Share
January 18, 2020 Farewell to Pietro Anastasi, son of the South and symbol of 70s football. Born in Catania on April 7, 1948, he became the footballing myth of the southern workers who landed in Northern Italy to seek their fortune. And Juventus with which the Juventus bomber won three league titles made them all fall in love between memorable victories and great matches. 'Pietruzzo', as it was lovingly called at the time by the fans to emphasize its Sicilian origin, was also the protagonist of a famous market exchange in 1976.Considered one of the best Italian strikers of his generation, he played a total of 258 games in the Serie A with the Turin team, making 78 goals, graduating top scorer of the 1970-1971 Fairs Cup and the 1974-1975 Italian Cup, before an early descending parable which led him to end his career with the shirts of Inter, Ascoli and Lugano. European champion with the Italian national team in 1968, in blue he played 25 games, signing 8 goals. Detail that makes his death even more painful for Italian football that is approaching the 2020 European Championships with many hopes for the good tests of the Mancini national team.
It was impossible not to love 'Pietruzzo' because he was a Juventus player all the way and the team of his heart transmitted all his passion. The one who, as a child, picks up balls at Cibali in Catania, sees him asking for a photo next to his idol John Charles. The dream of wearing the black and white shirt came true in 1968: Pietro arrived in Turin with a memorable season in Varese and a historic goal in the blue jersey in the European final in Rome.
Pietro gives Juventus extraordinary years until 1976, but the numbers and the attachment to the shirt only partially explain the love of the people towards him. His courage in the games, his goals in acrobatics, his fighting spirit make him an idol, capable of unforgettable exploits, like the 3 goals scored in Lazio in 4 minutes in a game that started sitting on the bench. A love that the Municipal Stadium translated with the banner with the inscription: 'Anastasi Pelè bianco'.
Anastasi's life was a true black and white novel, in the 70s Hurrà Juventus dedicated to him an episode narration for different numbers. "Juventus - writes the Juventus club website - embraces his wife Anna, their children Silvano and Gianluca and greets Pietro with a simple word as big as he is: Thank you". Thanks to which all Italian football mourning in its memory joins.