Sebastiano Rossi

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

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

Career

Cesena Rossi joined his hometown's club, AC Cesena, in 1979, at the age of 15. In 1982–83, on loan, he made his senior debuts with Forlì in the Serie C1, being backup in a relegation-ending season. 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 Italy national team during this time, assigned the three goalkeeping spots to Gianluca Pagliuca, Luca Marchegiani and Luca Bucci. 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; 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. During round 17 of the 1998–99 season, Milan were leading AC Perugia 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,

Perugia and 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. Due to his good reactions, agility, athleticism and solid positioning, he was also an effective shot-stopper, and, despite his height, was gifted acrobatically and capable of getting to ground quickly to parry shots, which made him adept at saving penalties. Despite his talent, 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).

Despite not being the most naturally gifted goalkeeper with the ball at his feet, Rossi possessed solid ball skills as well as a deep goal kick, and 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.

Records 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 US Foggia's Igor Kolyvanov; he surpassed the previous mark set by Dino Zoff in 1972–73 by 26 minutes,

Rossi holds the record for the longest streak without conceding a goal in away games in Serie A history, with 825 minutes (from 7 November 1993 to 27 March 1994).

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

Career statistics

Honours Milan UEFA Champions League: 1993–94 UEFA Super Cup: 1990, 1994 Intercontinental Cup: 1990 Serie A: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99 Supercoppa Italiana: 1992, 1993, 1994

Individual AC Milan Hall of Fame