Pietro Anastasi

With the Italy national team, Anastasi was a member of the squad that won the 1968 UEFA European Football Championship on home soil, a tournament during which he made his international debut during the first leg of the final against Yugoslavia at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 8 June, which ended in a 1–1 draw. In the final replay against the same opponent two days later, he also scored his first international goal, the second goal in Italy's 2–0 victory, with a right-footed volley from just outside the area; with this goal, he became the youngest player ever to score in a European Championship final, at the age of 20 years and 64 days. He was initially set to take part in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico with Italy, but he was unable to participate due to injury. In his place, and that of midfielder Giovanni Lodetti, two strikers were called up by manager Ferruccio Valcareggi: Roberto Boninsegna and Pierino Prati, as Italy went on to reach the final. Anastasi also participated at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, scoring one goal in the team's 3–1 victory against Haiti in the first round, although Italy failed to advance from their group. In total, he played 25 international matches for Italy between 1968 and 1975, scoring 8 goals.

Anastasi was born in Catania, Sicily. During his career (1964–1982), he played for Massiminiana, Varese, Juventus, Internazionale and Ascoli. In Serie A, he played 338 matches and scored 105 goals (For Juventus, he played 205 games and scored 78 goals). Although he never won the Serie A Top Goalscorer award, he was the third highest goalscorer in the League on three occasions, during the 1968–69, 1969–70 and 1973–74 seasons. He made his professional debut with Missiminiana di Catania in Serie D, showing promising goalscoring prowess during the 1965–66 season, in which he scored 18 goals. He was subsequently purchased by Varese in Serie B, the team with which he gained promotion to Serie A, scoring six goals in 37 matches, and making his Serie A debut in the 1967–68 season on 24 September 1967, against Fiorentina, at the age of nineteen. During his first season in Serie A, he scored an impressive 11 goals, three of which were scored in Varese's shocking 5–0 win over Juventus on 4 February 1968, a performance which enabled him to be called up to the Italy national side.

Due to his precocious performances, he was purchased by Juventus in 1968 for a world record of 650 million Lire at the time, and with the Turin club, he won three Serie A titles, also helping the club to the final of the last edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1971, a tournament in which he was top scorer, with ten goals. Juventus were defeated by Leeds in the final, however. In 1974, Anastasi was named…

Anastasi is regarded as one of the best Italian strikers of his generation, as he was a fast, physical, hard-working, reliable, and agile forward, with good reactions. He was also a prolific, intelligent, instinctive, and opportunistic goalscorer, who was capable of making attacking runs to lose his markers and advance into more effective goalscoring positions, courtesy of his pace, power, movement off the ball, and positional sense inside the penalty area. A diminutive player with a sturdy build, Anastasi usually played as a striker in the centre-forward position, like his idol, John Charles; however, he had a rather modern and unorthodox interpretation of this role, and did not function as a traditional number nine, who mainly operated inside the box. Indeed, in this role, although he was capable of playing with his back to goal, using his strength to hold up the ball and lay it off for teammates, he was also known for his mobility and link-up play, as well as his ability to make quick exchanges with his teammates, and create chances or provide assists for other players, which saw him essentially act as more of an attacking midfielder at times. He also stood out for his dedication, bravery, fighting spirit, and generous team-play, as well as his unpredictable movement and high defensive work-rate off the ball, including his tendency to drift out wide, press opponents, or even track back into midfield in order to help win back possession. As such, he has been described as…

Anastasi was married to Anna; together, they had two sons: Silvano and Gianluca. He met his wife during his time with Varese, when he first began his professional career. After his retirement, he returned to the town, where he remained until his death.