Alfredo Foni

Alfredo Foni ( born January 20, 1911 in Udine, Italy, † 28 January 1985 in Lugano, Switzerland ) was an Italian football player and coach.

When he was active with the " Squadra Azzurra " 1936 Olympic champion and 1938 world champion.

Career

Players, 1924-1944

With Juventus defender Alfredo Foni in the years 1931 to 1935 celebrated the five-time winning the league title in a row ( Quinquennio d' Oro ) in the existing round since the 1929/30 National League Serie A in Italy. In the cup he experienced in 1938 and 1942 the triumph of victory. With his club colleague Pietro Rava, he made over the years the best defender pair in the Italian league. His debut in the Foni Länderelf celebrated the Olympic football tournament in Berlin in 1936. On August 3, 1936 in a 1-0 win against the United States, sent him Vittorio Pozzo, coach of world champion team of 1934, the first time in the national team on the field. On 15 August, he defended the victorious 2-1 after extra time game against Austria, and thus became a member of the team of the Olympic champion. It was his fourth international match. In the Football World Cup in France in 1938 he was in the games against France, Brazil, and in the final on June 19 against Hungary in a 4-2 success in use. On the side of the superstars Giuseppe Meazza and Silvio Piola, he celebrated the title defense of Italy. Twice he went to against the German national soccer team. Each with 3-2 goals the teams of Otto Mink ( March 26, 1933 in Florence) and Sepp Herberger were defeated (May 5, 1940 in Milan ). With the game on April 19, 1942 in Milan against Spain, with a 4-0 victory, Alfredo Foni ended after 23 events in the national title his decorated career. At Juventus he was two more years as a player in use.

Coach

By 1954 he had completed the stations AC Venezia, FC Chiasso, Sampdoria, Bologna FC, ​​AS Roma and Inter Milan as a club coach. With Inter he won in 1953 and 1954 twice the " Scudetto ", the championship. The Swedish international striker Lennart Skoglund was the driving force in his success team. Following the departure against Switzerland at the Football World Cup 1954 already in the group matches ( playoff on June 23, 1954, 1:4 gates lost ) took Foni with a 2-0 victory on December 5, 1954 in Rome against Argentina as coach of the " Squadra Azzura ". But he failed to qualify for the World Cup 1958 in Sweden. On January 15, 1958 Foni lost his team the deciding game in Belfast with 1:2 goals against Northern Ireland. The use of " Oriundi " Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghiggia, both were members of the World Champion team in 1950 by Uruguay had not brought the needed away win against the Northern Irish. The Class of Harry Gregg in goal, Danny Blanchflower and Jimmy Mc Ilroy in midfield and the prolific left-winger Peter Jones Mc Parland was current and qualified the team from the island, then to play in Sweden in June 1958 a good World Cup tournament. Against the German national team Alfredo Foni succeeded twice a 2-1 success in 1955. On March 30, 1955 in Stuttgart, and on 18 December in Rome. With the 2:3 defeat on 23 March 1958 in Vienna against Austria the section coach of the " Squadra Azzura " was finished. The second activity as a coach began Foni in Switzerland in 1964. After successful qualification for the World Cup in England in 1966, the tournament brought even three defeats against Germany, Spain and Argentina and so the journey home after the group stage for the Confederates in Sheffield. Since the next four games against Belgium, Romania, Mexico and Czechoslovakia brought in only defeats, thus qualifying was at risk for the European Football Championship in 1968, the former Swiss international goalkeeper Erwin Ballabio broke in May 1967 from Alfredo Foni. Since the dedicated Ballabio succeeded not qualifying for the 1968 European Championship and the World Cup in 1970, the small sporting success of the Swiss is certainly not primarily attributable to the skill of former world champion Foni.

Swell

• The major European football, Volume 1 and 2, Nuttelmann, Jade, 1999, ISBN 3-930814-02-1
• WM encyclopedia 1930-2006, AGON, 2002, ISBN 3-89784-205- X
• The stars of the sport of AZ, Carl Habel, 1970, Paper no. 3036 0980