevation, coordination, opportunism, and timing, as well as his ability to make attacking runs to get on the end of crosses, and was an accurate and a clinical finisher with either foot.[1][15] His elegance, aerial strength, and prematurely greying hair earned him the nickname Cabeza Blanca ("white head," in Spanish).[15]
Considered one of the greatest Italian footballers of all-time, Bettega was also regarded as a complete and modern team player, as he was capable of playing both as a
After retirement
Bettega later returned to Juventus at the request of the club's chairman at the time,
Personal life
Bettega has a son named Alessandro who also started his career in the Juventus system and was the captain of the Primavera team.[20]
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Varese |
1969–70 | Serie B | 30 | 13 | 3 | 0 | – | 33 | 13 | |
Juventus |
1970–71 | Serie A | 28 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 21 |
1971–72 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 15 | ||
1972–73 | 27 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 42 | 11 | ||
1973–74 | 24 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 10 | ||
1974–75 | 27 | 6 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 47 | 10 | ||
1975–76 | 29 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 36 | 18 | ||
1976–77 | 30 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 46 | 23 | ||
1977–78 | 30 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 41 | 15 | ||
1978–79 | 30 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 11 | ||
1979–80 | 28 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 40 | 17 | ||
1980–81 | 25 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 37 | 11 | ||
1981–82 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 8 | ||
1982–83 | 27 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 40 | 8 | ||
Total | 326 | 129 | 73 | 22 | 81 | 27 | 480 | 178 | ||
Toronto Blizzard | 1983 | NASL |
16 | 2 | – | – | 16 | 2 | ||
1984 | 23 | 8 | – | – | 23 | 8 | ||||
Total | 39 | 10 | – | – | 39 | 10 | ||||
Career total | 395 | 152 | 76 | 22 | 81 | 27 | 552 | 201 |
International
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Italy | 1975 | 2 | 0 |
1976 | 7 | 8 | |
1977 | 5 | 6 | |
1978 | 12 | 3 | |
1979 | 2 | 0 | |
1980 | 10 | 1 | |
1981 | 3 | 1 | |
1982 | 0 | 0 | |
1983 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 42 | 19 |
Honours
Juventus[2]
- Serie A: 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82
- Coppa Italia: 1978–79
- UEFA Cup: 1976–77
- Intercontinental Cup: Runner-up: 1973[22]
- 1982–83[24]
- 1970-71[25]
Varese
Italy
- FIFA World Cup: Semi-finals: 1978[26]
Individual
- Serie A top scorer: 1979–80[28]
- Serie B top scorer: 1969–70[29]
References
- ^ a b c "Roberto Bettega" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stefano Bedeschi. "Gli eroi in bianconero: Roberto BETTEGA" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Il Pallone Racconta: Roberto Bettega" (in Italian). Il Pallone Racconta. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ a b Emanuele Gamba (27 December 2009). "vizi e virtù DI Bobby gol" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
- ^ a b c "Roberto Bettega" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
- ^ "Official: Director Roberto Bettega Leaves Juventus". Goal.com. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ Taylor, Dave (20 September 2014). "A look back at Bettega". Football-italia.net. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ Dave Taylor (20 September 2014). "A look back at Bettega". Football Italia. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ Lea, Greg (14 June 2018). "Tears, tantrums and phone bills: 14 high-profile superstars who suffered injury agony before a World Cup". Fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ Crosetti, Maurizio (20 October 2014). "La Juve di Bettega e una notte maledetta". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Fußball Italien: Bettega wird neuer Sportdirektor bei "Juve"" (in German). Düsseldorf, Germany: Handelsblatt.com. 22 December 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ Bianchi, Fabio (15 May 2014). "Mondiale 1978: Italia, allegria del tango ma poi l'Olanda ci beffa". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Europei, la storia: Italia 1980". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). 29 April 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Nazionale in cifre: Bettega, Roberto". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ^ a b Furio Zara (15 May 2018). "Pavoletti e i grandi specialisti di testa dell'Italia e del mondo" [Pavoletti and the great heading specialists in Italy and the world]. Calciomercato.com (in Italian). Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ Pierpaolo Marino (26 March 2016). "50 ANNI, 10 STELLE: la classifica di Marino, Rivera e Scirea davanti a Baggio". Calciomercato.com (in Italian). Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^ "BETTEGA, Roberto in "Enciclopedia dello Sport"". Treccani.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ "Official: Roberto Bettega Back At Juventus". Goal.com. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ "Roberto Bettega torna in bianconero" (in Italian). Juventus.com. 23 December 2009. Archived from the original on 26 December 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
- ^ Imparato, Gaetano (9 February 2007). "Sembra Nedved, è Bettega jr. - Gazzetta dello Sport". Gazzetta.it (in Italian). Retrieved 27 December 2020.
- ^ Di Maggio, Roberto (9 November 2002). "Roberto Bettega - Goals in International Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 March 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ 1972–73 All matches – season at UEFA website
- ^ 1982–83 All matches – season at UEFA website
- ^ website eurocups-uefa.ru Fairs' Cup Seasons 1970-71 – results, protocols
- ^ 1978 FIFA World Cup Argentina, FIFA.com
- ^ UEFA Euro 1980 at UEFA.com
- ^ Roberto Di Maggio; Igor Kramarsic; Alberto Novello (11 June 2015). "Italy - Serie A Top Scorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
- ^ "Italy - Serie B Top Scorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
- ^ "FIFA World Cup Awards: All-Star Team". Retrieved 22 March 2015.
External links
- Roberto Bettega at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
- Roberto Bettega at FIGC(in Italian)