Alberto Alberani Samaritani

Alberto Alberani is considered among the greatest water polo goalkeepers in the world in his era of the 1970s-1980s. His height (over 190 cm.) and his reflexes made him a bulwark on the national team and with his club Pro Recco, with whom he won nine Italian titles. Trained in Genova under the guidance of the Olympic champion Mario Majoni, and alongside the former Yugoslavian goalkeeper Zdravko Kovacevic, in 1966, at only 19-years-old, he took part in the European Championships in Utrecht, where he played the first of 211 matches with the Azzurri team.

In his 14 years on the national team, Alberani won an Olympic silver medal at Montrèal in 1975, preceded by his World Championships bronze at Cali in 1975, and followed by the gold medal in Berlin in 1978. He retired at 37 years old.