Oreste Benatti (born 11 June 1906) 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 ...

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 ...

, usually as a winger, although he was also capable of playing as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

. Known in particular for his speed, offensive movement, quick feet, technical ability,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

skills, and consistency as a footballer, he spent four seasons in 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 ...

, with

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

and

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Campania that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli ha ...

, scoring 16 goals in 94 games.

Career

Benatti was born in

Mirandola Mirandola ( Mirandolese: ) is a city and ''comune'' of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, in the Province of Modena, northeast of the provincial capital by railway. History Mirandola originated as a Renaissance city-fortress. For four centuries it was ...

. He began his career with Reggiana in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

in the

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 ...

, the Italian First Division at the time, before moving to Roma the following season, where he remained for two seasons in total. He made his debut in the

with Roma on 6 October 1929, in a 3–1 defeat to

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

. He played for

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

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 ...

during the 1930–31 season, before moving to Napoli for the next three seasons. He also played for

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

and

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

before joining Bagnolese in the Italian lower divisions for the final two seasons of his career, retiring from professional football in 1936.

References

External links

Oreste Benatti Profile at EnciclopediadelCalcio.it
1906 births People from Mirandola Italian footballers Footballers from Emilia-Romagna Association football forwards Serie A players A.C. Reggiana 1919 players A.S. Roma players U.S. Lecce players S.S.C. Napoli players Spezia Calcio players A.C. Trento 1921 players Year of death missing Sportspeople from the Province of Modena {{Italy-footy-forward-1900s-stub