Francesco Calì
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 16 May 1882 | ||
Place of birth | Riposto, Italy | ||
Date of death | 3 September 1949 | (aged 67)||
Place of death | Genoa, Italy | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1897–1899 | Zürich | ||
1899–1900 | Urania Genève Sport | ||
1900–1901 | Genoa | 1 | (0) |
1901–1912 | Andrea Doria | 34 | (5) |
International career | |||
1910 | Italy | 2 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Francesco Calì (Italian: [franˈtʃesko kaˈli]; 16 May 1882 – 3 September 1949) was an Italian professional football player, coach and referee, who played as a defender. He captained the Italy national football team in their first ever match, on 15 May 1910.
Early life
Calì was born in Riposto, Sicily on 16 May 1882, to Bruno Calì, a wine merchant. After pirate assaults on his father's business, he and his family immigrated to Switzerland two years later; he was nicknamed Franz.[1]
Career
Calì played several games as a left-back for Swiss clubs Zürich and Urania Genève Sport. He then played for two rival Genovese teams: Genoa and Andrea Doria.[2] He was also a referee during his time at Andrea Doria.[3][1]
Due to his experience as a footballer, as well as his knowledge of several foreign languages, he was selected as the Italy national team captain, in their first ever game[2][4][5] on 15 May 1910, in Milan against France, where Italy won 6–2.[4]
After his retirement as a player, he was also chosen several times as a member of the technical commission, in 1912, 1914, 1915, 1920 and 1921.[6]
References
- ^ a b Bagnati, Giuseppe (14 May 2010). "Il ripostese che guidò la Nazionale". La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ a b Enrico Bronzo (6 January 2011). "Calì divenne capitano della nazionale perché conosceva le lingue straniere" (in Italian). Il Sole 24 Ore. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Storia Archived 1 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Aiagenova.it
- ^ a b "Franz Calì: il primo capitano raccontato in un libro" [Franz Calì: the first captain recounted in a book] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Enrico Bronzo (6 December 2011). "La maglia azzurra compie 100 anni. La storia di Francesco Calì, il primo capitano" [The Azzurri shirt turns 100. The story of Francesco Calì, the first captain] (in Italian). Il Sole 24 Ore. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
- ^ Di Maggio, Roberto (22 November 2018). "Italian national team coaches". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
External links
- Francesco Calì at National-Football-Teams.com
- 1882 births
- 1949 deaths
- Italian men's footballers
- Italy men's international footballers
- FC Zürich players
- Urania Genève Sport players
- Genoa CFC players
- UC Sampdoria players
- Men's association football defenders
- Italian football referees
- Footballers from Sicily
- Italian emigrants to Switzerland
- Swiss men's footballers
- People from Riposto
- Italian football defender stubs