.jpg) Parola in 1974 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1921-09-20)20 September 1921 | ||
| Place of birth | Turin,Kingdom of Italy | ||
| Date of death | 22 March 2000(2000-03-22) (aged 78) | ||
| Place of death | Turin, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1936–1939 | Juventus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1939–1954 | Juventus[1] | 334 | (10) |
| 1954–1955 | Lazio | 7 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1945–1950 | Italy | 10 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1956–1958 | Anconitana | ||
| 1959–1961 | Juventus | ||
| 1961–1962 | Juventus | ||
| 1964–1965 | Livorno | ||
| 1969–1974 | Novara | ||
| 1974–1976 | Juventus | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Carlo Parola (Italian pronunciation:[ˈkarlopaˈrɔːla]; 20 September 1921 – 22 March 2000), was an Italianfootball player andcoach who played as adefender. Throughout his career, he won domestic titles with Italian clubJuventus, both as a player and as a manager. At international level, he took part at the1950 FIFA World Cup with theItaly national team.
Parola was born inTurin. He is mostly known for his time withJuventus with whom he played over 300 games between 1939 and 1954, winning twoSerie A titles and aCoppa Italia, and even serving as the club'scaptain from 1949 onwards. He also had brief spells withLazio andMidland in Argentina, before going into management.[2][3] At international level, he was capped forItaly on 10 occasions between 1945 and 1950, and represented his country at the1950 FIFA World Cup.[2][4]
As a coach, he managed several Italian clubs throughout his career, and had spells withAnconitana,Juventus,Livorno, andNovara. He won the Serie A title during his second spell as Juventus's coach in 1975, a title he had previously also won as a player for the club.[2]
A quick, mobile, hard-working, versatile, and powerful player, with good technique, Parola was capable of playing both as a defender and as adefensivemidfielder, due to his strength, stamina, and man-marking, which led him to be regarded as one of Italy's greatest defenders. Under his managerFelice Borel in the WM system, known assistema in Italy, he often played as acentre-half-back, a position which was known as thecentromediano metodista role in Italian football jargon, due to its association with themetodo system. In this position, he was given both defensive and creative duties, functioning as both a ball–winner who was tasked with retreating into defence to mark opposing forwards, and also as adeep-lying playmaker after winning back the ball, a position which led to the development of thesweeper, orlibero role. He was also capable of playing as a man–markingcentre-back, orstopper, and as afull-back. He was also known to be fair player, although because of this, some in the sport accused him of not being aggressive or tenacious enough in his tackling; as such, managerVittorio Pozzo often preferred to useMario Rigamonti in the holding midfield role with the Italy national team. An agile and athletic player, in addition to his defensive skills, he was also known for his skill in the air, and ability to score goals with acrobatic strikes, fromvolleys andbicycle kicks, having played as aforward in his youth;[2][3][5][6][7][8][9] indeed, during the 1940s, hepopularised the use of the bicycle kick in Italy, earning the nicknameSignor Rovesciata ("Mr. Overhead Kick"), and was even credited with its invention by the Italians.[10][11] As a youngster, Parola also played in several other positions, including the roles ofgoalkeeper,winger, andcentre-forward.[2]
Known for his acrobatic volleys and spectacular overhead kicks, a famous picture of Parola executing a bicycle kick was adopted as the logo ofPanini Group.[5]
Juventus[2]
Juventus[2]
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