Giuseppe Meazza is a two-time world champion, three-time champion of his native Italy, a legendary footballer, an illustrious striker, often compared to Pele, the Brazilian “king of football”.
Three times recognized as the top scorer in Serie A, today the famous Italian is considered the second sniper in the history of the Italian team with 33 goals, second only to Luigi Rive.
Giuseppe Meazza Biography: Family
Giuseppe of Milan was born on August 23, 1910. The boy’s father took part in the First World War and died on the return from the front from his wounds. The premature departure of the parent and the leadership inclinations characteristic of the young man contributed to his early maturity and behavior, which was an order of magnitude ahead of the age of the young man. Prior to professional football, Giuseppe Meazza helped his mother in a bakery, where he baked bread.
The beginning of a football career
Football for a young man has been a passion since childhood, which was characteristic of all the teenagers of post-war Italy. At 13 years old, the boy himself formed the club "Constanta", taking on all the organizational tasks. After some time, Giuseppe Meazza joined the Maestri Campionezi team, and after that he asked for Milan, a fan of which he had been since childhood. Favorite team did not appreciate the zeal and skills of Giuseppe, criticizing him for his feeble figure. The offensive Meazza went to the "International", in which two seasons won the regional championships.
In 1927, Meazza - still a feeble teenager with a height of 169 cm and a body weight of 40 kg - was credited to the adult reserve. At that time, the main team coach was Hungarian Arpad Weiss. Selecting players for the upcoming tournament, he, for some personal reasons, engaged the Meazza at “dystrophic” training camps, which was a huge surprise for everyone.
Balilla - in the first team!
Giuseppe Meazza, whose football biography is a vivid example for beginner athletes, used the chance to take full advantage: in the game with Milanese he managed to hit the opponent’s net twice. After the game, the admiring coach announced that "from now on, this Balilla will always play in the first team."
Why is Balilla? In Italy, there is a legend telling about a plain-looking young man who managed in 1746 to initiate a rebellion against the Austrian invaders, who seized a share of Italian lands. The name of this young man was Balilla, which in translation into Russian means "bullet".
Giuseppe's professional success
1927 year. Summer. Meazza repeatedly annoyed “Milan”, who lost to “Inter” with a score of 2: 3, and the control goal was again scored by Giuseppe-Balilla. In the same season, in the game with Genoa (score 6: 1), Meazza scored 2 goals against the opponent.
The year 1929 was marked by some significant events in the Italian club: the Internationale was renamed Ambrosiana and merged with Milanese. The National League acquired a modern look: Serie A was an integral championship, in which 18 clubs took part. In the first season, Meazza with the club won Serie A and was named the top scorer.
Events that took place in the final round of the championship, in general, can be called unique. “Ambrosiana” played with “Genoa” on the guest field, the hosts began to lead with the score 3: 0. However, the unexpected happened: under the weight of the audience at the stadium unexpected unexpectedly collapsed. The game was stopped, and after its resumption, Giuseppe Meazza, under some incredible inspiration, scored three times in the opponent's net. The match ended with a score of 3: 3, for the first time in the history of the Italian Serie A team won the scudetto.
The personal qualities of the Italian football player
The feeble Giuseppe Meazza is a footballer who stood out clearly from other players with his personal qualities. Fully justifying his nickname (“bullet”), he with lightning speed (in 12 seconds) overcame the lawn hundred-meter race, could throw tricks that no one could repeat. The skill of a football player was masterly admirable, it is better to control the ball than others.
Meazza - top striker and scorer
At Inter, the Meazza footballer quickly became an attacking leader, and after a short time, the “brain” of the Italian team. Two goals scored by a high-speed football player for three minutes in a duel with Switzerland allowed this to be considered. In this match, “Squadre Azzurre” led 4-2. It happened in February 1930.
In the next games Meazza also had a decisive influence on the result. In a guest match with the Germans, he scored a goal in the 75th minute, which predetermined the outcome of the match with a score of 2: 0. Then in Budapest, with a score of 5: 0, Italy defeated Hungary, Giuseppe Meazza scored three times in this match. These were the most important duel of the Old World teams, the so-called Central European Cup - the progenitor of the modern European Championship. Largely thanks to the goals of Balilla, Italy won a triumph in this tournament.
53 matches for Italy
In the winter of 1931, Meazza, when meeting with the French in the first half, hit the opponent’s goal three times, becoming the star of this championship. Gained experience, Giuseppe learned to lead his colleagues, rebuilding the team game during the match. Giuseppe has become extremely popular in his homeland. The player was the first to establish the tradition of advertising various products by sports stars. He himself advertised perfumes. In “Inter” at this time things were not going very smoothly: the team could not in any way reproduce the winning result of 1930 with a scudetto win. For three consecutive years (from 1934 to 1936 inclusive), the club lost in the competition for leadership of the Turin Juventus, taking the second place of honor. 1938 year. The Italian team re-became the world football champion, and the Inter team after a long break regained their gold.
Meazza was named the best sniper for the 4th time. In total, from 1930 to 1939, the football player played 53 matches for the national team of his native country.
The black bar in the life of Giuseppe
Further, Giuseppe Meazza, whose achievements are the pride of Italy, underwent surgery to remove appendicitis and recovered for a very long time. He returned to the national team in the spring of 1939, in the summer he became engaged to Rita Galloni. The couple had a daughter. Next, another disaster struck the athlete - a blockage in the artery, which caused global circulatory disorders. Again the operation - and a year of rehabilitation. Without Giuseppe, the club won the Scudetto again in 1940.
As part of Milan
However, after recovering from Meazza, he entered the field as part of another team - Milan. Wearing a red and black uniform, Giuseppe Meazza made his debut for the club, which he raved since childhood. It happened in January 1941. In the summer of 1942, he moved to the Turin Juventus. The season of 1943-1944 was disrupted due to the war, the Giuseppe family moved to the small town of Varese. There, a second baby was born in the couple. Since the summer of 1947, Meazza has been engaged in coaching, began to collaborate with the sports magazine Sport Illustrato. Then Giuseppe received an offer of cooperation with the Italian national team, briefly replaced the fired mentors.
