 Cappello playing for Bologna,c. 1951. | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gino Cappello IV | ||
| Date of birth | (1920-06-02)2 June 1920 | ||
| Place of birth | Padua,Kingdom of Italy | ||
| Date of death | 28 March 1990(1990-03-28) (aged 69) | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1939–1940 | Padova | 60 | (39) |
| 1940–1943 | Milan | 74 | (29) |
| 1944 | Padova | 10 | (6) |
| 1945–1956 | Bologna | 245 | (80) |
| 1956–1958 | Novara | 22 | (5) |
| Total | 411 | (159) | |
| International career | |||
| 1949–1954 | Italy | 11 | (3) |
| 1950 | Italy B[1] | 1 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Gino Cappello (Italian pronunciation:[ˈdʒiːnokapˈpɛllo]; 2 June 1920 – 28 March 1990) was anItalianfootballer who played as astriker.
A native ofPadua, Cappello began his career withPadova. After spending two seasons with the club inSerie B, he landed inSerie A withMilan in1940. In the three seasons at Milan he was always the second leading scorer and unfortunately Milan was not a major title-contender at the time. After the war he went toBologna where he played for ten straight seasons. He scored 80 goals in 245 games leaving a mark on the fans not to be forgotten. In his last two seasons he played forNovara in Serie B. In 1958, when he was still playing with Novara, he decided to retire having reached the age of forty.[2]
Cappello debuted for theItaly national team on 22 May 1949 in a 3–1 win againstAustria. He was one of four players to play both games at the1950 World Cup. Four years later he was also called up to the national team for the1954 World Cup, where he wore thenumber 10 shirt, becoming the first Italian player to wear the iconic jersey in a World Cup as it was the first tournament which required players to wear numbers on their shirts. He played his last game for Italy in a 4–1 win againstBelgium during the tournament.[2]
Despite not initially having the best technique as a youngster, Cappello later developed into a highly skilful and creative forward, who was known for hisfeints, close control anddribbling skills, as well as his poor work-rate and inconsistency. Initially anadvancedplaymaker orsecond striker, Cappello was capable of playing anywhere along thefront-line, on eitherwing or even in the centre. An instinctive and opportunistic player, with an eye for goal, he naturally adapted to thecentre forward position; his main characteristic was to become completely separated from the game for long periods, only to suddenly pull off a crucial assist or the winning goal with one of his only shots or touches of the match. Both genius and dissolute, Gino Cappello was also known for his difficult character and lack of discipline, and obtained two lifetime bans throughout his career; one of those was given in 1952, as Cappello had punched a referee during a summer game. He served 12 months of the suspension before being absolved.[2]
|  | |
| ||