Ivan Pelizzoli

Early career

After playing for Atalanta and Triestina from 1997 to 2000, he made his Serie A debut with Atalanta on 5 November 2000, during the 2000–01 season; the promising goalkeeper soon emerged to prominence, overtaking Alberto Fontana and Davide Pinato as the club's starting goalkeeper, and was initially considered by the media to be one of the best young goalkeepers in Italy.

Roma

In the following summer he was signed by 2001 Italian champions Roma for 33 billion lire in 5-year contract, worth 3,372.2 million lire per season, (signed in June 2001; about €17,043,078 transfer fee and €1.742 million wage; paid via 27,000 million lire cash and Alessandro Rinaldi), winning the Supercoppa Italiana in his first season. He was initially a backup to Francesco Antonioli, but midway through the 2002–03 Serie A season, he became the club's first choice goalkeeper under Fabio Capello, helping Roma to reach the 2003 Coppa Italia final. During the 2003–04 Serie A season, Pelizzoli conceded the fewest goals in the entire Serie A behind a defensive force which consisted mainly of Christian Panucci, Walter Samuel, Cristian Chivu and Vincent Candela, as Roma finished the season in second place; during the season, he also managed what is currently the 5th longest consecutive run without conceding a goal in Serie A, setting a 774-minute unbeaten streak. Despite his performances, he was not picked for the Euro 2004 (although he was included in the Italian Olympic squad…

At youth international level, Pelizzoli played for the Italy under-21 side at the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, ahead of Generoso Rossi and Vitangelo Spadavecchia as first choice, where Italy reached the semi-finals, losing out 3–2 to the eventual champions Czech Republic. He made his senior international debut with Italy in 2003, making 2 caps in total between 2003 and 2004. His first senior cap came under manager Giovanni Trapattoni on 30 April 2003, in a 2–1 friendly win over Switzerland in Geneva, with Pelizzoli coming on as a substitute for fellow debutant Christian Abbiati in the 83rd minute. His second and final cap came on 17 November 2004, under manager Marcello Lippi, in a 1–0 friendly win over Finland in Messina. Although he was not included in Italy's Euro 2004 squad, with Angelo Peruzzi taking his place as the team's third-choice goalkeeper due to Trapattoni's concerns over Pelizzoli's fitness-levels following several injury struggles, Pelizzoli was later one of three over-age players representing Italy at the 2004 Summer Olympics under manager Claudio Gentile, ahead of Marco Amelia, as first choice goalkeeper, winning a Bronze medal, after losing 3–0 to eventual champions Argentina in the semi-final, and beating Iraq 1–0 in the bronze medal match. During the tournament, he saved two penalties, including one in Italy's 1–0 extra-time victory over Mali in the quarter-finals, with Pelizzoli stopping Mohamed Sissoko's spot kick.

Pelizzoli was initially considered by pundits to be one of the most promising Italian goalkeepers of his generation, and even as potential rival to Gianluigi Buffon in Italy's starting line-up. He was noted for his large stature (standing at 1.97m) and exceptional physical qualities, as well as his shot-stopping ability and reflexes, which allowed him to produce spectacular saves, and made him effective at stopping penalties. However, he failed to live up to his potential as his career progressed, suffering a significant decline in his performances after the mid-2000s, following a series of error-prone performances that saw him lose his place in Roma's starting line-up; his tendency to pick-injuries are also thought to have affected his performances.

International