Ruggiero Rizzitelli

Infobox Football biography
playername = Ruggiero Rizzitelli


fullname = Ruggiero Rizzitelli
nickname =
height = height|m=1.77
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|9|2
cityofbirth = Margherita di Savoia
countryofbirth = Italy
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1984-1988 1988-1994 1994-1996 1996-1998 1998-2000 2000-2001
clubs = Cesena AS Roma Torino FC Bayern Munich Piacenza Cesena
caps(goals) = 062 0(7) 154 (29) 060 (30) 045 (11) 033 0(1) 014 0(6)
nationalyears = 1988-1991
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 009 0(2)
ntupdate = July 12, 2006

Ruggiero Rizzitelli (born September 2, 1967 in Margherita di Savoia, Foggia) is a former Italian football (soccer) player, in the role of striker.

Career

Club

Rizzitelli started his professional career for Serie B team Cesena during the 1984-85 season, making his Serie A debut in the 1987-88 season. He played four seasons with the small side from Emilia-Romagna before joining AS Roma in 1988, where he scored a total of 29 goals in six seasons with the "giallorossi", winning a Coppa Italia in 1991. From 1994 to 1996 he then played for Torino, scoring a very impressive 30 goals in 60 appearances with the "granata". Despite his good performances, Torino relegated to Serie B in 1996, and Rizzitelli agreed for a move to German team FC Bayern Munich, then coached by fellow Italian Giovanni Trapattoni. He seldom appeared as a regular starter on the Bayern Munich team sheet, but proved to be a more than useful player on the bench, thanks to his quickness that made him skillful and dangerous on the counter-attack. He scored a total of 11 goals in 45 appearances with the Bavarian team, winning a Bundesliga title in 1997 and a DFB-Pokal (German Cup) in 1998. He returned to Italy in 1998 to join Piacenza where he however failed to impress. Rizzitelli retired in 2001 after a season with Cesena.

International

Rizzitelli received a total of nine caps with the Italian team, making his debut on February 20, 1988 in a friendly match against USSR, played at Stadio San Nicola, Bari and won 4-1 by the "azzurri". [cite web|url=http://www.italia1910.com/partita.asp?d=2/20/1988|author=Italia1910.com|language=Italian|accessdate=2007-06-30|title=Italia - URSS: 4-1, 20/02/1988] He scored a total of two goals with the Italian team and was selected for the Euro 88 squad but played no part in the tournament.

References

ources

* [http://www.footballplus.com/players/13777/Ruggiero-Rizzitelli.html Playing profile from footballplus.com]