Giuseppe Meazza

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Giuseppe Meazza
Giuseppe Meazza.
Personal information
Full name Giuseppe Meazza
Date of birth August 23, 1910(1910-08-23)
Place of birth    Milan, Italy
Date of death    August 21, 1979 (aged 68)
Place of death    Rapallo, Italy
Height 1.69m (5ft 7in)
Playing position Inside right
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1927-1940
1940-1942
1942-1943
1945-1946
1946-1947
Inter
A.C. Milan
Juventus
Atalanta
Inter
348 (245)
37 (9)
27 (10)
14 (2)
17 (2)   
National team
1930-1939 Italy 53 (33)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Giuseppe Meazza (August 23, 1910August 21, 1979) was an Italian footballer playing mainly for Inter in the 1930s, scoring 243 goals in 361 games for the club. He is still considered by many to be one of the greatest Italian players of all-time as well as the greatest Italian forward of all time. He was a great leader with superb shooting, unreal dribbling and an eye for the pass.

Meazza was the first Italian football player who became famous worldwide, and was the first player with personal sponsors. He was also famous for sleeping at a brothel the night before a match.

San Siro, the principal stadium in his native city of Milan, which is today shared by Internazionale and crosstown rivals AC Milan, is now officially called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

Contents

[edit] Career at Inter Milan

Meazza still holds the record for the most goals scored in a debut season in Serie A, with 31 goals in his first season (1929-30). The year before, when Serie A didn't exist, and the Italian Championship was composed of 2 leagues (North and Central-South) with playoffs, Meazza played 29 matches, scoring 38 goals at the age of 18 years.

He won 3 national championships with Inter (re-christened Ambrosiana under Fascist law) in 1930, 1938 and 1940, and was runner-up in 1933, 1934 and 1935; the Italian Cup in 1939; and was top-scorer of Serie A 3 times (1930, 1936, 1938). He was also top-scorer in the pre-Serie A year of 1929. Later in his career he played also with A.C. Milan, Juventus and Atalanta Bergamo.

[edit] National team career

Meazza played for Italy in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, both of which Italy won.

Among his memorable moments is a goal he scored in the 1938 tournament against Brazil in the semi-final. Italy were awarded a controversial penalty and as Meazza stepped up to take it, his shorts fell down. Meazza, without letting this stress him, held his shorts up and shot past the confused Brazilian keeper Walter, sending Italy through to the final.

Meazza won 2 Central European International Cup titles, in the 1930 and 1935. That cup was a 3 year international tournament between the strongest national teams of central and eastern Europe.

He played 53 times with Italy and lost just 6 matches.

[edit] Career records

[edit] Serie A record

Season Club Appearances Goals
1927-28 Inter 33 12
1928-29 Inter 29 38
1929-30 Inter 33 31
1930-31 Inter 34 24
1931-32 Inter 28 21
1932-33 Inter 32 20
1933-34 Inter 32 21
1934-35 Inter 30 18
1935-36 Inter 29 25
1936-37 Inter 26 11
1937-38 Inter 26 20
1938-39 Inter 16 4
1939-40 Inter 0 0
1940-41 Milan 14 6
1941-42 Milan 23 3
1942-43 Juventus 27 10
1945-46 Atalanta 14 2
1946-47 Inter 17 2
Total Serie A 443 268

Meazza is still today the third top-scorer ever in the Italian Championship.

[edit] National team record

Cap Goals Total
goals
Date Venue Opponent Score Competition
1 2 2 9 February 1930 Rome Switzerland 4-2 Friendly
2 1 3 2 March 1930 Frankfurt Germany 2-0 Friendly
3 3 6 April 1930 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-1 Friendly
4 3 6 11 May 1930 Budapest Hungary 5-0 Central European International Cup
5 6 22 June 1930 Bologna Spain 2-3 Friendly
6 3 9 January 25, 1931 Bologna France 5-0 Friendly
7 1 10 February 22, 1931 Milan Austria 2-1 Central European International Cup
8 10 March 29, 1931 Bern Switzerland 1-1 Central European International Cup
9 10 April 19, 1931 Bilbao Spain 0-0 Friendly
10 1 11 May 20, 1931 Rome Scotland 3-0 Friendly
11 11 November 15, 1931 Rome Czechoslovakia 2-2 Central European International Cup
12 1 12 March 20, 1932 Vienna Austria 1-2 Central European International Cup
13 12 May 8, 1932 Budapest Hungary 1-1 Central European International Cup
14 12 October 28, 1932 Prague Czechoslovakia 1-2 Central European International Cup
15 1 13 November 27, 1932 Milan Hungary 4-2 Friendly
16 1 14 January 1, 1933 Bologna Germany 3-1 Friendly
17 2 16 12 February 1933 Brussels Belgium 3-2 Friendly
18 1 17 2 April 1933 Geneva Switzerland 3-0 Central European International Cup
19 17 13 May 1933 Rome England 1-1 Friendly
20 1 18 3 December 1933 Florence Switzerland 5-2 Central European International Cup
21 18 11 February 1934 Turin Austria 2-4 Central European International Cup
22 2 20 25 March 1934 Milan Greece 4-0 World Cup Qualifier
23 1 21 27 May 1934 Rome United States 7-1 World Cup
24 21 31 May 1934 Florence Spain 1-1 World Cup
25 1 22 1 June 1934 Florence Spain 1-0 World Cup
26 22 3 June 1934 Milan Austria 1-0 World Cup
27 22 10 June 1934 Rome Czechoslovakia 2-1 World Cup
28 2 24 14 November 1934 London England 2-3 Friendly
29 1 25 9 December 1934 Milan Hungary 4-2 Friendly
30 2 27 17 February 1935 Rome France 2-1 Friendly
31 27 28 October 1935 Prague Czechoslovakia 1-2 Central European International Cup
32 27 24 November 1935 Milan Hungary 2-2 Central European International Cup
33 27 5 April 1936 Zürich Switzerland 2-1 Friendly
34 27 17 May 1936 Rome Austria 2-2 Friendly
35 1 28 31 May 1936 Budapest Hungary 2-1 Friendly
36 1 29 25 October 1936 Milan Switzerland 4-2 Central European International Cup
37 29 25 April 1937 Turin Hungary 2-0 Central European International Cup
38 29 23 May 1937 Prague Czechoslovakia 1-0 Central European International Cup
39 1 30 27 May 1937 Oslo Norway 3-1 Friendly
40 30 31 October 1937 Geneva Switzerland 2-2 Central European International Cup
41 30 5 February 1937 Paris France 0-0 Friendly
42 1 31 15 May 1938 Milan Belgium 6-1 Friendly
43 1 32 22 May 1938 Geneva Yugoslavia 4-0 Friendly
44 32 5 June 1938 Marseille Norway 2-1 World Cup
45 32 12 June 1938 Paris France 3-1 World Cup
46 1 33 16 June 1938 Marseille Brazil 2-1 World Cup
47 33 19 June 1938 Paris Hungary 4-2 World Cup
48 33 26 March 1939 Florence Germany 3-2 Friendly
49 33 13 May 1939 Milan England 2-2 Friendly
50 33 4 June 1939 Belgrade Yugoslavia 2-1 Friendly
51 33 8 June 1939 Budapest Hungary 3-1 Friendly
52 33 11 June 1939 Bucharest Romania 1-0 Friendly
53 33 20 July 1939 Helsinki Finland 3-2 Friendly

(Italy's score shown first)

With 33 goals, Meazza is still the the Italian national team's second highest scorer, behind only Luigi Riva. He died in 1979 aged 68.

[edit] See also

In Italy is nicknamed "La Scala of football".

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Giampiero Combi
(Italy)
FIFA World Cup
winning captain

1938
Succeeded by
Obdulio Varela
(Uruguay)
Preceded by
Gino Rossetti
Serie A top scorer
1929-30
Succeeded by
Rodolfo Volk
Preceded by
Refik Osman Top
Beşiktaş JK Manager
1947-1948
Succeeded by
Hakkı Yeten
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