 Ferrari in 1933 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Giovanni Vincenzo Ferrari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1907-12-06)6 December 1907 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Alessandria, Kingdom of Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 2 December 1982(1982-12-02) (aged 74) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Milan,Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft7+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder Forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1923–1925 | US Alessandria | 17 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1925–1926 | Napoli (loan) | 15 | (16) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1926–1930 | US Alessandria | 105 | (60) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1930–1935 | Juventus | 160 | (66) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1935–1940 | Internazionale | 108 | (24) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1940–1941 | Bologna | 16 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1941–1942 | Juventus | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 427 | (171) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1930–1938 | Italy | 44 | (14) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1941–1942 | Juventus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1942–1943 | Internazionale | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1945–1946 | Brescia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946–1948 | Cantonal Neuchâtel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1948–1950 | Prato | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1951 | Padova | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1958–1959 | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1960–1962 | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Giovanni Ferrari (Italian pronunciation:[dʒoˈvanniferˈraːri]; 6 December 1907 – 2 December 1982) was an Italianfootballer who played as anattacking midfielder/insideforward on the left. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation, having wonSerie A 8 times, as well as two consecutiveFIFA World Cup titles (in1934 and1938) with theItaly national football team.[1][2][3] Along withGiuseppe Meazza[4] andEraldo Monzeglio, he is one of only three Italian players to have won two World Cups.[5]
A creative,advanced midfieldplaymaker, Ferrari was a strong, physically fit, hardworking, versatile, and well-rounded footballer, as well as being a generous team player. Due to his technical ability, vision, tactical intelligence, and passing ability, he excelled at building attacking plays and was well-known for setting up chances for teammates, at a time when assists went unrecorded. He was capable of scoring himself due to his powerful and accurate shot. He was primarily deployed as anattacking midfielder/left–sided inside forward, known in Italian football jargon astheMezzala.[1][2][3][6] throughout his career.
Ferrari began his footballing career with local clubAlessandria in theprima divisione nazionale in 1923. He was at the start of the newly establishedSerie A in the season 1929-30, aside from a brief loan toNapoli during the1925–26 season, where he scored an impressive 16 goals in 15 matches. He was given credit over a seven-year period (1923–1930) withAlessandria andNapoli in total to play in 137 matches and scoring 78 goals. The following year Ferrari changed over toJuventus and was handed thenumber 10 shirt.[7] Over that five-year period (1930–1935), which was his first spell atJuventus, he played in 160 games and scored 66 goals, in addition to providing manyassists. Although the official number of assists he provided went unrecorded, it was said to be extremely high. Ferrari would next move toInter, where he would play for five-years (1935-1940), and then subsequently toBologna for the1940–41 season, before return for second spell toJuventus in the1941–42 season, this time as a player-manager in what turned out to be the final season of his playing career, winning his 10th major national trophy. After theSecond World War, when Italian club football resumed in the season 1945-46, he became a full-time manager forBrescia.
1930-1935: Il Quinquennio d'Oro della Juventus[8]
Juventus had won 2 Italian Championships earlier in history, before it was namedSerie A, but under his guidance, the club won 5 consecutiveSerie A Titles,Il Quinquennio d'Oro, by then a record of 1st 5 successive titles ever in Italy, which meant he in reality draggedJuventus into an era, as one of Italy’s biggest and most important clubs.
1935-1941: Making it a record 8 Serie A titles
He then went on to win 2 moreSerie A titles & 1Coppa Italia withInternazionale and 1Serie A title withBologna; Making him the first player to win a then record of 8Serie A Championships,Virginio Rosetta also won 8 national championships, but 3 of them came before the formation of a professional Serie A.[1][2][3][9] Ferrari is also one of six footballers to have won the Serie A title with 3 clubs, a feat he managed with Juventus, Inter, and Bologna; the other 5 players to have managed the same feat are Filippo Cavalli,Aldo Serena,Pietro Fanna,Sergio Gori, andAttilio Lombardo.[10][11]The record for mostSerie A titles went unbroken for 77 years, until the season2017-18 whereGianluigi Buffon won his 9thSerie A title, subsequently making it 10Serie A titles in the season2019-20, all 10 titles won withJuventus.
1941-1942: 2nd spell at Juventus & 10th major national trophy
He came back toJuventus where he won his 2ndCoppa Italia, which was his 10th major national trophy in what would be his last season as a player.After this season theSerie A &Coppa Italia was discontinued due to theSecond World War.
Ferraris first taste of success with theItaly national team was as part of the silver medal winning1931-32 Central European International Cup squad. He then went on to win two consecutiveWorld Cups (in1934 &1938), as well as the1933-35 Central European International Cup. All 4 tournaments alongside teammatesGiuseppe Meazza andEraldo Monzeglio. The 3 (in terms of silverware) most successful players ever for Italy. In total he managed 44 appearances and 14 goals with the national side between 1930 and 1938. He later was the head coach of Italy from 1960 to 1961, and was part of the technical commission being co-manager withPaolo Mazza leading Italy in the1962 FIFA World Cup.,[1][2][3][12] where Italy lost 1 match to the hosting nation Chile in the infamousBattle of Santiago (1962 FIFA World Cup), having 2 men sent off, while Chile had none sent off despite amongst other things, a left-hook punch by Chilean outside-leftLeonel Sánchez to Italian right-backMario David, & laterLeonel Sánchez actually brokeHumberto Maschio's nose with another left hook but the English refereeKen Aston did nothing;Ken Aston would never referee a World Cup match again.
Central European International Cup 1931-32
Ferrari was from the start of the1931-32 Central European International Cup a regular starter in his playmaker/attacking midfielder role and also scored a goal in the away match against Czechoslovakia.[13] The campaign ended with Italy being Runners-up after the AustrianWunderteam led byMatthias Sindelar, Ferrari's first international medal with Italy (Silver).
FIFA World Cup 1934
Ferarri aside from his playmaker/attacking midfielder role scored 2 goals, both of them at the knockout stage, in his first World Cup. The first goal was against USA in the round of 16[14] and the second goal equalizing against Spain in the 1/4 finals,[15] earning Italy a replay as there was then no penalty shoot-out. If a match was tied after extra time, there would be a rematch the day after; a win would mean they won the World Cup. They beat the AustrianWunderteam in the semi-finals and Czechoslovakia led byOldrich Nejedly in the final but Ferrari's equalizer in the quarter finals, enabled Italy to continue in the 1934 World cup.
Central European International Cup 1933-35
Ferrari aside from his playmaker/attacking midfielder role scored 3 goals in this gold winning campaign; home against Czechoslovakia,[16] home against Switzerland[17] and home against Hungary,[18] this time helping Italy beat the AustrianWunderteam for the gold.
FIFA World Cup 1938
Ferrari was again a regular starter in his second World Cup, where he from his playmaking/attacking midfielder role help guide Italy to its second and consecutive World Cup title, beating Hungary led byGyörgy Sárosi in the final. This made him one of only three Italians to win 2FIFA World Cups.
Ferrari was born inAlessandria on 6 December 1907 and died inMilan in 1982, aged 74.[1][2]
Italy squads | |||||||||||||
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