Luis Monti

Luis Monti

Monti covered on El Gráfico, 1934.
Personal information
Full name	Luis Felipe Monti
Date of birth	(1901-05-15)15 May 1901
Place of birth	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Date of death	9 September 1983(1983-09-09) (aged 82)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1921	Huracán	4	(0)
1922	Boca Juniors	0	(0)
1922–1930	San Lorenzo	215	(48)
1930–1939	Juventus	263	(23)
Total		482	(71)
International career
1924–1931	Argentina	16	(5)
1932–1936	Italy	18	(1)
Managerial career
1939–1940	Triestina
1942	Juventus
1942–1943	Varese
1944	Varese
1945–1947	Atalanta
1947	Vigevano
1947–1948	Huracán
1949–1950	Pisa
Medal record Association football Argentina South American Championship Winner 1927 Peru Men's Olympic football 1928 Amsterdam FIFA World Cup Runner-up 1930 Uruguay Italy FIFA World Cup Winner 1934 Italy
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luis Felipe Monti (15 May 1901 – 9 September 1983) was an Italian Argentine footballer who played as a midfielder and an Olympian. Monti has the distinction of having played in two FIFA World Cup final matches with two different national teams. He played the first of these finals with his native Argentina in 1930, which was lost to Uruguay; and the second with Italy as one of their Oriundi in 1934, thanks to his Romagnol descent. This second time Monti was on the winning side in a 2–1 victory over Czechoslovakia.

Monti was a rugged, physical, and ruthless player, but had the technical skills to go with his stamina and strong tackling. He played as an attacking centre half in the old-fashioned Metodo system: a position roughly equivalent to the defensive central midfield position of today. As such he would mark the opposing centre forward when his team were defending, but would be the main midfield playmaker when his team were on the attack, due to his passing and creativity, which enabled him to start attacking plays after winning back the ball. He was nicknamed doble ancho (double wide) due to his coverage of the pitch. Monti is considered as one of the best center-halves of his generation.

Career

Argentina

Monti in 1925 while playing at San Lorenzo.

Monti started his career in 1921 with Huracán, where he won the first of his many championships. The following year he signed with Boca Juniors but left without playing a game. He joined San Lorenzo where he won a further three Argentine championships. All of Monti's honours in Argentina were recorded during the Amateur Era.

Monti was first called up to represent the Argentine national team in 1924. He won the 1927 South American Championship and the silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics. With Monti as a key player, Argentina cruised to the World Cup final in 1930, defeating France, Mexico, Chile, and the United States. Monti scored two goals along the way, and injured opponents with his tackling. Some sources speculate that Monti was carrying an injury, but whatever the truth, and despite a death threat, he had a quiet game as Uruguay triumphed 4–2.

Italy

In 1931 Monti was signed by the Italian club Juventus, as he had Italian citizenship. As he was overweight and out of condition, he had a month's solitary training. Monti was back to top form helping Juventus to four consecutive Serie A titles (1932 to 1935), also serving as the club's captain. Monti went on to play 263 matches and score 23 goals in Italy.

He was also called up, within a year, to play for the Italian national team as an oriundo. Hosts Italy won their way to the 1934 World Cup final and defeated Czechoslovakia 2–1.

The Battle of Highbury

The Battle of Highbury is a match that took place between Italy and England on 14 November 1934 at Highbury, the home ground of Arsenal. Monti was playing centre half for Italy, but as early as the second minute he broke a bone in his foot after a clash with England centre forward Ted Drake. Down to 10 men, in the days before substitutes, Italy succumbed 2–3. Monti was only to play twice more for Italy.

In total Monti won 16 caps (5 goals) for Argentina between 1924 and 1931, and 18 caps (1 goal) for Italy between 1932 and 1936.

After football

Monti became manager after retiring. He died in 1983 aged 82.

International goals

Argentina's goal tally first

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	31 August 1924	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay	3–0	3–2	Friendly
2.	13 June 1928	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam, Netherlands	Uruguay	1–1	1–2	1928 Summer Olympics
3.	15 July 1930	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	France	1–0	1–0	1930 FIFA World Cup
4.	26 July 1930	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	United States	1–0	6–1	1930 FIFA World Cup
5.	4 July 1931	Estadio Sportivo Barracas, Buenos Aires, Argentina	Paraguay	1–1	1–1	Copa Rosa Cheva

Italia's goal tally first

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	3 December 1933	Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy	Switzerland	5–2	5–2	1933–35 Central European International Cup

Honours

Player

Club

Huracán

• Argentine Primera División (1): 1921

San Lorenzo

• Argentine Primera División (3): 1923, 1924, 1927

Juventus

• Serie A (4): 1931–32, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35
• Coppa Italia (1): 1937–38

International

Argentina national team

• South American Championship (1): 1927
• Silver Medal at the Summer Olympics (1): 1928 Amsterdam

Italy national team

• FIFA World Cup (1): 1934

Individual

• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2): 1930, 1934

Manager

Club

Juventus

• Coppa Italia (1): 1941–42

External links

• Detail of international appearances for Argentina and Italy, by RSSSF
• Biography at Planet World Cup
• Futbol Factory profile at the Wayback Machine (archived October 20, 2007) (in Spanish)
• Short bio at La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian)