Julio Libonatti (5 July 1901 – 9 October 1981) was an
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
and former footballer who played as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for the
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 ...
and
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 ...
national teams.
Born in
Rosario
Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
, he started his career with
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
in 1917. In 1925, he became the first recorded trans-Atlantic
transfer
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
, when he moved to Italian club
Torino
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
. With 150 total goals with Torino, he is the second most prolific scorer in the history of the Torinese club after
Paolo Pulici
Paolo Pulici (; born 27 April 1950) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a striker. With 172 goals in all competitions, he is the all-time record goalscorer for Torino.
He had several nicknames: amongst the most f ...
(172). He won the
Scudetto
The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, 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 ...
with Torino in
1926–27 and
1927–28, although the first title was later revoked. Later in his career he also represented
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
and
Libertas Rimini.
Internationally, Libonatti won the
1921 South American Championship with Argentina. He later represented Italy and won the
1927–30 Central European International Cup
The European International Cup of Nations was an international football competition held by certain national teams from Central Europe & South Europe between 1927 and 1960.Leo Schidrowitz "Internationaler Cup", Vienna 1954 There were competitions f ...
.
Early life
He was born in
Rosario
Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
, Argentina into a
Calabria
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n family.
Club career
![Libonatti mostrando fotos](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Libonatti_mostrando_fotos.jpg)
Libonatti started his youth career with
Rosario Central
Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...
, but began his professional career with the other team of his hometown,
Newell's Old Boys
Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football.
A ...
. His prolific goal-scoring and acrobatic game led to Libonatti becoming a crowd favourite, and he was nicknamed ''Matador''. In the summer of 1925, due to an agreement that allowed the sons of Italians to take advantage of dual nationality, he moved to
Torino
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
.
Libonatti also soon became a fan favourite in Italy. In addition to his acrobatic skills, typical of Argentine players, Libonatti had a tactical intelligence that allowed him to offer spectacular mains balls (in the future they would be called
assists) to his teammates. Torino's other forward,
Gino Rossetti
Gino Rossetti (; 7 November 1904 – 15 May 1992) was an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a forward. He jointly holds the record for the all-time most goals scored in a single Italian league season at 36 goals with T ...
would benefit the most from Libonatti's play. Behind the two forwards was Torino's playmaker,
Adolfo Baloncieri
Adolfo Baloncieri (; 27 July 1897 – 23 July 1986) was an Italian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
Critically regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Gianni Brera considered him one of the greates ...
. The three became known as the ''trio delle meraviglie'' (Trio of Wonders), and would bring Torino to win two
Italian championships (one was revolved). In the 1928–29 season, the club lost a final against
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, but the attack managed to score 117 goals in 33 games. With the ''Granata'', Libonatti collected 241 appearances (239 in the league and 2 in
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 ...
), and scored 157 goals (150 in the league seven in cup competition).
In January 1935, he left Torino for
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, who thanks to his contribution were able to return to the top flight. In 1937, he was hired by the
Libertas Rimini, where he held the dual role of manager and player.
International career
Libonatti first played with
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 ...
, winning the
1921 South American Championship as the tournaments top scorer with three goals. He collected 15 caps and 8 goals with Argentina. He then played 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 ...
, Italy's first
Oriundo
The term oriundo (; Italian plural ''oriundi'') is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese noun describing an immigrant in a country, whose ancestry is from that same country. It comes from the Latin verb ''oriri'' (''orior''), "be born", and is et ...
to play on the national team. His first appearance was on 28 October 1926, collecting a total of 18 caps and 15 goals.
Honours
Club
Torino
*
Divisione Nazionale
Divisione Nazionale ''(National Division)'' was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1926 to 1929.
History
The competition was the evolution of former Prima Divisione ''(First Division)'' which had two main proble ...
/
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 ...
:
1927–28
Genoa
*
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...
:
1934–35
International
Argentina
*
South American Football Championship
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
:
1921
Events
January
* January 2
** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil.
** The Spanish lin ...
Italy
*
Central European International Cup
The European International Cup of Nations was an international football competition held by certain national teams from Central Europe & South Europe between 1927 and 1960.Leo Schidrowitz "Internationaler Cup", Vienna 1954 There were competitions f ...
:
1927–30; runner-up:
1931–32
Individual
*
South American Football Championship
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
top scorer:
1921
Events
January
* January 2
** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil.
** The Spanish lin ...
(3 goals)
*
Central European International Cup
The European International Cup of Nations was an international football competition held by certain national teams from Central Europe & South Europe between 1927 and 1960.Leo Schidrowitz "Internationaler Cup", Vienna 1954 There were competitions f ...
top scorer:
1927–30 (6 goals)
*
Serie A – Top scorer:
1927–28 (21 goals)
See also
*
Oriundo
The term oriundo (; Italian plural ''oriundi'') is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese noun describing an immigrant in a country, whose ancestry is from that same country. It comes from the Latin verb ''oriri'' (''orior''), "be born", and is et ...
References
External links
international recordsat
rsssf
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libonatti, Julio
1901 births
1981 deaths
Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe
Association football forwards
Argentine footballers
Italian footballers
Serie A players
Serie B players
Torino F.C. players
Genoa C.F.C. players
Newell's Old Boys footballers
Argentina international footballers
Italy international footballers
Dual internationalists (football)
Rimini F.C. 1912 players
Copa América-winning players
Argentine people of Italian descent
Argentine people of Calabrian descent