Francesco Calì (; 16 May 1882 – 3 September 1949) was an Italian professional

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 ...

player, coach and referee, who played as a defender. He captained 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 ...

in their first ever match, on 15 May 1910.

Early life

Calì was born in

Riposto Riposto ( scn, Ripostu) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Catania area of southern Italy. The small seafront town is located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Catania. History Riposto is both historically and literally conn ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

on 16 May 1882, to Bruno Calì, a wine merchant. After pirate assaults on his father's business, he and his family immigrated to Switzerland two years later; he was nicknamed Franz.

Career

Calì played several games as a left-back for Swiss clubs

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

and Urania Genève Sport. He then played for two rival Genovese teams:

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

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; lij, Drîa Döia ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was a Genoese statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. As the ruler of Genoa, Doria reformed the Repu ...

. He was also a referee during his time at Andrea Doria. Due to his experience as a footballer, as well as his knowledge of several foreign languages, he was selected as the Italy national team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, in their first ever game on 15 May 1910, in Milan against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where Italy won 6–2. After his retirement as a player, he was also chosen several times as a member of the Italian national team technical commission, in 1912, 1914, 1915, 1920 and 1921.

References

External links

* 1882 births 1949 deaths Italian footballers Italy international footballers FC Zürich players Urania Genève Sport players Genoa C.F.C. players U.C. Sampdoria players Association football defenders Italian football referees Footballers from Sicily Italian emigrants to Switzerland Swiss footballers People from Riposto {{Italy-footy-defender-1880s-stub