Umberto Caligaris

Umberto Caligaris
Personal information
Date of birth	June 26, 1901(1901-06-26)
Place of birth	Casale Monferrato, Italy
Date of death	October 19, 1940 (aged 39)
Place of death	Torino, Italy
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Defender
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1919-1928 1928-1935 1935-1937	Casale Juventus Brescia
National team
1922-1934	Italy	59 (0)
Teams managed
1935-1937 1938-1940	Brescia Juventus
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Umberto Caligaris (July 26, 1901 – October 19, 1940) was an Italian international footballer who played, normally at left back, for A.S. Casale and Juventus. His 59 caps for the Italian national team stood as a record for many years.

Born in Casale Monferrato (Piedmont), Caligaris spent the first nine years of his career with the local team, A.S. Casale. He made his debut for them on October 12, 1919 in a match against local rivals Valenzana Calcio which Casale won 3–1. Casale was then in the Italian First division (the predecessor to Serie A) and had won the championship in 1914. However they were never to repeat that success and although during Caligaris’s career with the club they twice qualified for the inter-regional semi-final of North Italy, they were unable to get further.

The Italian national team, however, did provide scope for his talents. He received his first cap in 1922 against Austria, selected in place of Virginio Rosetta as right back flanking the great Genoese left back Renzo De Vecchi (“Son of God” to the fans), who had been playing for Italy since 1910. From then until De Vecchi’s retirement from international football in March 1925, Rosetta and Caligaris were in competition for the right back position. He played for Italy in the 1924 Olympics, the match against Spain being the first in which he played alongside Rosetta.

After winning a bronze medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics, Caligaris left Casale to join Rosetta at Juventus. Here the two full backs, backed by Italian international goalkeeper Giampiero Combi, formed a formidable defensive combination. Juventus won five scudettoes in a row in the years 1930–35.

Caligaris’s final game for Italy, on 11 February 1934 was, like his first, against Austria. (Although a member of the Italian squad, he did not play in any of the 1934 World Cup matches.) His record of 59 caps for Italy was only surpassed in 1971 by Giacinto Facchetti.

Caligaris coached Juventus from 1939 until his death in Turin in October of the following year.

Legacy

During the 1970s, an annual under-21 football tournament was named in the Italian's honour. The "Caligaris" International Tournament took place annually in the player's hometown of Casale Monferrato.^[1]

References

General

• Umberto Caligaris - International Appearances from RSSSF
  • And the corresponding entries for Rosetta and De Vecchi
• The article on Umberto Caligaris from the Italian Wikipedia.
• DatabaseOlympics.com profile

Specific

v • d • e Italy squad – 1934 FIFA World Cup Winners (1st Title) GK Cavanna • GK Combi • GK Masetti • DF Allemandi • DF Caligaris • DF Monzeglio • DF Rosetta • MF Bertolini • MF Castellazzi • MF Ferraris • MF Monti • MF Pizziolo • MF Varglien • FW Arcari • FW Borel • FW Demaria • FW Ferrari • FW Guaita • FW Guarisi • FW Meazza • FW Orsi • FW Schiavio • Coach: Pozzo