Andrea Bonomi (; 14 February 1923 – 26 November 2003) 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 lea ...

who played as a defender.

Early life

Born in

Cassano d'Adda Cassano d'Adda (Milanese: ; Bergamasque: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, Italy, located on the right side of the Adda River. It is on the border of the Metropolitan City of Milan and the province of Bergamo ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, when Bonomi was six years old, he fell in

Adda River The Adda (Latin: *Abdua*, or *Addua*; Lombard: *Ada*, or *Adda*) is a river in North Italy, a tributary of the Po. It rises in the Alps near the border with Switzerland and flows through Lake Como. The Adda joins the Po near Castelnuovo Boc ...

and was about to drown when a 10-year-old boy rescued him. Ironically, his rescuer was

Valentino Mazzola Valentino Mazzola (; 26 January 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or Forward (association football), forward. Considered one of the great Playmaker#Advanced playmakers, num ...

, who went on to become one of the greatest Italian football players of all time, captaining the

Grande Torino The was the historic Italian football team of Torino Football Club in the 1940s, five-time champions of Italy, whose players were the backbone of the Italy national team and died on 4 May 1949 in the plane crash known as the Superga air di ...

team of the 1940s, which would be killed in the

Superga air disaster The Superga air disaster (, "Tragedy of Superga") occurred on 4 May 1949, when a Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines), carrying the entire Torino F.C., Torino association football, football team (popularly known as the ''Grande ...

Club career

Bonomi was initially nicknamed ''Ciapin'' during his early career. He played for several Italian football clubs, but spent most of his career with

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

. He served as Milan's

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

during the 1950–51 season, which ended with a

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

triumph for the ''rossoneri'', led by the

Gre-No-Li Gre-No-Li is a contraction of the surnames of three Swedish footballers: Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. The denomination was colloquially used after these players composed a formidable trio of attacking players while playing for ...

attacking trio.

International career

Bonomi played for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

for just one match, in 1951, against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Style of play

A tenacious and dynamic defender, Bonomi usually played as a full-back.

Honours

Club

;Milan *

: 1950–51

Individual

*A.C. Milan Hall of Fame

References

External links

Short biography of Andrea Bonomi

Profile at FIGC

1923 births 2003 deaths People from Cassano d'Adda Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Serie A players Serie B players AC Milan players Brescia Calcio players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players Men's association football defenders Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Milan 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-defender-1920s-stub