Sebastiano Rossi

Sebastiano Rossi

Rossi in 1990
Personal information
Date of birth (1964-07-20) 20 July 1964
Place of birth Cesena, Italy
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Youth career
1979–1982 Cesena
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1982–1990 Cesena 127 (0)
1982–1983 β†’ ForlΓ¬ (loan) 11 (0)
1984–1985 β†’ Empoli (loan) 0 (0)
1985–1986 β†’ Rondinella (loan) 28 (0)
1990–2002 Milan 240 (0)
2002–2003 Perugia 12 (0)
Total 418 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Sebastiano Rossi (born 20 July 1964) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

During a 21-year professional career, he appeared in 346 Serie A games, most notably representing A.C. Milan (12 seasons) with which he won 12 major titles, including five national championships and the 1994 Champions League.[1]

Football career

Cesena

Rossi was born in Cesena. Refusing the opportunity to play basketball, he joined his hometown's A.C. Cesena in 1979, at the age of 15. In 1982–83, on loan, he made his senior debuts with A.C. ForlΓ¬ in the Serie C1, being backup in a relegation-ending season.

After two more loans, Rossi returned to Cesena for the 1986–87 campaign, only missing five games as the Emilia-Romagna club promoted to Serie A, and retaining first-choice status in the following three top division seasons, with the team finishing 12th in 1989–90; he made his debut in the competition on 13 September 1987, in a home match against S.S.C. Napoli.

Milan

After his first season in Italy's top flight, Rossi was noticed by A.C. Milan, and joined the Rossoneri (also dubbed the Dream Team) that dominated Italian football for much of the 1990s. In his debut campaign he backedup Andrea Pazzagli, but the veteran left for Bologna F.C. 1909 in the ensuing summer.

Rossi then briefly battled for starting duties with Francesco Antonioli, before becoming Milan's undisputed first-choice goalkeeper, being part of a legendary defensive line that included, amongst others, Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini. Ironically, this strong defence was one of the reasons why Rossi was rarely called-up by Italy: Arrigo Sacchi, who coached the national team during this time, evidently felt that it was the defence and not the goalkeeper that was responsible for the club's great success. Under the tutelage of Fabio Capello, the Invincibles went on a 58-match unbeaten run and won four Scudetti in five seasons.

After the 1996 championship, Milan suddenly fell from the throne, finishing 11th in 1997 and tenth in 1998, as Rossi's own career also declined. During round 17 of the 1998–99 season, the team was leading Perugia Calcio 2–0 near the final whistle, when a penalty was awarded to the former: after Hidetoshi Nakata converted it, Cristian Bucchi was retrieving the ball in the back of the net when he was struck by the goalkeeper, who was sent off and eventually received a five-match ban; consequentially, he lost his starting position to the man who replaced him in that game, Christian Abbiati.[2]

Perugia / Retirement

After the 2001–02 campaign Rossi moved to Perugia, who were facing a goalkeeper crisis at the time. He contributed relatively as the team retained its top level status, then retired at the end of that sole campaign at the age of 39.

Rossi made one final appearance for Milan at the San Siro, in a testimonial match for Demetrio Albertini, his teammate for eleven seasons. Subsequently, he worked as goalkeeper coach in the club's youth department.

Record

Rossi held the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in Serie A history. In an 11-match span, from 12 December 1993 to 27 February 1994, he kept a clean sheet for 929 consecutive minutes before being beaten by a long-range strike by U.S. Foggia's Igor Kolyvanov; he surpassed the previous mark set by Dino Zoff in 1972–73 by 26 minutes.[3]

Club statistics

[4]

Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cesena 1981–82 --????????
ForlΓ¬ 1982–83 110????????
Cesena 1983–84 --????????
Empoli 1984–85 --????????
Rondinella 1985–86 280????????
Cesena 1986–87 330????????
1987–88 270????????
1988–89 330????????
1989–90 340????????
Milan 1990–91 908010--180
1991–92 30020----320
1992–93 2706060--390
1993–94 310--13020460
1994–95 340--13020490
1995–96 340------340
1996–97 260306010360
1997–98 170100----270
1998–99 13030----160
1999–00 5040--10100
2000–01 1402010--170
2001–02 --5010--60
Perugia 2002–03 120????????
Milan totals 2400430410603300
Career totals 4180????????

*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup *Other competitions include the Italian Super Cup & Intercontinental Cup

Honours

Club

Milan[5]

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Sebastiano ROSSI – "Ascensore umano"" [Sebastiano ROSSI – "Human lift"] (in Italian). Maglia Rossonera. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Match Report – Stagione 1998-99 – 17Β° giornata" [Match Report – 1998–99 season – Round 17] (in Italian). Lega Serie A. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
  3. ↑ "Sebastiano Rossi, imbattibile testa calda" [Sebastiano Rossi, unbeatable hot head] (in Italian). Calcio Romantico. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Sebastiano Rossi". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Sebastiano Rossi". A.C. Milan. Retrieved 1 April 2015.

External links

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