Sebastiano Rossi

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

For the bishop of Caorle, see Sebastiano Rossi (bishop).

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)[1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1979–1982 Cesena
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1990 Cesena 127 (0)
1982–1983 → Forlì (loan) 11 (0)
1984–1985 → Empoli (loan) 0 (0)
1985–1986 → 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

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.[2]

Football career

Cesena

Rossi joined his hometown's club, A.C. Cesena, in 1979, at the age of 15. In 1982–83, on loan, he made his senior debuts with A.C. Forlì in the Serie C1, being backup in a relegation-ending season.[2]

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.[2]

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 backed up Andrea Pazzagli, but the veteran left for Bologna F.C. 1909 in the ensuing summer.[2]

Rossi then briefly battled for starting duties with Francesco Antonioli, before becoming Milan's undisputed first-choice goalkeeper, being part of a defensive line that included, amongst others, Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini, regarded as one of the greatest defensive units of all time.[lower-alpha 1] However, unlike the aforementioned defenders, Rossi wasn't selected to represent Italy in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, since former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi, who was the commissioner of the Italian national team during this time, assigned the three goalkeeping spots to Gianluca Pagliuca, Luca Marchegiani and Luca Bucci.[10] Under Sacchi, Rossi received two international call-ups by the end of 1994, but failed to make a single appearance for his country, although several pundits regarded him as a viable alternative to the then first-choice keeper Pagliuca;[11][12][13] he still managed to have a successful club career under the tutelage of Fabio Capello, as the Invincibles went on a 58-match unbeaten run and won four Scudetti in five seasons, as well as the UEFA Champions League in 1994.[2]

Following their 1996 Scudetto victory, Milan sharply declined thereafter, finishing 11th in 1997 and tenth in 1998, as Rossi's own career declined and saw him battling Massimo Taibi for the top spot.[14] During round 17 of the 1998–99 season, Milan were leading A.C. Perugia Calcio 2–0 when they conceded a late penalty. After Hidetoshi Nakata converted it, teammate Cristian Bucchi was struck from behind by Rossi while retrieving the ball from the back of the net. Rossi was sent off and later was punished with a five-match ban.

After beating out newcomer Jens Lehmann (who would leave after playing only five matches) for the number-one jersey in 1998–99,[14] Rossi was ultimately usurped by upstart Christian Abbiati, who had replaced him in the Perugia match.[2][15]

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.[16]

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.[16]

Style of play

Rossi was a tall, aggressive and physically strong goalkeeper, who was known mainly for his confidence and command of the area, as well as his handling and ability to come off his line to collect crosses and high balls, due to his height and goalkeeping technique. He was also known for his vocal presence in goal, and his ability to organise his defence.[2][17][18][19][20] Due to his good reactions, agility, athleticism and solid positioning, he was also an effective shot-stopper, and, despite his height, was capable of getting to ground quickly to parry shots, which made him adept at saving penalties.[2][17][18][19][21] Despite his talent,[19] he was at times criticised for his volatile, arrogant and controversial character, however, which led him to pick up several cards throughout his career, as well as his tendency to commit occasional costly mistakes, which, along with his height and athleticism, earned him the nickname "l'ascensore umano" (the human lift).[2][16][19][21][22][23]

Rossi was also known for his distribution, as well as his pace when rushing off his line, which made him extremely effective in Milan's zonal marking system, and enabled his team to maintain a high defensive line.[17][21][22]

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;[lower-alpha 2] he surpassed the previous mark set by Dino Zoff in 1972–73 by 26 minutes,[2][22] and his own record of longest consecutive minutes without conceding was surpassed by Gianluigi Buffon on 20 March 2016, by 45 minutes.[27]

Rossi also holds the record for the fewest goals conceded by a goalkeeper during a single 34-match Italian league season, with 11.[2]

With 330 appearances for Milan, he is the club's second-most capped keeper of all time, behind only Christian Abbiati (380).[28]

Career statistics

Club

[29]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cesena 1981–82 Serie A ––????????
Forlì 1982–83 Serie C1 110????????
Cesena 1983–84 Serie B ––????????
Empoli 1984–85 Serie B ––????????
Rondinella 1985–86 ? 280????????
Cesena 1986–87 Serie B 330????????
1987–88 Serie A 270????????
1988–89 330????????
1989–90 340????????
Milan 1990–91 Serie A 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
Total 2400430410603300
Perugia 2002–03 Serie A 120????????
Career total 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[19]

Individual
  • A.C. Milan Hall of Fame[19]

Notes
  1. See[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
  2. Gianpiero Combi's Italian league record unbeaten streak of 934 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal was set during the 1925–26 Prima Divisione season, prior to the establishment of the Serie A in the 1929–30 season.[24][25][26]

    References
    1. Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio 2002 (in Italian). Panini. 2001. p. 91.
    2. "Sebastiano ROSSI – "Ascensore umano"" [Sebastiano ROSSI – "Human lift"] (in Italian). Maglia Rossonera. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
    3. James Horncastle (21 March 2016). "Gianluigi Buffon record cements his legacy as greatest keeper of all-time". ESPN FC. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    4. Paolo Bandini (21 March 2016). "Gianluigi Buffon humble as clean sheet record tumbles, but delight not universal". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    5. Rob Smyth (8 May 2009). "The Joy of Six: Great defences". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
    6. "Nazionale: 2013, addio al catenaccio. Balotelli-Rossi coppia mondiale" [National team: 2013, farewell to catenaccio. Balotelli-Rossi world-class pair] (in Italian). La Repubblica. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
    7. Foot, John (2006). Winning at All Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer. New York: Nation Books. p. 228.
    8. Mattia Fontana (19 August 2014). "La storia della tattica: da Sacchi a Guardiola" [History of tactics: from Sacchi to Guardiola] (in Italian). Eurosport. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
    9. Corrado Sannucci. "Milan 1988–1994: 6 anni da campioni" [Milan 1988–1994: 6 years as champions] (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
    10. Michele Gazzetti (20 March 2016). "SuperGigi: Nessuno come Buffon" [SuperGigi: No one like Buffon] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
    11. Benedetto Ferrara (5 October 1994). "Pagliuca l'inquieto e l'ombra di Rossi". la Repubblica (in Italian).
    12. Nino Sormani (4 October 1994). "Rossi & Sacchi, la storia infinita". La Stampa (in Italian). p. 33.
    13. "Tacconi: l'età matura è un vantaggio". La Stampa (in Italian). 4 October 1994. p. 33.
    14. Gaetano Mocciaro (13 November 2012). "Lehmann, fra l'incubo Batistuta e l'ombra di Rossi" [Lehmann, between Batistuta nightmare and shadow of Rossi] (in Italian). Tutto Mercato Web. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    15. "Match Report – Stagione 1998-99 – 17° giornata" [Match Report – 1998–99 season – Round 17] (in Italian). Lega Serie A. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
    16. Alessandro Di Gioia (15 March 2016). "Che fine ha fatto? Sebastiano Rossi, 'l'ascensore' dei record tra parate e follia" [What happened to him? Sebastiano Rossi, record's 'lift' between saves and madness] (in Italian). Calcio Mercato. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    17. Licia Granello (4 October 1994). "Settimo portiere, e' il CT dei tormenti" [Seventh goalkeeper, and the CT of torment] (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    18. Stefano Tacconi (10 October 1995). "Le pagelle di Tacconi" [Tacconi's report cards] (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 29. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    19. "Sebastiano Rossi". A.C. Milan. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
    20. Hall, Richard (21 June 2017). "Scouting Report: Alex Meret - the big-time awaits for this confident young custodian". www.calciomercato.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
    21. Enrico Bonifazi. "Sebastiano Rossi" (in Italian). DNA Milan. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    22. "Sebastiano Rossi, imbattibile testa calda" [Sebastiano Rossi, unbeatable hot head] (in Italian). Calcio Romantico. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
    23. "Sebastiano Rossi / Il portiere recordman di imbattibilità, battuto oggi da Buffon: il post su Facebook di Gigi" [Sebastiano Rossi / Recordman goalkeeper for games without conceding, surpassed today by Buffon: Gigi's Facebook post] (in Italian). Il Sussidiario. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
    24. "20 dicembre 1902: nasce Combi, il "nonno" di Zoff e Buffon" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
    25. From the third match (Juventus 6–0 Milan on 25 October 1925) to thirteenth match (Parma 0–3 Juventus on 28 February 1926) of the 1925–26 FIGC Football Championship according to (in Italian) All Juventus FC matches: Italian Federal Championship (pages 14 and 15) - www.juworld.net.
    26. "Gianluigi Buffon sets goalkeeping record as Juventus sweep aside Torino". The Guardian. 20 March 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
    27. "Record di imbattibilità per Buffon: 974'" (in Italian). Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A. 20 March 2016.
    28. "20 anni e 150 in rossonero: Donnarumma da talento a fenomeno, con il Milan nel cuore" [20 years and 150 caps in red and black: Donnarumma from talent to phenomenon, with Milan in his heart] (in Italian). ilmilanista.it. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
    29. "Sebastiano Rossi". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
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