Vittorio Pozzo
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Vittorio Pozzo (born March 2, 1886 in Turin, Piedmont, Italy – Ponderano (Biella) December 21, 1968) was an Italian football (soccer) coach who was most famous for leading the Italian national team to victory in the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cups; managed the side that won the 1930 and 1935 editions of the Central European International Cup, as well as the 1936 Olympic football gold medal and the 1928 Olympic football bronze medal. He oversaw the famous unbeaten run of the Italian side from December 1934 until 1939 and was also famous for creating the Metodo tactical formation. He is the only coach to ever win two FIFA World Cups.
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[edit] Background (1886-1928)
Affectionately known as Il Vecchio Maestro - 'The Old Master' and described as both an Anglophile (he once purchased, never used and never parted with the ticket of a journey to England) and authoritarian [1], Pozzo's time as national coach coincided with the period in which Benito Mussolini governed Italy and it has been written that Pozzo was a beneficiary of that era in that he was able to command a type of control over players not permissible in the aftermath of that time.
In his formative years Pozzo (who had come from a reasonably comfortable background) travelled widely. His primary interest was always football and he travelled to England at the turn of the century where he met Charlie Roberts, the half-back who played for Manchester United and Steve Bloomer the Derby County inside-left. Pozzo also played in Switzerland (for the Grasshopper-Club Zürich during the 1905-06 season) and France before returning to Italy where he was instrumental in the development of Torino football club playing in the side from 1906 to 1911 and, thereafter, acting as the team’s coach from 1912 to 1924.
In 1912 he took charge of the Italian Olympic side at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. Italy lost 3-2 to Finland in the first round match at Traneburg (in a game refereed by Hugo Meisl); after which Pozzo took up a post with the Pirelli organisation as a manager and served with Italian forces in the Alpines during the First World War. Pozzo was also the coach of the Italian Olympic side at the 1928 Summer Olympics held in Amsterdam. During that tournament Italy were awarded the Bronze medal after having lost a tight semi-final to Uruguay after added time only by the odd goal in five.
[edit] Coach of the National side (1929-1948)
He returned to coach the national side on a permanent basis from December 1929 [2] onwards on the basis that he would accept no money for the position; the early pointers were encouraging. Italy won the 1930 version of the Central European International Cup (defeating Hungary 5-0 in Budapest where, otherwise, Hungary had won all their games) from Meisl’s Austrian side, the so-called Wunderteam (who won the 2nd edition of that competition). As a memento of the first victory Pozzo would always carry a chip off the Central European International trophy. The trophy, made of Bohemian crystal, was dropped when Italy first won it; smashing into so many pieces that it could not be fixed. Where defeat arose, decisions were taken. Following the 1930 defeat to Spain, Pozzo dropped Adolfo Baloncieri, his captain; an international of ten years standing. [3]
In the lead-up to the 1934 tournament, however, the auguries were not good. In 1932 Austria beat Italy, as did the Czechs; a defeat to the Hungarians was only averted because of a missed penalty. This led to Pozzo bringing back the Bologna player Angelo Schiavio who had been a regular goalscorer for his club side but in February 1934 with the World Cup looming, Austria defeated Italy in Turin by 4 goals to 2 [4]. Again Pozzo felled the axe on the team captain Umberto Caligaris.
[edit] The Metodo
Pozzo’s reign as Italian national coach was characterised by three matters. The first was the tactical development of the ‘metodo’ formation. This was not Pozzo’s original idea but one spawned of his two famous contemporaries. In London, Herbert Chapman and in Vienna, Hugo Meisl had both seen the need to encourage more attacking play following the change in the off-side law in 1925. Whereas previously formations had remained the same since the 1890s (the 2-3-5 formations) the change in the off-side law saw Chapman use a forward-lying ‘stopper’ (in the Arsenal team of the 1920s this was a role adopted by Herbie Roberts, a slow runner but good passer of the ball). By having the centre-half playing just behind the inside forwards Chapman was able to have Roberts tackle the opposing centre-forward and then deliver the ball smartly in order to set up attacks. There was also greater onus on the wingers attacking the goal more. Cliff Bastin was a key component of the Arsenal success story in the 1930s; a free scoring winger. Later Pozzo evolved the formation into the Sistema (2-3-2-3 formation), which created a stronger defence. The relative strength of Chapman's and Pozzo's ideas was put to the test in 1933 during their European tour, when England (lead by Herbert Chapman (the first coach to take full control of the national side)) drew 1-1 with Pozzo's Italian side.
[edit] Oriundi
The other matter that Pozzo benefited from was ‘oriundi’ (that is foreign-born Italian ‘nationals’) which permitted Italy to take huge advantage of those players from other countries who could claim some type of Italian ancestry. In the 1900s Pozzo had been immersed in the chivalry of the English footballer: physically committed to the game but fair. In the 1930s he was able to call on Luis Monti a notoriously tough-tackling midfielder (who had appeared for the Argentinians in their 1930 World Cup final defeat) and who was a vital part of the success of the team in the 1934 World Cup. (Chapman's Roberts was Pozzo's Monti).
He was also a fan of Raimundo Orsi, a fellow Argentinian who he was able to prize away from Buenos Aires after an undistinguished stint in the Argentinian shirt. Orsi, never a prolific goalscorer, would reward Pozzo’s faith with a freakish goal in the 1934 World Cup final [2]. Not that he dispensed with home-grown talent. His penchant for attacking play is demonstrated by the fact that as well as Schiavio, Pozzo was successful in converting Giuseppe Meazza, who was captain in 1938, from a striker into an inside forward; indeed Pozzo’s reign is linked closely to the success of his strikers.
[edit] Mussolini
The other matter was Benito Mussolini. Brian Glanville has stated that Pozzo was not a fascist; he did, however, work alongside Giorgio Vaccaro - a general from the fascist militia during that first World Cup campaign.
Pozzo certainly benefited from being in the position he was in during that period of history; commanding a discipline on players and resolving disputes by imposing his own decisions on affairs. Just whose decision it was to make the side play in the infamous ‘maglia nera’ (all-black strip), however, during the quarter-final win over France at the Stade des Colombes in Paris in the 1938 World Cup quarter-final is still a matter of conjecture; nor is it clear as to why this decision was made. Was there, for instance, a political decision taken to goad the ex-patriot Italians in the stands? Was it a statement designed to intimidate the French side?
One thing is certain, Italy played tough, attacking football during that period; the grace of Orsi, Meazza and Schiavio was backed up by Monti and Locatelli.
[edit] Successes during the 1930s
During the 1934 World Cup, Pozzo benefited from whatever was going on behind the scenes during a physically excessive tournament. The game against the Spanish side in the quarter-finals raised questions against the performance of the referee Louis Baert in the first, drawn, match. In the second Rene Mercet, the Swiss referee, did not escape criticism either; banned upon his arrival back in Switzerland by his parent Football Association. A clear foul on Ricardo Zamora for the equaliser in the first went unpunished; another on Joan Josep Nogués in the replayed game earned Italy a semi-final place.
Italy benefited as well from the tough quarter-final played elsewhere between Hungary and Austria; by the time of the semi-final Johann Horvath was absent and Italy won by another disputed goal; Enrique Guaita, another Argentinian, bundling Peter Platzer over the line for the Italian goal. On the back of the World Cup success, Pozzo was awarded the title of Commendatore for greatness in his profession and his tactical acumen was respected throughout the sport.
The excesses of the side, however, boiled over at the Battle of Highbury in December of 1934 against a tough English side lead by Arsenal's uncompromising Wilf Copping.
Italy won the 1935 Dr Gero Cup and entered the 1936 Summer Olympics on the back of a run which had seen them lose only to the Austrians and English since October 1932. The Italians, all registered as students, won the Olympic Games, defeating Meisl’s Austrians in the final by 2 goals to 1. Annibale Frossi, the myopic striker who Pozzo had discovered from obscurity in Serie B, lead the front-line through out the tournament.
By the time of the 1938 World Cup Italy remained undefeated; Silvio Piola, first playing in 1935 became an instant success, scoring regularly for the national side; a magnificent partner to Meazza. Italy duly won their 2nd World title in a free-scoring game against the Hungarians in Paris.
[edit] End of coaching (1939-1948)
There were slight wobbles with the side just after the advent of the 2nd World War; Pozzo remained in position throughout the hostilities. England won their famous game in Turin in May, 1948 just prior to the Olympic Games of 1948; a defeat in which an Italian side packed with the Torino club players was found wanting. At the Olympic Games Pozzo’s last match as Italian coach came; a 5-3 defeat to the Danes in the quarter-finals of the competition (a game played at, of all places, 'Chapman's' Highbury Stadium). Pozzo finished with a record 63 wins from 95 games.
[edit] Later Life (1949-1968)
Following this, Pozzo became a journalist, reporting on the 1950 World Cup; he would pass away the year Italy were next to win a major international honour in 1968.
[edit] External links
Preceded by Alberto Suppici |
FIFA World Cup winning managers 1934 & 1938 |
Succeeded by Juan López |
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