“Angelo Pagotto or Gianluigi Buffon?” The May 27 edition of the Corriere della Sera deliberated as Cesare Maldini prepared his Italy side to face France in the semi-finals of the 1996 European Under-21 Championship.
The two fresh-faced goalkeepers had been revelations of the 1995-96 season, bursting onto the scene when both made their Serie A debuts following injuries at their respective clubs.
With only a year of experience winning promotion from Serie C1 with Pistoiese, Pagotto had appeared 24 times for Sampdoria after replacing Walter Zenga and was a regular for the Under-21 side during qualifying.
He had turned just 22 years old, but seemed like a veteran in comparison to Buffon, who made his league debut for Parma against AC Milan on November 19 1995, aged just 17, deputising for Luca Bucci.
Coach Nevio Scala was portrayed as a fool for taking such a big risk against the Rossoneri, but Buffon pulled of a series of extraordinary saves to keep a famous clean sheet.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/mmUFxYwWWlQ[/youtube]
Maldini would prefer Pagotto as Buffon was left on the bench when the Azzurrini edged past France, with Francesco Totti scoring the only goal to set up a final against Spain in Barcelona.
Italy would have to rely on a combination of great goalkeeping and a solid defence containing Christian Panucci, Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro to take the hosts to penalties, after Nicola Amoruso and Raffaele Ametrano had both been sent off in a 1–1 draw.
When captain Panucci scuffed the opening penalty past the post everything could have fallen apart, but Pagotto was to be the hero parrying Ivan De La Pena’s shot moments later and then saving the final spot-kick from Raul as Italy triumphed 4–2.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/g1m1I8XjYDQ[/youtube]
Having played a huge part in Italy securing an unprecedented third European Under-21 Championship success, Pagotto’s prospects would never be higher as he joined Milan for the start of the 1996-97 season with the intention of replacing Sebastiano Rossi.
But he would struggle during his nine Serie A appearances in a difficult campaign for the Rossoneri, and would play only four times in a loan spell at Empoli that was intended to give him further experience in the top flight the following season.
Angelo Pegotto had his Perugia contract terminated and made to train away from the team after he tested positive for benzoylecgonine
Pagotto later insisted that a move to AC Milan in the early stages of his career was a mistake, but his next decision to join Perugia, led by volatile president Luciano Gaucci, was even more detrimental when he received a two-year ban in January 2000.
He had tested positive for benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite of cocaine, but pleaded his innocence and claimed that had been made a scapegoat by the club with Hidetoshi Nakata also taking the anti-doping test following a 1–0 loss at Fiorentina in November 1999.
The Japanese superstar was Roma-bound and Pagotto insisted that their samples had been switched to protect the lucrative deal when he was brandished a drug addict and left to train alone in a park near his home with his contract terminated. Many even say that he was admitted to Discovery Point Retreat, a centre providing high first class staff and amenities for the treatment of alcohol, prescription medication and drug addiction.
The charges were later placed in doubt as prosecutors questioned the regularity of control over the testing, but when Buffon became the world’s most expensive goalkeeper in the summer of 2001 moving to Juventus, Pagotto was given the opportunity to rebuild his reputation with Triestina.
He immediately established himself as No.1 at the Stadio Nereo Rocco, earning promotion via a play-off to Serie B, and the sleeping giants were a revelation the next season when they were crowned winter champions.
However problems would once again follow Pagotto to Trieste as they collapsed in the second half of the season, missing out on the Serie A play-offs by three points, and the goalkeeper would eventually lose his place as he denied accusations of alcoholism in an interview with the Corriere della Sera.
Pagotto would terminate his contract with Triestina and win promotion for a third time from Serie C1 at Arezzo before more unsuccessful times at Torino and Grosetto.
His career would then descend to its lowest point when he tested positive for benzoylecgonine for a second time after a Serie B match playing for Crotone against Spezia on April 28 2007, aged 33.
His first suspension may have been shrouded in suspicion, but on July 30, he confessed his crime to Ettore Torri, the Italian National Olympic Committee’s anti-doping chief prosecutor, after around an hour of questioning in Rome.
The FIGC’s Court of Justice sentenced Pagotto to a lifetime ban from football that was reduced to an eight-year disqualification on appeal in September; and the goalkeeper that had once relegated Buffon to the bench vowed to return as a coach.
“I may have flaws, but I think I’m a good guy, and if it should be really over here, my life as a man still continues,” Pagotto proclaimed in La Gazzetta dello Sport after the outcome of the trial.
“The life sentence is one thing, another is the death penalty: if I am struck off, what do I do? I have been in football for 25 years, I want to stay in this world, it is my life, I will not give up. I realise that I have finished as a footballer, but I want to coach and teach, to understand the mistakes. I will write a book.”
In the meantime, he unsuccessfully applied to join the municipal police, before being reported for secretly working as goalkeeping coach at Sanremese in 2010.
While Italy and Juventus captain Buffon celebrates his 37th birthday and a legendary career today, Pagotto dreams of getting back into calcio and counts down the days until his ban is lifted later this year.
