Giuseppe Meazza
Italian footballer and manager
Died when: 68 years 363 days (827 months)Star Sign: Virgo
Giuseppe "Peppino" Meazza (Italian pronunciation: [d?u'z?ppe me'attsa]; 23 August 1910 – 21 August 1979), also known as il Balilla, was an Italian football manager and player.
Throughout his career, he played mainly for Inter Milan in the 1930s, scoring 242 goals in 365 games for the club, and winning three Serie A titles, as well as the Coppa Italia; he later also played for local rivals Milan, as well as Turin rivals Juventus, in addition to his spells with Varese and Atalanta.
At international level, he led Italy to win two consecutive World Cups: in 1934 on home soil, and in 1938 as captain; he was named to the All-star Team and won the Golden Ball Award at the 1934 World Cup, as the tournament's best player.
Meazza is widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, as well as being regarded by many in the sport as Italy's greatest ever player.
Giuseppe Prisco and Gianni Brera considered him to be the greatest footballer of all time.Along with Giovanni Ferrari, Guido Masetti and Eraldo Monzeglio, he is one of only three Italian players to have won two World Cups.
Following his retirement, he served as a coach for the Italy national team, and with several Italian clubs, including his former club sides Inter and Atalanta, as well as Pro Patria, and Turkish club Besiktas; he was Italy's head coach at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Due to his technical skill, prolific goalscoring, and creative ability, he was often given the nickname "il genio" (the genius) by the Italian press during his career.
He has been ranked fourth-best player in the history of the World Cup.A prolific forward, Meazza won the Serie A top-scorer award on three occasions in his career; with 216 goals in Serie A, he is the fourth all-time highest goal scorer in Serie A, alongside José Altafini, and with 33 goals, he is also the second highest goalscorer for the Italian national team.
With 338 goals, he is the third-highest Italian goalscorer in all competitions.He is also the youngest player ever to score 100 goals in Serie A, a feat which he achieved at the age of 23 years and 32 days.
San Siro, the principal stadium in his native city of Milan, which is today shared by two of his former clubs, Inter Milan and crosstown rivals A.C.
Milan, was named Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the player's honour on 3 March 1980.In 2011, he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, including friendlies, Meazza scored 537 goals.
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Italian footballer and manager
Italian footballer and manager
Italian footballer and manager