“Women, smoking, racetracks. Liedholm understood me, it was my luck. I made my debut at the age of 15 thanks to a sailor goalkeeper»
Ricky Albertosi he waits for the summer in Versilia, parrying his nephew’s shots and heart blows: «I overcame a second heart attack a few months ago».
Is he still on target?
«Yes, to then be told “but grandpa you don’t equal one, what kind of goalkeeper are you!?”. Soon, however, I will show him some videos of what I did».
Do you have memories of the war?
“Only the flash of the planes over Pontremoli, they were going to bomb who knows where”.
Did you support Grande Torino?
«Yes, my father took me to Milan-Turin: what a charm».
Dad Cecco was a teacher and goalkeeper: she studied up to the third year of masters then the other passion won out.
«He made me come, he coached me during the half-time of his matches. I was 7 years old and I didn’t go out again until I was 43».
His debut with the greats comes at the age of 15, in La Spezia.
«The owner was a sailor, who had to embark. It sounds like the beginning of an adventure novel, but it went like this: from there I started, we won the championship, the junior national team arrived and in 1958 we won the European Championship with Corso, Trapattoni, Galeone».
Sandro Mazzola repeated that «Albertosi’s secret is that he trains little». Just perfidy or was there some truth?
«Perfidy: he was already in the locker room when I was doing real, specific training».
For Rocco he was “the best in the world, even if he has everything I hate in a footballer: he smokes, drinks, is liked by women, plays cards, bets on horses”. Effective synthesis?
«Yes, it’s true, I’ve always been like this, I’ve never hidden anything. Unlike others, I did everything in the light of the sun and on the pitch on Sunday I did my duty”.
On Saturdays Liedholm asked her if she preferred the racecourse or the cinema with the team: never satisfied?
“Never. At the racecourse I spent a couple of hours in peace. My luck were coaches like him or Scopigno who understood me”.
In ’76 the Courier he asked her: “How many times do you make love a week?” And she: «If I say so, a mess will break out at Milanello!». Was there a little marching around the character of her?
“Certainly. I didn’t make love every day, but two or three times a week yes».
Was it more genius or more recklessness as a goalkeeper?
“Maybe more genius. Then it was striking to say that I smoked forty cigarettes a day even though it wasn’t true, that I always went to the racecourse or that I went to bed late: I did everything, because I felt good, but it’s not that I played badly because I didn’t lead a life in keeping with the sport. It also depended on my physique ».
Is North Korea in 1966 the thing that burns you the most?
«Yes and it burns me a lot, because I’ve done 4 world championships and that was a great team. It was an incredible match, in which a draw was enough for us: we didn’t underestimate Korea, but we missed ten goals».
At Mexico ’70 he was in a room with Riva. Was he bored?
“In reverse. In private, Gigi is quite a chatterbox, he knows how to enjoy being in company. He is shy, but if he gets in confidence he is a different person ».
For Rivera, the words she said to him after Müller’s 3-3 against Germany in the “Match of the Century” are unpublishable. He confirms?
“I’d say
Very
unpublishable. I defamed him because he shouldn’t have been on that pole. Hitting his head on the post he said “now I can only go and score”. And he was on his word.”
Why instead of Inter he found himself at Cagliari?
“You’d have to ask some of that Inter’s players: for Allodi it was already done.”
Among other things, she didn’t want to go to Sardinia.
“That’s true, but you couldn’t refuse. But it was luck, not just for the Scudetto.”
Was Pelé’s legendary header in 1970 saveable?
“It is if I expect c
he Burgnich don’t take it: he jumped very well and when I have it
view
going down I thought Pele would never hit her again. Instead he remained in suspension, gave the ball strength and put it at the near post, where a goalkeeper rarely has to concede goals: I have sinned by having too much faith in Burgnich ».
Was Zenga his heir?
“Yes, he was a bit erratic and he was a great goalkeeper.”
Is it fair to say that Albertosi was a revolutionary, while Zoff was a great classic?
«It’s a correct vision, because I anticipated things: I played a lot off goal and also a lot with my feet, also because I was almost always in attack in training. In C2 I was a player-manager, I wanted to score in a practice match and the reserve goalkeeper collapsed on my leg. I was forced to withdraw.”
Did you grow a mustache at Milan for the fashion of the time?
«No, there is a story: in 1975 I met Elisabetta, who asked me why I didn’t let them grow. Today I have the same mustache and the same woman.’
Did Pope Wojtyla speak to you from goalkeeper to goalkeeper?
“Yes, in the hearing after the victory of the scudetto he told me that he loved playing in goal as a boy”.
Do you believe in the afterlife?
“Yes, I’m religious.”
In 1978 Bearzot didn’t bring it as third because Zoff was suffering from it. And you criticized Dino for his goals against the Netherlands. For a long time he avoided her, offended. When did you make peace?
«It was on the stairs of a hotel: a western scene, without the guns. We hugged.”
When Zoff raised the Captain’s Cup she was disqualified for football betting. What feeling did he experience?
«I was very happy, especially for him: a very great man, who deserved everything».
The triumph brought amnesty.
«And I went to the Elpidiense».
You played on your team’s victory: isn’t it usually the other way around?
«Yes and among other things I had reported everything to my president: I was naive, I shouldn’t have talked to this friend who contacted me. We won a regular match against Lazio, I made two exceptional saves. I’ve always played to win, because I’m a born player.”
How long was he in prison?
“A fortnight.”
He said: «Never eaten bucatini all’amatriciana so good». Another provocation?
«No, it’s true: there was a prisoner who cooked them very well. We were locked up, but free and out and about all day.”
At the Elpidiense he coached Alberto. What dad was it?
«As long as I was with my first wife I think a very good father. I think even later, but I was far away: he and Silvia missed me, like they missed me. I also had a daughter from Elisabetta, Alice. And I have four grandchildren.”
Does football amuse you today?
«No, apart from Napoli».
In 2004 you had a heart attack at the racecourse: did your passion for horses save your life?
«My luck was the jockeys: one stuck my tongue out, the other gave me heart massage while waiting for the ambulance. So I saved myself without permanent damage: but the doctors didn’t know how it would end».
The jockeys saved her, but who knows how many times she cursed them for the lost money.
“No, they were all friends. And then when you bet you only remember the victories».
May 20, 2023 (change May 20, 2023 | 09:11)
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