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

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

footballer 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 Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

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 Cop ...

); 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 Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

for a brief stint after a few seasons in Roma. Foni later transferred to Juventus in 1934, replacing Virginio Rosetta. Along with teammate

Pietro Rava Pietro Rava (; 21 January 1916 – 5 November 2006) was an Italian football defender and coach, who played as a full-back. He won the 1936 Summer Olympics and the 1938 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team. Club career Rava, born in ...

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 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, bea ...

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. He moved to play with

Chiasso Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of Co ...

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 ...

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 territori ...

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

, replacing Roma full-back

Eraldo Monzeglio Eraldo Monzeglio (; 5 June 1906 – 3 November 1981) was an Italian association football coach and player, who played as a defender, in the position of full-back. Monzeglio had a highly successful career as a footballer, although he also later ...

, 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, and Ugo Locatelli, 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 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 with

FC Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

in 1953 and 1954, and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup with Roma in

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 (K ...

. He later coached Switzerland in the 1966 FIFA World Cup.

Style of management

Foni is known for having used the '' catenaccio'' tactic successfully during his time as Inter's manager in the 1950s; unlike Nereo Rocco'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, the right-back, to shift across and act as a sweeper 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 ...

, Switzerland.

Honours

Player

Club

; Juventus *

: 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

Coach

Club

;

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

: 1952–53, 1953–54 ; Roma * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 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