Amedeo Amadei (; 26 July 1921 – 24 November 2013) was a professional Italian

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 ...

player and manager, who played as a striker. Following his death in 2013, he was one of eleven members to be inducted into the A.S. Roma Hall of Fame. A fast and powerful forward, with a good touch, he is considered to be one of the best Italian strikers of all time. Amadei was known for his ability to run forward with the ball from midfield and find spaces in the opposing defence, as well as his prolific goalscoring, acrobatic ability in the air, and precise volleying, which allowed him to excel in the

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

role; due to his importance to Roma throughout his career, he was affectionately known by the fans as the "eighth King of Rome".

Club career

Amadei was born in

Frascati Frascati () is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated wit ...

, near Rome, the son of a baker, which earned him the nickname "Fornaretto." He made his professional debut on 2 May 1937 with A.S. Roma aged 15 years and 280 days (the youngest debut in

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 ...

history; surpassed on 12 May 2021 by

Wisdom Amey Wisdom Amey (born 11 August 2005) is an Italian born, Togolese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Bologna. Career Amey is a youth product of Bassano Virtus and Vicenza Virtus, before moving to the youth academy of Bo ...

) in a 2–2 draw against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. A week later he scored in a 5–1 defeat to A.S. Lucchese Libertas 1905 on 9 May 1937, making him the youngest scorer in Serie A history, a record he holds to this day. He also played in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

with Atalanta B.C., Inter 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 has ...

. He won one Italian title with Roma in the 1941–42 season; this was the club's first ever championship. With A.S. Roma he played 386 matches and scored 101 goals in the Italian top flight, as well as 11 in the Coppa Italia in 18 appearances, 16 goals in eight appearances in the

1944 Campionato Alta Italia The 1944 Divisione Nazionale, better known as Campionato Alta Italia was a football championship organized by the Italian Social Republic and disputed in Northern and Central Italy in 1944 among Serie A and Serie B teams plus others. The tournam ...

, and 15 goals in 34 appearances in the 1945–46 Italian Football "After War" Championship; in his entire career he played 423 matches and scored 174 goals in Serie A, with a total of 508 appearances and 209 goals coming in league play.

International career

Amadei represented the Italian national team on 13 occasions between 1949 and 1953, scoring 7 goals; he made his international debut on 27 March 1949, in a 3–1 friendly away win over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The following year, he participated in the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the fourth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams and held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. The planned 1942 and 1946 World Cups were ...

with Italy, where he made one appearance during the tournament, in a 2–0 win over

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

Coaching career

Following his retirement in 1956, Amadei worked as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

for Napoli, the club with which he retired. He later also coached Lucchese, and the

Italy women's national football team The Italy women's national football team () has represented Italy in international women's football since their inception in 1968. The team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for football in Italy. Form ...

Honours

Club

;Roma *

: 1941–42

Individual

*Seminatore d'Oro: 1957–58 *

A.S. Roma Hall of Fame This is a list of A.S. Roma players who have been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. A.S. Roma's Hall of Fame has been launched in 2012 as part of the initiatives for the club's 85th anniversary. Exceptionally for the starting 2012 Class, ele ...

: 2012 *

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame ( it, Hall of Fame del calcio italiano) is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the ''Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Italy. ...

: 2018

Notes

References

External links

Profile at enciclopediadelcalcio.it

A.S. Roma Hall of Fame Profile

FIGC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amadei, Amedeo 1921 births 2013 deaths People from Frascati Italian footballers Italy international footballers Association football forwards A.S. Roma players Atalanta B.C. players Inter Milan players S.S.C. Napoli players Serie A players Serie B players S.S.C. Napoli managers Serie A managers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Italy women's national football team managers Italian football managers Footballers from Lazio Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital