Romeo Menti (; 5 September 1919 – 4 May 1949) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He scored 145 goals in a career that spanned fifteen years.

Career

Born in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

, Menti debuted for his hometown's

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 ...

club in 1935, in the same

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

that was to be dedicated to him a few years later. His older brothers Mario Menti and Umberto Menti and nephew

Luigi Menti Luigi Menti (1 October 1934 – 11 December 2013) was an Italian footballer who primarily played as a midfielder. Luigi Menti died on 11 December 2013, aged 79, in Vicenza, Veneto, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a coun ...

(son of Mario) all played football professionally, with Umberto playing for

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (), commonly known as SSC Napoli or simply Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that currently competes in the Serie A, the highest league of Italian football. Napoli are am ...

and

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 ...

. To distinguish them, Mario was known as Menti I, Umberto as Menti II, Romeo as Menti III, and Luigi as Menti IV. In some sources, Mario was ignored and Umberto and Romeo were listed as Menti I and Menti II respectively. In 1938 he was sold to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, where he played for three seasons before moving to

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), colloquially referred to as Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont that currently plays in the Serie A, the highest football league of Italy. Founded in 1906 as ''Foot-Ball Club Torin ...

His abilities became evident also with

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

, for which he received 5 caps with 7 goals. Menti played for the then almost unbeatable Torino (dubbed ''

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 ...

'', "Great Torino") until his death, except for the 1945–46 season, when he played again for Fiorentina. Menti died in 1949 with almost his entire team 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 ...

, after scoring the last goal of "Grande Torino" in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Honours

Fiorentina *

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 ...

: 1938–39 *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 1939–40 Torino *

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 ...

: 1942–43, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49 * Coppa Italia: 1942–43

References

1919 births 1949 deaths Italian men's footballers Footballers from Vicenza Men's association football forwards Italy men's international footballers Serie A players Serie B players LR Vicenza players Juventus FC players AC Milan players SSC Napoli players ACF Fiorentina players Torino FC players SS Juve Stabia players Footballers killed in the Superga air disaster 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-forward-1910s-stub