Alejandro Scopelli Casanova (, ; 12 May 1908 – 23 October 1987) was an

Italian Argentine Italian Argentines ( it, italo-argentini; es, ítalo-argentinos, or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Italian-born people (born in Argentina or Italy) or non-Italian citizens of Italian descent residing in Argentina. Italian is the largest ...

football player and coach. A striker, he played for

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

between 1929 and 1941, and competed at the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup. He also represented the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

on one occasion.

Playing career

Born in La Plata, Scopelli started his career in Argentina with Estudiantes de La Plata where he became part of the legendary side nicknamed "Los Profesores". In 1931 he scored 31 goals for the team but was beaten to the golden boot by team mate Alberto Zozaya's 33. In 1933 Scopelli moved to Italy where he played for Roma. During this time he took the Italian citizenship (as ''oriundo'') and played for the Italy national team. In 1936 Scopelli returned to Argentina to play for

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

. In his later career he played for Red Star Paris in France, around the start of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he moved to neutral territory to play for Belenenses and then Benfica in Portugal. In 1942 Scopelli returned to South America to play for

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

Managerial career

After retirement he became a manager, coaching many club teams including Club América in Mexico, and

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

Español and

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña (), Deportivo or simply Dépor, is a professional football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. They currently play in the Primera División RFEF – ...

in Spain, BelenensesLista de treinadores da equipa principal

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

and FC Porto in Portugal and Universidad de Chile. Scopelli was the

manager in the inaugural game of European Cup on 4 September 1955 against FK Partizan Belgrade. Scopelli also coached at international level, with

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Death

Scopelli died in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

on 22 October 1987, aged 79.

Career statistics

International goals

:''Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Scopelli goal''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scopelli, Alejandro 1908 births 1987 deaths Footballers from La Plata Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Italian footballers Italy international footballers Citizens of Italy through descent Estudiantes de La Plata footballers A.S. Roma players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Red Star F.C. players C.F. Os Belenenses players Serie A players Ligue 2 players Universidad de Chile footballers Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate football managers in Chile Expatriate football managers in Mexico Argentina international footballers Argentine football managers Argentine expatriate football managers RC Celta de Vigo managers Granada CF managers RCD Espanyol managers Valencia CF managers Club América managers C.F. Os Belenenses managers Deportivo de La Coruña managers Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Spain Dual internationalists (football) 1930 FIFA World Cup players Copa América-winning players Association football forwards