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

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 ...

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 be ...

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 List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the ' (FIFA), the ...

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 ...

, and he made his professional debut with local club Udinese 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 Copp ...

); 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 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 ...

in 1934, replacing

Virginio Rosetta Virginio "Viri" Rosetta (; 25 February 1902 – 31 March 1975) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender. A hard-working player, he was known for his organisational skills, and for his ability to read the game and anticipate other play ...

. 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 The 1936 Summer Olympics ( German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad ( German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi- ...

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, be ...

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 ...

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 ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while o ...

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 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

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

, replacing

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

full-back Eraldo Monzeglio, 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 Sergio Bertoni (; 23 September 1915 – 15 February 1995) was an Italian association football manager and player, who played as a striker. With the Italy national team, he won the 1936 Summer Olympics football tournament and the 1938 FIFA Worl ...

, 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 Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

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 The ''scudetto'' (Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous seas ...

with FC Internazionale in 1953 and 1954, and the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (n ...

with

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 ...

. He later coached Switzerland in the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in ...

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, 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 Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) perciform fish of the family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 26 species in two genera. One species (''Pempheris xanth ...

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

;

: 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 be ...

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 *

: 1952–53, 1953–54 ;

: 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