Mario Pizziolo


Mario Pizziolo was an Italian football player and manager, who played as a central or defensive midfielder.

Club career

Pizziolo was born in Castellammare Adriatico, province of Pescara. He started his club career in the youth teams of Livorno and Ternana, and later played for the Pistoiese senior side, before joining the senior team of Fiorentina, where he played between 1929 and 1936, playing 203 matches and scoring three goals in all competitions.
He retired at 27.

International career

Pizziolo played twelve matches for Italy between 1933 and 1934, scoring one goal. He was part of the gold-winning 1933–35 Central European International Cup squad, and of the side that won the 1934 FIFA World Cup on home soil, in which he played one game, the first leg of the quarter-finals against Spain, in which he got seriously injured, breaking one of his legs, in a 1–1 draw after extra-time. He would not play for Italy again. As Pizziolo could not play any of the other games or the final match for Italy, he was not awarded a medal for his performance until 1988, two years before he died, in Florence, at the age of 80.

Honours

Player

Fiorentina
Italy
Pescara