Alfonso Negro

Alfonso Negro was an American-born Italian football player, who played as a forward; he is believed to be the first American-born player in Serie A and the first American-born player to have played for Italy.

Club career

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Negro started his career with Angri in Serie C at the age of 15. He moved onward to Catanzarese in Serie B. While at Catanzarese, he made his international debut with Italy B team against Hungary in Vercelli.
In 1934, he transferred to Fiorentina in Serie A. At that era, three other American-born players -- Armando Frigo, Alfio Argentieri and Umberto Piccolo—played in Italy at that time, but only Armando Frigo played in the Serie A. Alfonso Negro played 51 games for Fiorentina, and scored five goals, before being transferred to Napoli in 1938, where he played 25 games and scored three goals.

Negro was selected to play for Italy at the 1936 Olympic Games. He scored a goal against Norway and went on to win a gold medal in the tournament.

Negro also entered university where he played for his school team. He graduated in medicine and surgery at Florence University and during the war served as a medical officer in Greece. Following the war he became a specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology and became a lecturer. He died in Florence, Italy on 7 November 1984.

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