Ivano Blason (; 24 May 1923 – 13 March 2002) 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 ...

. He was a defender, who is credited with being one of the first sweepers in world football. He represented

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 ...

at the

1950 FIFA World Cup The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the 4th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held in Brazil from 24 June to 16 July 1950. It was the first Wo ...

Club career

After starting his career with Pro Gorizia in 1939, Blason made a name for himself with Triestina, making his debut in the Italian top–flight during the 1945–46 season. He was one of the main figures during the team's historic second–place finish in the league during the 1947–48 season, behind the famous '' Grande Torino'' side. He remained with the team until 1950, when he joined Inter, winning two consecutive league titles between 1952 and 1954. After a season with

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

, he joined

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

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 ...

, where he remained for seven seasons, contributing to the team's third–place finish during the 1957–58 season.

International career

Blason took part at the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil with Italy, and made his only international appearance during the tournament, which came in a 2–0 win over

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

on 2 July.

Style of play

A defender, Blason was known his physical strength, man–marking ability, and for being a hard but fair player. He was capable of playing in several defensive roles, and often played as a full-back in the WM system or ''sistema'', which at the time was similar to the role of the modern

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

; however, he was later also used as a sweeper, and is credited by Andrea Schianchi of ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'' with being the first official ''libero'' in Italian football when he was deployed in this role with Inter under manager

Alfredo Foni Alfredo Foni (; 20 January 1911 – 28 January 1985) was an Italians, Italian football (soccer), footballer in the 1930s and later on a coach, who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He is one of only four players to have won ...

, and subsequently at Padova under manager

Nereo Rocco Nereo Rocco (; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italian association football, football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy ...

; in this position, he was often the deepest player on the team positioned behind the back-line, who would clear balls away from the penalty area. During his time at Inter under Foni, in addition to his roles as a full-back and sweeper, he was also used as a centre-half-back, a role known as the ''centromediano metodista'' in Italy, which shared the responsibilities of a defensive midfielder and a deep-lying playmaker. Although he was primarily known to be a traditional sweeper, whose main role was to clear balls away, he was also known for his ability to start counter-attacks with long passes. In addition to his defensive skills, he was also known for his powerful shot, and often took free kicks and penalties.

Personal life

Ivano Blason was born in San Lorenzo di Mossa, near Province of Gorizia. His older brother Giacomo Blason played football professionally as well. To distinguish them, Giacomo was referred to as Blason I and Ivano as Blason II.

Honours

Inter *

: 1952–53, 1953–54 Pro Gorizia *

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

: 1942–43

References

External links

La Gazzetta dello Sport

Inter Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blason, Ivano 1923 births 2002 deaths Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders AS Pro Gorizia players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players Inter Milan players Hellas Verona FC players Calcio Padova players Serie A players Serie B players Italy men's international footballers 1950 FIFA World Cup players Footballers from Friuli Venezia Giulia 20th-century Italian sportsmen