Giacomo Poselli (; 22 July 1922 — 30 August 2007) was a Greek-born Albanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player of Italian descent, who was naturalised as an Albanian citizen during his time with

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari Football Club is an Albanian professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Alba ...

, becoming the first foreign-born player to play for the Albania national team.

Club career

Born in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, Greece into an Italian family, he moved to Albania in 1932 with his family. His father was a building contractor, he obtained important building contracts in

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

and

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

. Giacomo then went on to play for

before becoming a naturalized Albanian citizen in order to compete in the

1946 Balkan Cup The 1946 Balkan Cup was the 8th edition of this tournament. The participanting teams were Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and for the first time ever, Albania, who ended up winning the tournament in their first try. Squads *The four men's nationa ...

, which Albania won. Totally, has made 8 appearances for Albania, but only 7 are considered official games.

International career

He made his debut for

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

in an August 1946

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

and earned a total of eight caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a June 1948

Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...

match against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Personal life

His brother in law, Giuseppe Terrusi, an Italo-Albanian bank director in

was arrested in retaliation in 1945 under the order of

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

, who as a student had previously been in love with but was rejected by Terrusi's wife, Aurelia Poselli. Terrusi, allegedly innocent, was arrested in 1945 on charges of embezzlement and died in prison of

Burrel Burrel (alternate forms ''Burrel'', ''Mat'') is a town in northern Albania, 91 km from Tirana. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision and the seat of the municipality Mat, Albania, Mat. It was the seat of the former Distr ...

in 1952. The family Poselli / Terrusi returned to Italy as refugees in 1949. His true identity was hidden and masked by the Communist Party, who led the public to believe that he was indeed Albanian–born and was often referred to as Buzeli and Poselli. In December 2012, his story was reinstated into the

Albanian Football Association The Albanian Football Federation (; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. Headquartered in Tirana, it organises the national football leagues of Kategoria Superiore, Kategoria e Parë, Kategoria e Dytë, Kategoria e Tretë, Alba ...

museum.Kampioni ballkanik Poselli rihyn ne muze
/ref> The true family history Poselli / Terrusi was narrated in the book by Aldo Renato Terrusi: "Ritorno al Paese delle Aquile". The book was translated into Albanian under the title: "Brenga ime shqiptare".

References

1922 births 2007 deaths Footballers from Thessaloniki Albanian people of Italian descent Men's association football goalkeepers Italian men's footballers Albanian men's footballers Albania men's international footballers Flamurtari FC players KF Tirana players Kategoria Superiore players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Albania Expatriate men's footballers in Albania Naturalized citizens of Albania 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Albanian sportsmen {{Albania-footy-goalkeeper-stub