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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1886-03-02)2 March 1886 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Turin,Kingdom of Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of death | 21 December 1968(1968-12-21) (aged 82) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Turin, Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1905–1906 | Grasshoppers | 20 | (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1906–1911 | Torino | 52 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1912 | Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1912–1922 | Torino | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1921 | Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1924 | Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1924–1926 | Milan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1929–1948 | Italy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Vittorio Pozzo (Italian pronunciation:[vitˈtɔːrjoˈpottso]; 2 March 1886 – 21 December 1968) was an Italianfootball player,manager andjournalist.
The creator of theMetodotactical formation, Pozzo is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time,[2] and is the only manager to guide a national team totwo FIFA World Cup titles as coach,[3] leading theItaly national team to victory in the1934 and1938 FIFA World Cups.[4] NicknamedIl Vecchio Maestro ("The Old Master"),[5] he also led Italy to agold medal at the1936 Olympic football tournament, becoming the only manager to winboth Olympic Games and World Cup, and managed the Italian championship squads of the1930 and1935 editions of theCentral European International Cup.
Vittorio Pozzo was born inTurin, Italy on 2 March 1886, into a family originally fromPonderano.[6] He attended the Liceo Cavour in Turin, his hometown; he later studied languages and played football in France, Switzerland and England.[6] He studied inManchester at the turn of the 20th century and metManchester United half-backCharlie Roberts andDerby County's inside-leftSteve Bloomer.[7][8]
As a player, Pozzo played professionally in Switzerland forGrasshopper Club Zürich the 1905–06 season, before returning to Italy where he helped foundTorino F.C. (then "Foot-Ball Club Torino"), a team with which he played for five seasons until retiring from football in 1911.[6][9] He would serve as the technical director of Torino from 1912 to 1922. After completing his studies, he joinedPirelli, where he became manager, a position he would leave for the Italian national team.[6]
Until the1912 Summer Olympics, theItaly national team was guided by "technical commissions", when Pozzo was appointed as the first head coach of the national team during the debut of an Italian selection in an official competition.[6] Italy was eliminated in the first round after a 3–2 loss toFinland inextra time, on 29 June. Pozzo resigned after his third match, being defeated 5–1 byAustria in theconsolation tournament, on 3 July.[10] He returned to work at Pirelli;[6] only to return to the national team in 1921 as part of a "technical commission", a committee composed of federal managers, referees, players, former players, coaches and journalists.[8][11]
Throughout his first term, the national team was guided by this diverse group of people. With the brief exception ofAugusto Rangone (in 1925–1928) andCarlo Carcano (1928–1929), Pozzo was the only person to play the role of sole commissioner until the sixties. Pozzo would also serve with theAlpini as lieutenant during the First World War.[6]
In 1921, Pozzo was commissioned by the Football Association to study a draft reform of the league to address the tensions between the bigger and the smaller teams, because it was thought that the number of participants in the championship had to be reduced. The mediation failed resulting in the split between theFIGC andCCI, before merging again the following year.[12]
In 1924, for the occasion of the1924 Summer Olympics, Pozzo was again appointed sole head coach. This time Italy were able to reach the quarter-finals, where they were defeated 2–1 bySwitzerland. After this defeat, Pozzo resigned and returned to devote himself to his work and his wife, who shortly after died due to a disease. After the death of his wife, he moved toMilan, where he held his job at Pirelli, alongside his work as a journalist forLa Stampa in Turin, which he continued almost until his death.[6]
Pozzo returned to coach theItaly national team on a permanent basis in December 1929.[13] Italy won the 1930 edition of theCentral European International Cup, defeatingHungary 5–0 inBudapest.[14] They pipped the title from Meisl's Austrian side, the so-calledWunderteam, who went on to win the second edition of the tournament two years later.
Following the 1930 defeat toSpain, Pozzo leftAdolfo Baloncieri, who had served as Italy captain and who had been an international of ten years standing, out of the team.[15] In the 1932 edition of the Central European International Cup, Italy finished in second place behind Austria; Austria beat Italy, as did the Czechs, while a defeat to Hungary was only averted because of a missed penalty.[16] This led to Pozzo bringing back theBologna playerAngelo Schiavio, who had been a regular goalscorer for his club, but in February 1934 with the World Cup looming Austria defeated Italy in Turin 4–2, Pozzo once again axed the team's captain,Umberto Caligaris, on this occasion.
During the1934 FIFA World Cup on home soil, the first tournament on the European continent, Pozzo's Italian side benefited from controversial officiating, which was thought to have been influenced by the political situation in Italy at the time; indeed, the Italianfascist dictatorBenito Mussolini had apparently met with several officials prior to Italy's matches, includingIvan Eklind, who refereed Italy's semi-final and final victories. Eklind was later accused of favouring the Italians with his decisions.[17][18] Italy's game against Spain in the quarter-finals, which ended in a 1–1 draw after extra-time, also raised questions against the performance of the refereeLouis Baert in the match; in the replay, Swiss refereeRene Mercet did not escape criticism either, and was banned by the Swiss FA upon his arrival home. Both matches were played in a highly aggressive manner, with several players of both sides injured as a result of the extremely physical play: a foul on goalkeeperRicardo Zamora for the equaliser in the first leg went unpunished, which ruled him out of the replay, while another on his replacementJoan Josep Nogués in the replay was also ignored; at least three Spaniards had to depart the field with injuries. The ItalianMario Pizziolo also suffered a broken leg at the hand of the Spaniards in the first leg, and would not play for the Italian national team again.[19] Italy's 1–0 victory in the replay ultimately earned them a place in the semi-finals.[20] Italy also benefited from the quarter-final draw between Hungary and Austria, which saw Austria prevail 2–1 in a highly competitive encounter.[21] By the time of the semi-final,Johann Horvath was absent through injury,[22] and Italy won the match over Austria by a single goal.Enrique Guaita, one of the squad'sOriundi, scored the only goal of the match from close range afterGiuseppe Meazza had fallen over goalkeeperPeter Platzer.[21] In thefinal on 10 June, at theStadio Nazionale PNF in Rome, with temperatures surpassing 40 °C (104 °F), Italy came from behind to defeat Czechoslovakia 2–1 in extra-time to win the title.[17][23] On the back of the World Cup success, Pozzo was awarded the title ofCommendatore for achieving greatness in his profession.[4]
Pozzo also coached Italy in theBattle of Highbury on 14 November 1934 againstEngland, led by Arsenal'sWilf Copping at the team's home ground, which ended 3–2 in favour of England.[24][25]
Italy defended theirCentral European International Cup title in1935 under Pozzo,[26] going into the1936 Summer Olympics on the back of a run which had seen them lose only to Austria and England; they went on to win the gold medal in thetournament, defeating Austria 2–1 in extra time.[27][28]
By the time of the1938 World Cup in France, Italy remained undefeated in recent competitions under Pozzo.Silvio Piola earned his first cap in 1935, scoring regularly for the national side and proving an effective partner for Meazza. In the quarter-finals against thehosts inColombes, as both teams normally played in blue, Italy were controversially ordered to play in all-black attire (possibly by Mussolini himself), a colour which is associated with fascism, along with bearing aFascio Littorio on the left breast, alongside theSavoy shield. Despite a hostile reception from the home crowd, Italy managed to win the match 3–1 and advance to the next round.[29] Following the match, Pozzo learned that theBrazilians were so confident of appearing in the final in Paris that they had requisitioned the only airplane from Marseille to Paris on the day after the semi-final against Pozzo's Italy. Pozzo went to the Brazilians that sunbathed in theCôte d'Azur and asked them to surrender him the aerial bookings in case of an Italian victory. The Brazilians apparently arrogantly answered "it is not possible because we will go to Paris, because we will beat you in Marseille".[30][31] They then reportedly offered Pozzo the ironic hospitality of a plane ride to Paris to see them play in the final. Pozzo reported to the Italian side what the Brazilians had told him to rouse the pride of the players. It was the psychological premise for revenge in the match, which Italy went on to win 2–1. Afterwards, the Brazilians did not want to sell their plane tickets to the Italians, who were then forced to reach Paris by train. In the resultingfinal, Italy duly won their second world title 4–2 against Hungary.[32] There is a common legend that the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini sent a telegram to the Italian team prior to the final, stating: "Win or die!"; however,Pietro Rava later denied this, commenting: "No, no, no, that's not true. He sent a telegram wishing us well, but no never 'win or die'."[29] With the 1938 World Cup victory, Pozzo became the first ever manager to win two editions of the FIFA World Cup coaching one same team, a feat that has yet to be matched in men's international football,[33] and which would stand until the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, whenJill Ellis became the second international manager to do so as coach of theUnited States women's team.[34][35]
Between 1938 and 1939, Pozzo held the record for most consecutive wins for Italy, with nine, until the record was eventually broken in 2019 byRoberto Mancini.[36][37] From 24 November 1935 against Hungary until 20 July 1939 against Finland, Pozzo also led Italy on a record 30-match unbeaten streak, until it was surpassed in 2021.[38][39]
During World War II, Pozzo remained in position throughout the hostilities. At the1948 Summer Olympics, Pozzo's last match as Italy head coach came as a 5–3 defeat toDenmark in the quarter-finals atHighbury Stadium in London. Pozzo finished with a record of 63 wins, 17 draws and 16 defeats from 95 matches (an additional two wins were recorded as part of a technical commission in 1921).[5][40] He holds the record for the longest reign of any European men's senior national team coach.[41]
His last, excruciating, official act, in 1949, was helping with the recognition of the torn bodies of the players of theGrande Torino team, his friends and pupils, who died on 4 May in theSuperga air disaster from which he escaped himself for not being able to go with the team toLisbon.[6][42][43][44][45]
Until the 1930s, a common tactic in football was the so-calledpyramid of Cambridge, which is a2–3–5 in the shape of an inverted pyramid that had its apex in the Keeper. The design of this scheme is given to the team of the famous British university, and its launch is due toBlackburn Rovers, who applied it for the first time in the 1890s, and won five league cups. For over 30 years this form experienced uninterrupted luck in the British Isles and, by extension, the world. In the years after World War I, by evolution, from the pyramid, two tactical systems originated simultaneously: theWM, or 'sistema', practiced by the Arsenal side ofHerbert Chapman, and the 'metodo', whose fathers are commonly identified as Vittorio Pozzo and his friend and rivalHugo Meisl, who served as the manager of theAustria national football team for 25 years.[6][46]
Pozzo and Meisl developed the idea of an array with two defenders asfull-backs and a player in a central position in front of the defence, between the twohalf-backs, who effectively functioned as acentral ordefensive midfielder, who was a key component of the system; this position was known as that of thecentre-half-back, orcentromediano metodista in Italian, and was seen as a precursor to theregista ordeep-lying playmaker role, as themetodista's responsibilities in Pozzo's system were not entirely defensive but also creative. As such, themetodista was not solely tasked with breaking down possession, but also with starting attacking plays after winning back the ball.[47] Compared to the sistema, the forward displacement of thecentral defender gave more support to the half-backs. Finally, the retreat towards the median of the two 'inside forwards' of the pyramid (also called "mezzali," or "half-wings," in Italian – not to be confused withwing half-backs) gave rise to a formation of the type2–3–2–3, or "WW", because it repeated the form of these letters on the field.[48][49][50][51] The metodo system was well–suited to highly technical teams whose strategies were predominantly based on a slower game made up of possession and much short passing on the ground, in contrast to the Englishsistema, which favoured faster, more aggressive, and athletic gameplay.[52]
Pozzo was also known to be a pioneer in his use of pre-tournament training camps.[53] He is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time.[2]
The other matter that Pozzo benefited from was theoriundi (that is foreign-born Italian 'nationals') which permitted Italy to take advantage of those players from other countries who could claim some type of Italian ancestry. In the 1930s he was able to call onLuis Monti, a midfielder who had appeared forArgentina in their1930 FIFA World Cup Final defeat toUruguay, and who was an important part of the success of the Italian team in the 1934 World Cup.[54]
In response to the criticisms surrounding his decision to call upon oriundi players in the victorious World Cup of 1934, he said: "If they can die for Italy, they can also play for Italy", referring to the fact that they had also served in the Italian army.[6][55][56]
He was also a fan ofRaimundo Orsi, an Argentinian from Buenos Aires after an undistinguished stint in the Argentinian shirt. Orsi, never a prolific goalscorer, would reward Pozzo's faith with a goal in the 1934 World Cup final.[13] Not that he dispensed with home-grown talent, but his penchant for attacking play is demonstrated by the fact that as well as Schiavio, Pozzo was successful in convertingGiuseppe Meazza, who was captain in 1938, from a striker into an inside forward; indeed Pozzo's reign is linked closely to the success of his strikers. In the 1938 World Cup another 'oriundo' was theUruguayanMichele Andreolo.[54]
Brian Glanville has stated that Pozzo was not a fascist.[57] During the 1934 World Cup campaign, he did, however, work alongside Giorgio Vaccaro, a general from the fascist militia, who was also the head of the Italian Football Federation.[29][58] According to Gian Paolo Ormezzano, Pozzo was neither a fascist nor anti-fascist, while Giorgio Bocca considered him to be an officer of theAlpini and a reluctant fascist of the regime by association, "...one who appreciated punctual trains, but could not standsquadrismi, who paid homage to the monument dedicated to the Alpini, but not to the fascists' memorials."[50] Following the Second World War, however, Pozzo was excluded from Italian football, due to being accused of cooperating with the fascist government, and of participating in theItalian Social Republic; as such, the new Turin stadium was not dedicated to him. Despite his associations with fascism, however, he was not a member of theNational Fascist Party, and documents demonstrated that he collaborated with theNational Liberation Committee as of September 1943.[50][59][60]
The 1938 edition of the FIFA World Cup took place in France, where numerous refugees who had escaped the fascist regime in Italy were strongly against the Italian national team's participation in the tournament.[61] In the first match of the Italian national team, against theNorway national team, among the 22,000 spectators there were 3,000 escaped anti-fascist Italians who opposed "Mussolini's national team," and jeered at them in protest. Pozzo replied to the demonstration with a memorable and highly controversial episode. During the presentation of the teams on the field, the Italian players had made the fascist salute, as it was custom for them to do at the time. As a result, they were overwhelmed by the jeers and whistles of protest from the crowd. Pozzo feared that that reception would demoralise the players. When the whistles diminished, after the players had lowered their arms, Pozzo, who was lined up with the team in the centre of the field, ordered them to perform another fascist salute. He later commented on the incident, stating: "Having won the battle of intimidation, we played."[29][31][53][59][62]
Pozzo ordered the players to continue with thefascist salute during the national anthem.[29] Afterwards he declared: "The match was immediately surrounded by polemic–political undertones. And unfairly so. Because our players don't even dream of making something political out of this, but the fascist salute is the official flag of the moment, it's a sort of ceremony and they must show allegiance to it.[63] They represent our country, and naturally they wear its colours and insignias with dignity. [...] I have my ideas, but I know what my duty is. When we take to the field, as expected, a solemn attack of deafening hisses and insults attends us. And we don't lower the hand until the hisses are stopped. The action of intimidation has not succeeded".[62]
Pozzo became a journalist withLa Stampa after retiring from football management,[6] resuming a career he had worked in prior to his successes as coach of Italy. He reported on the1950 FIFA World Cup as part of his work coveringItaly national team matches.
Pozzo died on 21 December 1968, at the age of 82. He is buried in the cemetery of his family's hometown, Ponderano.[6] In 1986, the Stadio Communale di Torino was renamed after Pozzo in his honour; the stadium is now known as theStadio Olimpico Grande Torino.[64][65] In 2016, a museum featuring his memorabilia inPonderano was inaugurated in his honour.[66]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)"If they can die for Italy then can play for Italy!" thundered Italy's commanding chief Vittorio Pozzo.
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