Luis Felipe Monti (15 May 1901 – 9 September 1983) was an Italian Argentine

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, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and an Olympian. Monti has the distinction of having played in two

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 has ...

final matches with two different national teams. He played the first of these finals with his native

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 List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

in 1930, which was lost to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

; and the second 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 ...

as one of their '' Oriundi'' in 1934, thanks to his Romagnol descent. This second time Monti was on the winning side in a 2–1 victory over

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Monti was a rugged, physical, and ruthless player, but had the technical skills to go with his stamina and strong tackling. He played as an attacking centre half in the old-fashioned '' Metodo'' system: a position roughly equivalent to the defensive central midfield position of today. As such he would mark the opposing

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 ...

when his team were defending, but would be the main midfield

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativi ...

when his team were on the attack, due to his passing and creativity, which enabled him to start attacking plays after winning back the ball. He was nicknamed ''doble ancho'' (double wide) due to his coverage of the pitch. Monti is considered one of the best center-halves of his generation.

Career

Argentina

Monti started his career in 1921 with

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in all three attempts at creating hu ...

, where he won the first of his many championships. The following year he signed with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in th ...

but left without playing a game. He joined

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

where he won a further three Argentine championships. All of Monti's honours in Argentina were recorded during the Amateur Era. Monti was first called up to represent the Argentina national team in 1924. He won the 1927 South American Championship and the silver medal at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated fro ...

. With Monti as a key player, Argentina cruised to the World Cup final in 1930, defeating

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 ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

, and 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Monti scored two goals along the way, and injured opponents with his tackling. Some sources speculate that Monti was carrying an injury, but whatever the truth, and despite a death threat, he had a quiet game as

triumphed 4–2.

Italy

In 1930 Monti was signed by the Italian club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

, as he had Italian citizenship. As he was overweight and out of condition, he had a month's solitary training. Monti was back to top form helping Juventus to four consecutive

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 ...

titles (1932 to 1935), also serving as the club's

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 ...

. Monti went on to play 225 matches and scored 19 goals in Italy. He was also called up, within a year, to play for the Italian national team as an '' oriundo''. Hosts Italy won their way to the 1934 World Cup final and defeated

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

2–1. And he also was a part of the successful squad that won the 1933–35 Central European International Cup.

The Battle of Highbury

The

Battle of Highbury The Battle of Highbury was a football match between England and Italy that took place on 14 November 1934 at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London. England won 3–2 in a hotly contested and frequently violent match. Background This was Italy's fi ...

is a match that took place between Italy and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

on 14 November 1934 at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

, the home ground of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

. Monti was playing centre half for Italy, but as early as the second minute he broke a bone in his foot after a clash with England centre forward Ted Drake. Down to 10 men, in the days before substitutes, Italy succumbed 2–3. Monti was only to play twice more for Italy. In total Monti won 16 caps (5 goals) for Argentina between 1924 and 1931, and 18 caps (1 goal) for Italy between 1932 and 1936.

After football

Monti became

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 activitie ...

after retiring. He died in 1983 aged 82.

International goals

Argentina's goal tally first Italia's goal tally first

Honours

Player

Club ;Huracán *

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). T ...

(1):

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 Brazil. ** The Spanish liner ''Santa Isabel'' bre ...

;San Lorenzo *

(3): 1923,

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hold ...

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 ...

;Juventus *

(4): 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35 *

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 ...

(1): 1937–38

International

;Argentina * South American Football Championship:

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

: Runner-up

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

;

: 1934 *

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 ...

: 1933–35

Individual

* FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2): 1930, 1934

Manager

Club Juventus *

(1): 1941–42

References

External links

Detail of international appearances for Argentina and Italy
by

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 ...

Biography at ''Planet World Cup''
*
Short bio at ''La Gazzetta dello Sport''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monti, Luis 1901 births 1930 FIFA World Cup players 1983 deaths Footballers from Buenos Aires Argentine people of Italian descent Italian people of Argentine descent Citizens of Italy through descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Italy international footballers Olympic footballers of Argentina Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Argentina 1934 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Club Atlético Huracán footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Juventus F.C. players Serie A players Argentine Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Argentina Expatriate footballers in Italy Dual internationalists (football) Italian football managers Argentine football managers Italian expatriate football managers Argentine expatriate football managers Club Atlético Huracán managers Atalanta B.C. managers Olympic medalists in football People of Romagnol descent Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics Association football midfielders Italian footballers Vigevano Calcio managers