Enrico Albertosi must have had a premonition about what was going to happen to Fiorentina goalkeeper Neto against Cesena at the Stadio Dino Manuzzi in Serie A on Sunday.
Interviewed after the Brazilian reportedly reached an agreement on a new four-year contract following much speculation about his future, the former Viola number one shared his thoughts and fears on his contemporary.
“The trust placed in Neto has paid off,” Albertosi told TuttoMercatoWeb ahead of the match.
“But what does he still need to improve? Perhaps with his feet. He sometimes tends to make mistakes.”
Something shocking did happen to Neto as he made a horror gaffe inexplicably letting a header back from Stefan Savic roll through his legs to gift Cesena a way back into the game.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-qiLP–XMI[/youtube]
Fortunately for the 25-year-old, Fiorentina went on to win 4–1; but as Albertosi forewarned, the high-profile mistake has not helped enhance the reputation he has worked to build in recent months.
The former Italy 1966 and 1970 World Cup goalkeeper may not have had to endure a howler in an age of YouTube and blooper DVDs, but he did experience playing behind centre back Comunardo Niccolai at international level and in the Cagliari team that won the 1970 Scudetto.
Niccolai became celebrated for his ability to score spectacular and surreal own goals in the 1960s, so much so that Albertosi became terrified of his great friend on the pitch, unable to predict where the next potential own goal was to come from.
Perhaps predicting that Neto will be looking to practice his close control in the coming weeks, the eccentric goalkeeper also offered his advice on how to improve.
“He can improve on this in training. During the training games instead of staying in goal, he should sometimes play in attack, as a forward so he can progress,” the 75-year-old said in the same interview.
The mistake was reminiscent of the Brazilian stopper’s early days in Italy as he spent a difficult couple of years suffering from a lack of confidence and often warming the bench following his near €3 million from Atletico Paranaense in January 2011.
Instead of succumbing to the pressure that many observers expected him to, Neto has since reaffirmed the faith shown in him from inside the club and has matured to finally establish himself as number one last season.
So great has his rise been in the last 12 months that former Fiorentina midfielder Dunga even included the keeper in the Brazil squad for their most recent friendlies away to Turkey and Austria.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the goalkeeper is also set to more than double his current annual salary on his imminent new €1.5m per-year deal, with Fiorentina eager to keep him at the club beyond his current contract that expires at the end of the season.
Another meeting after this Sunday’s game against Tuscan rivals Empoli has been scheduled in order to define further details before the deal is signed with a buy-out clause between €10m and €12m believed to have been written into the contract.
Neto could still leave Florence in January or as a free agent in the summer, with Roma and Liverpool both believed to be interested; but with his howler already having well circulated in the British media, any potential move or more contract demands with Fiorentina may have been put on hold.
