Luigi Allemandi

Luigi Allemandi (; 8 November 1903 – 25 September 1978) was an Italian footballer who played as a defender, usually as a left back. He was a member of the Italy national team which won the 1934 World Cup. Allemandi was ahead of his time as a defender. He was a lateral defender that would push forward on attack along the wings. He had springlike reflexes, precise passing and an inexhaustible pair of lungs. He is without a question widely considered as one of the best left-backs of all time.

Club career
Born in the province of Cuneo, he moved to Legnano with his family at a young age. He began his football career in the Giovani Calciatori Legnanesi: with the Lombard club he participated in the 1919-1920 Promotion championship and in the 1920-1921 First Category championship (Lombardy preliminary rounds). Then he moved to Legnano, then a First Division club, playing in the 1921-22 C.C.I. championship. With the Lombard team, which came close to the finals of the Northern League on several occasions, he managed to stand out to the point of being bought by Juventus in 1925. In the black and white jersey, excelling in the defensive duo with Virginio Rosetta and together with goalkeeper Gianpiero Combi, he set the unbeaten record in Italian football in the victorious 1925-26 season (934'), then surpassed ninety years later by another Juventus rearguard, that of Gianluigi Buffon - Andrea Barzagli - Leonardo Bonucci - Giorgio Chiellini (974'), and was called up to the national team for the first time. During the final round of the following championship he was involved in an episode of corruption against his team in a derby against rivals Torino, for which he was initially disqualified for life only to be amnestied as early as 1928, although he had always professed his extraneousness to the facts. 

Before the scandal in which he was implicated, he had been hired by Ambrosiana, the team he supported; in the Nerazzurri shirt he won the 1929-30 Scudetto and was sold to Roma in 1935. In the same period he was called back to the national team to replace Umberto Caligaris; playing for the Azzurri he won the World Cup.

He played two years in the Giallorossi and another year in the national team, in which he reached 24 appearances, some of which also as captain, being later replaced by the young emerging Juventus player Pietro Rava. In 1937 he moved to Venezia in Serie B for a year to end his career as a footballer in the top flight, as a backup, in Lazio, playing only two matches.

International career
He made his debut for the National A team on 4 November 1925, in a friendly match against Yugoslavia. On 3 March 1929 he took the field against Czechoslovakia in a match valid for the International Cup, thus contributing to the Italian victory of the trophy. He started with the rank of captain against Greece in the qualifying match for the 1934 World Cup, he was called up to participate in the event. He started all five matches played by Italy, including the final against Czechoslovakia which gave the Azzurri their first world title. From October 1935 he became captain of the national team, contributing to the victory of the 1933–35 International Cup. His last match in the Azzurri shirt was the friendly against Czechoslovakia played in Genoa on 13 December 1936: he thus totaled 24 matches for the national team (9 of which with the rank of captain), without scoring a goal. He is also one of 9 players being part of both the 1927–30 Central European International Cup, the 1931-32 Central European International Cup & the 1933–35 Central European International Cup successful campaigns.

He also played two games for the B national team, making his debut on 3 December 1933.

Honours
Club
Juventus
Prima Divisione: 1925–26

Ambrosiana-Inter
Serie A: 1929–30

International
Italy
FIFA World Cup: 1934
Central European International Cup: 1927–30, 1933–35; Runner-up: 1931–32

References

Category:1903 births
Category:1978 deaths
Category:Footballers from Piedmont
Category:Italian football managers
Category:Association football defenders