Luis Felipe Monti (15 May 1901 – 9 September 1983) was an
Italian Argentine
Italian Argentines ( it, italo-argentini; es, ítalo-argentinos, or ''tanos'' in Rioplatense Spanish) are Italian-born people (born in Argentina or Italy) or non-Italian citizens of Italian descent residing in Argentina. Italian is the largest ...
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
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 second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
in
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
, 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 as one of their ''
Oriundi'' in
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a m ...
, 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 sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
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 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, 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 the ...
but left without playing a game. He joined
San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for 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 the border betwe ...
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
The eleventh edition of the South American Championship was held in Lima, Peru from 30 October to 27 November 1927. The participating countries were Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay. Brazil, Chile and Paraguay withdrew from the tournament. ...
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 from ...
. With Monti as a key player, Argentina cruised to the
World Cup final in
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
, defeating
France,
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Gua ...
,
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 east a ...
, 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
. 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
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 ...
triumphed 4–2.
Italy
In 1930 Monti was signed by the Italian club
Juventus
)''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback)
, founded = as Sport-Club Juventus
, ground = Juventus Stadium
, capacity = 41,507
, owner = Agnelli ...
, 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 Coppa ...
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
The term oriundo (; Italian plural ''oriundi'') is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese noun describing an immigrant in a country, whose ancestry is from that same country. It comes from the Latin verb ''oriri'' (''orior''), "be born", and is et ...
''. 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 1933–35 Central European International Cup was the third edition of the Central European International Cup
The European International Cup of Nations was an international football competition held by certain national teams from Central Europ ...
.
The Battle of Highbury
The
Battle of Highbury is a match that took place between Italy and
England 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 situ ...
, 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 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).
Th ...
(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'' break ...
;San Lorenzo
*
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).
Th ...
(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
;Juventus
*
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 ...
(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 o ...
(1):
1937–38
International
;Argentina
*
South American Football Championship:
1927
*
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 Bazhanov, J ...
;
Italy
*
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 ...
:
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a m ...
*
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
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
,
1934
Events
January–February
* January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established.
* January 15 – The 8.0 Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a m ...
Manager
Club
Juventus
*
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 o ...
(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