Alfredo Foni (; 20 January 1911 – 28 January 1985) was an Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

in the 1930s and later on a coach, who played as a defender. He is one of only four players to have won both an

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

and the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

with 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 ...

Club career

Foni was born in

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

, and he made his professional debut with local club Udinese at the age of 16, in 1927, in the Prima Divisione (the predecessor to the Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

); he later moved to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in 1929. He later moved to Padova for a brief stint after a few seasons in Roma. Foni later transferred to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in 1934, replacing

Virginio Rosetta Virginio "Viri" Rosetta (; 25 February 1902 – 31 March 1975) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender. A hard-working player, he was known for his organisational skills, and for his ability to read the game and anticipate other playe ...

. Along with teammate Pietro Rava at the Turin club, he formed one of the best defensive partnerships in Italy, and in the world, as they went on to win the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...

and

1938 FIFA World Cup The 1938 FIFA World Cup was the third edition of the World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and was held in France from 4 June until 19 June 1938. Italy defended its title in the final, beat ...

with Italy, as well as the 1935 League title with Juventus, as well as two

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

titles in 1938 and 1942. He remained with the club until 1947, and between 1934 and 1947, he never missed a single match for seven consecutive seasons. In total, he made 266 League appearances with Juventus, and 370 total appearances in Serie A, after making his debut in the competition on 2 February 1930, with Lazio, against

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...

. He moved to play with Chiasso during the 1948–49 season, making only three appearances in the league, before retiring.

International career

Foni made his international debut with

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 3 August 1936, at the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, in a 1–0 win over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, helping Italy to win a gold medal in the competition. He became a permanent member of the starting line-up at the

, replacing

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

full-back Eraldo Monzeglio, starting alongside his Juventus team-mate Rava, and helping Italy to defend their World Cup title. He ended his international career in 1942, with 23 appearances; along with Pietro Rava,

Sergio Bertoni Sergio Bertoni (; 23 September 1915 – 15 February 1995) was an Italian association football manager and player, who played as a striker. With the Italy national team, he won the 1936 Summer Olympics football tournament and the 1938 FIFA Wor ...

, and

Ugo Locatelli Ugo Locatelli (; 5 February 1916 – 28 May 1993) was an Italian international footballer who played as a midfielder or as a forward. Regarded as one of Italy's greatest players, he won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics and a winner's meda ...

, Foni is one of only four Italian players ever to win both the Olympic tournament and the World Cup.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, he coached in Italy and Switzerland, although Italy failed to

qualify Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the sixth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Brazil be ...

. He won two consecutive

scudetti The ''scudetto'' (Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous seas ...

with FC Internazionale in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

and

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

, and the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

with

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

. He later coached

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

Style of management

Foni is known for having used the ''

catenaccio ''Catenaccio'' () or The Chain is a tactical system in football with a strong emphasis on defence. In Italian, ''catenaccio'' means "door-bolt", which implies a highly organised and effective backline defence focused on nullifying opponents' ...

'' tactic successfully during his time as Inter's manager in the 1950s; unlike

Nereo Rocco Nereo Rocco (; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italian association football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy, winning s ...

's version of the system, however, Foni's teams's strong defensive play off the ball did not limit the offensive manner in which his team played while in possession of the ball. In his system, his team's right winger,

Gino Armano Gino Armano (25 October 1927 – 29 October 2003) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward. In Alfredo Foni's '' catenaccio'' system at Inter, he played as a right winger, essentially acting as a ''tornante'', due to his defensive ...

, would drop back to mark the opposing the team's left winger (essentially acting as a ''tornante''), allowing

Ivano Blason Ivano Blason (; 24 May 1923 – 13 March 2002) was an Italian footballer. He was a defender, who is credited with being one of the first sweepers in world football. He represented Italy at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Club career After starting his ...

, the right-back, to shift across and act as a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

and clear balls away.

Death

Foni died in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Honours

Player

Club

;

: 1934–35 *

: 1937–38, 1941–42

International

;

Olympic Gold Medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

Coach

Club

; Inter *

: 1952–53, 1953–54 ;

: 1960–61

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foni, Alfredo 1911 births 1985 deaths Italian footballers Italy international footballers Inter Milan managers Italian football managers Udinese Calcio players Calcio Padova players S.S. Lazio players Juventus F.C. players Serie A players 1938 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Venezia F.C. managers U.C. Sampdoria managers A.S. Roma managers Serie A managers Mantova 1911 managers AC Bellinzona managers 1966 FIFA World Cup managers FC Lugano managers Expatriate football managers in Switzerland Italian expatriate football managers Switzerland national football team managers Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Sportspeople from Udine FC Chiasso managers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Association football defenders Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Footballers from Friuli Venezia Giulia