Giuseppe Meazza
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Giuseppe Meazza (August 23 1910 in Milan – August 21 1979) was an Italian footballer playing, as a midfielder, for Inter in the 1930s scoring 243 goals in 361 games for the club. He is still today considered one of the greatest Italian players of all time.
Meazza was considered the first 'star' of Italian Football, and was the first player with personal sponsors. He was also famous for sleeping at a brothel the night before a match.
The San Siro, the principal stadium in Milan which is today shared by Inter and crosstown rivals AC Milan, is now officially called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. However, in the spirit of the rivalry between the two clubs, Milan supporters continue to call the ground San Siro.
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Career at Inter Milan
Meazza still holds the record for the most goals scored in a debut season in Serie A, with 31 goals in his first season (1929-30). The year before, when Serie A didn't exist, and the Italian Championship was composed by 2 league (North and Central-South) with Playoff, Meazza played with Internazionale 29 matches with 38 goals!
He won with Internazionale 3 National Championship with Inter in the 1930, 1938 and 1940; the Italian Cup in the 1939 and was Top-scorer of Serie A 3 times (1930, 1937, 1938). By the way he was toposcorer also in the 1929 but in the pre-Serie A championship. At the end of his career he played also with A.C. Milan, Juventus and Atalanta Bergamo.
National Team Career
Meazza played for Italy in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, both of which Italy won.
Among his memorable moments is a goal he scored in the 1938 tournament against Brazil in the semi-final. Italy was awarded a controversial penalty and as Meazza stepped up to take it, his pants fell down. Meazza, without letting this stress him, grabbed his pants and shot past the confused Brazilian keeper Walter, sending Italy through to the final.
Career Records
Serie A Record
- 1927-28 Inter 33 11
- 1928-29 Inter 29 38
- 1929-30 Inter 33 31
- 1930-31 Inter 34 24
- 1931-32 Inter 28 21
- 1932-33 Inter 32 20
- 1933-34 Inter 32 21
- 1934-35 Inter 30 19
- 1935-36 Inter 29 24
- 1936-37 Inter 26 11
- 1937-38 Inter 26 20
- 1938-39 Inter 16 4
- 1939-40 Inter 0 0
- 1940-41 Milan 14 6
- 1941-42 Milan 23 3
- 1942-43 Juventus 27 10
- 1945-46 Atalanta 14 2
- 1946-47 Inter 17 2
Total Serie A 367 216
Meazza is still today the third topscorer of the Italian Championship.
National Team Record
Cap Goals Date Venue Opponent Score Competition
- 1 2 2 9/ 2/30 Roma Switzerland 4-2
- 2 1 3 2/ 3/30 Frankfurt Germany 2-0
- 3 3 6/ 4/30 Amsterdam Netherlands 1-1
- 4 3 6 11/ 5/30 Budapest Hungary 5-0 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 5 6 22/ 6/30 Bologna Spain 2-3
- 6 3 9 25/ 1/31 Bologna France 5-0
- 7 1 10 22/ 2/31 Milano Austria 2-1 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 8 10 29/ 3/31 Bern Switzerland 1-1 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 9 10 19/ 4/31 Bilbao Spain 0-0
- 10 1 11 20/ 5/31 Roma Scotland 3-0
- 11 11 15/11/31 Roma Czechoslovakia 2-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 12 1 12 20/ 3/32 Wien Austria 1-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 13 12 8/ 5/32 Budapest Hungary 1-1 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 14 12 28/10/32 Praha Czechoslovakia 1-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 15 1 13 27/11/32 Milano Hungary 4-2
- 16 1 14 1/ 1/33 Bologna Germany 3-1
- 17 2 16 12/ 2/33 Brussel Belgium 3-2
- 18 1 17 2/ 4/33 Genève Switzerland 3-0 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 19 17 13/ 5/33 Roma England 1-1
- 20 1 18 3/12/33 Firenze Switzerland 5-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 21 18 11/ 2/34 Torino Austria 2-4 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 22 2 20 25/ 3/34 Milano Greece 4-0 World Cup Qualifier
- 23 1 21 27/ 5/34 Roma United States 7-1 World Cup
- 24 21 31/ 5/34 Firenze Spain 1-1 World Cup
- 25 1 22 1/ 6/34 Firenze Spain 1-0 World Cup
- 26 22 3/ 6/34 Milano Austria 1-0 World Cup
- 27 22 10/ 6/34 Roma Czechoslovakia 2-1 World Cup
- 28 2 24 14/11/34 London England 2-3
- 29 1 25 9/12/34 Milano Hungary 4-2
- 30 2 27 17/ 2/35 Roma France 2-1
- 31 27 28/10/35 Praha Czechoslovakia 1-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 32 27 24/11/35 Milano Hungary 2-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 33 27 5/ 4/36 Zürich Switzerland 2-1
- 34 27 17/ 5/36 Roma Austria 2-2
- 35 1 28 31/ 5/36 Budapest Hungary 2-1
- 36 1 29 25/10/36 Milano Switzerland 4-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 37 29 25/ 4/37 Torino Hungary 2-0 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 38 29 23/ 5/37 Praha Czechoslovakia 1-0 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 39 1 30 27/ 5/37 Oslo Norway 3-1
- 40 30 31/10/37 Genève Switzerland 2-2 Dr. Gerö Cup
- 41 30 5/ 2/37 Paris France 0-0
- 42 1 31 15/ 5/38 Milano Belgium 6-1
- 43 1 32 22/ 5/38 Genova Yugoslavia 4-0
- 44 32 5/ 6/38 Marseille Norway 2-1 World Cup
- 45 32 12/ 6/38 Paris France 3-1 World Cup
- 46 1 33 16/ 6/38 Marseille Brazil 2-1 World Cup
- 47 33 19/ 6/38 Paris Hungary 4-2 World Cup
- 48 33 26/ 3/39 Firenze Germany 3-2
- 49 33 13/ 5/39 Milano England 2-2
- 50 33 4/ 6/39 Beograd Yugoslavia 2-1
- 51 33 8/ 6/39 Budapest Hungary 3-1
- 52 33 11/ 6/39 Bucuresti Romania 1-0
- 53 33 20/ 7/39 Helsinki Finland 3-2
With 33 goals still today Meazza is the second topscorer of Italia National Team after Luigi Riva.
External link
- Page on Giuseppe Meazza with text and pictures (http://www.homestead.com/forza_azzurri1/MeazzaG.html)de:Giuseppe Meazza