Angelo Pagotto

Football player infobox


playername = Angelo Pagotto
height = height|ft=6|in=0
dateofbirth = birth date and age|df=yes|1973|11|21
cityofbirth = Verbania, Piedmont
countryofbirth = Italy
currentclub = Crotone (Suspended until 2015)
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears = 1992–1994
youthclubs = Napoli
years = 1994–1995
1995–1996
1996–1997
1997–1998
1998
1998
1998–2000
2001–2003
2003–2005
2005–2006
2006–2007
2007–
clubs = Pistoiese
Sampdoria
AC Milan
Perugia
Empoli
Reggiana
Perugia
Triestina
Arezzo
Torino
Grosseto
Crotone
caps(goals) = 34 (?) 24 (?)
8 (?)
30(?)
4 (?)
12 (?)
8 (?)
52 (?)
82 (?)
0 (0)
? (?)
? (?)
nationalyears = 1994-1996
nationalteam = Italy Under 21's
nationalcaps(goals) = 10 (0)

Angelo Pagotto (born 21 November 1973 in Verbania, Piedmont, Italy) is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He is one year into an eight year ban from football for failing a drugs test.

Career

Club

He reached the peak of his career in the 1996-97 season when he joined Serie A giants AC Milan after spells with Sampdoria and minnows Pistoiese. Giorgio Morini originally planned to use Pagotto as "Rossoneri"'s first choice goalkeeper, but by the end of the season he was only second-choice behind Sebastiano Rossi. He spent just one season at Milan, making eight league appearances in the process, before moving on to fellow Serie A side Perugia.

Following a short stay at the Stadio Renato Curi, Pagotto had spells at Empoli and Reggiana in Serie B before returning to Perugia for another season. After his second run at the Umbrian outfit, he dropped down two divisions to play for the Serie C1/A side Triestina and was instrumental in their successful 2001-02 season that saw them finish runners-up and earn promotion to the Serie B.

He spent another season at Triestina, helping them finish 5th in their first season in Serie B since the 1990-91 season before dropping back down a division with Arezzo. Arezzo conceded just 27 times in 34 games in the 2003-04 season (with Pagotto playing on 30 occasions in the league) as they marched to the title, something Pagotto just missed out on two seasons earlier with Triestina. He remained their first choice goalkeeper in Serie B as "Amaranto" survived relegation.

Since leaving the Stadio Città di Arezzo in 2005, Pagotto has had spells with Torino and Grosseto, before ending his career at Crotone.

National

Pagotto was the first-choice goalkeeper for the Italy Under 21's national side between 1994 and 1996. He is a two-time winner of the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, both times under the guidance of then manager Cesare Maldini. He notched a total of ten caps for the "Azzurrini". However, he was never capped with the "Azzurri".

He was also part of the squad that competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics alongside such players as Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta, Gianluca Pagliuca and Christian Panucci.

Drugs scandal

On 28 April 2007, just before a game in the Serie B between Pagotto's Crotone and Spezia, Angelo Pagotto tested positive for cocaine. He pleaded guilty at a hearing on 30 July and was banned from professional football for life. However, Pagotto appealed and on 14 September, his sentence was decreased to eight years.

While still technically on the books for Crotone, he will be 41 years old when the ban passes, thus making it unlikely that he will play another professional football game.

External links

*soccerbase|26066|Angelo Pagotto