Vittorio Pozzo
Vittorio Pozzo was an Italian football player, manager and journalist.
The creator of the Metodo tactical formation, Pozzo is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and is the only manager to guide a national team to two FIFA World Cup titles as coach, leading the Italy national team to victory in the 1934 and 1938 FIFA World Cups. Nicknamed Il Vecchio Maestro, he also led Italy to a gold medal at the 1936 Olympic football tournament, becoming the only manager to win both Olympic Games and World Cup, and managed the Italian championship squads of the 1930 and 1935 editions of the Central European International Cup.
Early life
Vittorio Pozzo was born in Turin, Italy on 2 March 1886, into a family originally from Ponderano. He attended the Liceo Cavour in Turin, his hometown; he later studied languages and played football in France, Switzerland and England. He studied in Manchester at the turn of the 20th century and met Manchester United half-back Charlie Roberts and Derby County's inside-left Steve Bloomer.Playing career
As a player, Pozzo played professionally in Switzerland for Grasshopper Club Zürich the 1905–06 season, before returning to Italy where he helped found Torino F.C., a team with which he played for five seasons until retiring from football in 1911. He would serve as the technical director of Torino from 1912 to 1922. After completing his studies, he joined Pirelli, where he became manager, a position he would leave for the Italian national team.Coaching career
Early career
Until the 1912 Summer Olympics, the Italy national team was guided by "technical commissions", when Pozzo was appointed as the first head coach of the national team during the debut of an Italian selection in an official competition. Italy was eliminated in the first round after a 3–2 loss to Finland in extra time, on 29 June. Pozzo resigned after his third match, being defeated 5–1 by Austria in the consolation tournament, on 3 July. He returned to work at Pirelli; only to return to the national team in 1921 as part of a "technical commission", a committee composed of federal managers, referees, players, former players, coaches and journalists.Throughout his first term, the national team was guided by this diverse group of people. With the brief exception of Augusto Rangone and Carlo Carcano, Pozzo was the only person to play the role of sole commissioner until the sixties. Pozzo would also serve with the Alpini as lieutenant during the First World War.
In 1921, Pozzo was commissioned by the Football Association to study a draft reform of the league to address the tensions between the bigger and the smaller teams, because it was thought that the number of participants in the championship had to be reduced. The mediation failed resulting in the split between the FIGC and CCI, before merging again the following year.
In 1924, for the occasion of the 1924 Summer Olympics, Pozzo was again appointed sole head coach. This time Italy were able to reach the quarter-finals, where they were defeated 2–1 by Switzerland. After this defeat, Pozzo resigned and returned to devote himself to his work and his wife, who shortly after died due to a disease. After the death of his wife, he moved to Milan, where he held his job at Pirelli, alongside his work as a journalist for La Stampa in Turin, which he continued almost until his death.
Successes with Italy during the 1930s
First Central European International Cup title
Pozzo returned to coach the Italy national team on a permanent basis in December 1929. Italy won the 1930 edition of the Central European International Cup, defeating Hungary 5–0 in Budapest. They pipped the title from Meisl's Austrian side, the so-called Wunderteam, who went on to win the second edition of the tournament two years later.Following the 1930 defeat to Spain, Pozzo left Adolfo Baloncieri, who had served as Italy captain and who had been an international of ten years standing, out of the team. In the 1932 edition of the Central European International Cup, Italy finished in second place behind Austria; Austria beat Italy, as did the Czechs, while a defeat to Hungary was only averted because of a missed penalty. This led to Pozzo bringing back the Bologna player Angelo Schiavio, who had been a regular goalscorer for his club, but in February 1934 with the World Cup looming Austria defeated Italy in Turin 4–2, Pozzo once again axed the team's captain, Umberto Caligaris, on this occasion.
1934 World Cup
During the 1934 FIFA World Cup on home soil, the first tournament on the European continent, Pozzo's Italian side benefited from controversial officiating, which was thought to have been influenced by the political situation in Italy at the time; indeed, the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had apparently met with several officials prior to Italy's matches, including Ivan Eklind, who refereed Italy's semi-final and final victories. Eklind was later accused of favouring the Italians with his decisions. Italy's game against Spain in the quarter-finals, which ended in a 1–1 draw after extra-time, also raised questions against the performance of the referee Louis Baert in the match; in the replay, Swiss referee Rene Mercet did not escape criticism either, and was banned by the Swiss FA upon his arrival home. Both matches were played in a highly aggressive manner, with several players of both sides injured as a result of the extremely physical play: a foul on goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora for the equaliser in the first leg went unpunished, which ruled him out of the replay, while another on his replacement Joan Josep Nogués in the replay was also ignored; at least three Spaniards had to depart the field with injuries. The Italian Mario Pizziolo also suffered a broken leg at the hand of the Spaniards in the first leg, and would not play for the Italian national team again. Italy's 1–0 victory in the replay ultimately earned them a place in the semi-finals. Italy also benefited from the quarter-final draw between Hungary and Austria, which saw Austria prevail 2–1 in a highly competitive encounter. By the time of the semi-final, Johann Horvath was absent through injury, and Italy won the match over Austria by a single goal. Enrique Guaita, one of the squad's Oriundi, scored the only goal of the match from close range after Giuseppe Meazza had fallen over goalkeeper Peter Platzer. In the final on 10 June, at the Stadio Nazionale PNF in Rome, with temperatures surpassing, Italy came from behind to defeat Czechoslovakia 2–1 in extra-time to win the title. On the back of the World Cup success, Pozzo was awarded the title of Commendatore for achieving greatness in his profession.''The Battle of Highbury'', second Central European International Cup title, and 1936 Olympics
Pozzo also coached Italy in the Battle of Highbury on 14 November 1934 against England, led by Arsenal's Wilf Copping at the team's home ground, which ended 3–2 in favour of England.Italy defended their Central European International Cup title in 1935 under Pozzo, going into the 1936 Summer Olympics on the back of a run which had seen them lose only to Austria and England; they went on to win the gold medal in the tournament, defeating Austria 2–1 in extra time.
1938 World Cup
By the time of the 1938 World Cup in France, Italy remained undefeated in recent competitions under Pozzo. Silvio Piola earned his first cap in 1935, scoring regularly for the national side and proving an effective partner for Meazza. In the quarter-finals against the hosts in Colombes, as both teams normally played in blue, Italy were controversially ordered to play in all-black attire, a colour which is associated with fascism, along with bearing a Fascio Littorio on the left breast, alongside the Savoy shield. Despite a hostile reception from the home crowd, Italy managed to win the match 3–1 and advance to the next round. Following the match, Pozzo learned that the Brazilians were so confident of appearing in the final in Paris that they had requisitioned the only airplane from Marseille to Paris on the day after the semi-final against Pozzo's Italy. Pozzo went to the Brazilians that sunbathed in the Côte d'Azur and asked them to surrender him the aerial bookings in case of an Italian victory. The Brazilians apparently arrogantly answered "it is not possible because we will go to Paris, because we will beat you in Marseille". They then reportedly offered Pozzo the ironic hospitality of a plane ride to Paris to see them play in the final. Pozzo reported to the Italian side what the Brazilians had told him to rouse the pride of the players. It was the psychological premise for revenge in the match, which Italy went on to win 2–1. Afterwards, the Brazilians did not want to sell their plane tickets to the Italians, who were then forced to reach Paris by train. In the resulting final, Italy duly won their second world title 4–2 against Hungary. There is a common legend that the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini sent a telegram to the Italian team prior to the final, stating: "Win or die!"; however, Pietro Rava later denied this, commenting: "No, no, no, that's not true. He sent a telegram wishing us well, but no never 'win or die'." With the 1938 World Cup victory, Pozzo became the first ever manager to win two editions of the FIFA World Cup coaching one same team, a feat that has yet to be matched in men's international football, and which would stand until the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, when Jill Ellis became the second international manager to do so as coach of the United States women's team.Between 1938 and 1939, Pozzo held the record for most consecutive wins for Italy, with nine, until the record was eventually broken in 2019 by Roberto Mancini. From 24 November 1935 against Hungary until 20 July 1939 against Finland, Pozzo also led Italy on a record 30-match unbeaten streak, until it was surpassed in 2021.