Giuseppe Meazza

Lore & Background

Giuseppe Meazza was born in Porta Vittoria, Milan. Having lost his father in 1917 during the fighting of World War I at the age of seven, Peppe grew up in Milan with his mother, Ersilia who came from Mediglia, helping her sell fruit at the market. He began playing football at six years old, and started out playing barefoot with a ball made of rags on the streets for a team named the 'Maestri Campionesi'. At the age of twelve, his mother gave him permission to pursue a footballing career, and he began playing for Gloria F.C..

It was during this time that a fan gave Meazza his first pair of football boots. At the age of 14, Meazza admired Milan, but was rejected by the team for his small physique. However, he was instead accepted by Milan's cross-city rivals Inter Milan. Meazza's nickname, 'il Balilla' ('The Little Boy'), was given to him in 1927 by his older teammate Leopoldo Conti, who thought 'Peppìn', in Milanese dialect, who was only 17 when he joined the senior team, was too young to be associated to the senior team.

He was surprised after Inter coach Árpád Weisz decided to give Meazza his debut for Inter in his place, commenting: 'Now we even let the Balilla kids play!' The Opera Nazionale Balilla, the Fascist youth organisation which collected all children aged eight to 14 years, was established in 1926, hence why Conti felt it to be a suitable nickname for the young rookie. However, Meazza later scored two goals on his official debut, leaving Conti speechless.

Reader's Guide

Meazza scored two goals on his professional debut, which came in a 6–2 win against Milanese Unione Sportiva in the Coppa Volta di Como, on 12 September 1927. The following day, the Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport praised his game as 'intelligent, fresh, quick'. Meazza still holds the record for the most goals scored in a debut season in Serie A, with 31 goals in his first season (1929–30). The next season, he scored five goals in a single game, twice in one season: 6 January 1929 Inter against Pistoiese 9–1 and 17 March 1929 Inter v Verona 9–0.

That same season (1928–29) on 12 May 1929, he scored six goals as Inter beat Venezia 10–2. 27 April 1930 was the first time Inter ever played Roma in Milan. Inter won 6–0 and Meazza scored four goals, scoring his first three within three minutes of the game. With Meazza in the squad, Inter won three national championships in 1930, 1938 and 1940, and helped win the team's first Coppa Italia in 1939. In the 1930 deciding game, he scored a second half hat-trick to tie the game against Genoa after Inter had been down 3–0.

He was top-scorer of Serie A three times (1930, 1936, 1938), top-scorer in the pre-Serie A year of 1929 and top scorer of the Central European Cup three times: 1930 (seven goals), 1933 (five goals) and 1936 (ten goals); he finished with a runners-up medal in the competition in 1933. When Ambrosiana beat Bari in the 1937–38 championship, he scored five goals in a 9–2 victory. The next week he scored a hat-trick against Lucchese. Along with fellow Inter players Ferraris II, Ferrari and Locatelli, Meazza was involved in the Azzurri set-up that won the 1938 World Cup in Paris.

That same year, Inter won their fourth Scudetto, while the club's first Coppa Italia success came in 1939. An injury put him out of action for most of 1938–39 and 1939–40, and after having devoted the best part of his career to Inter, Meazza transferred to AC Milan on 28 November 1940. Later in his career he also played for Juventus, Varese and Atalanta. His debut for Juventus, on 18 October 1942, took place in the derby against Torino.

This was the last season in which he managed to record double figures in terms of goals scored, helping Juventus to a third–place finish in the league. Following this season the Serie A and Coppa Italia were suspended due to the World War II.

Did You Know?

• He is one of only four Italian players to have won two World Cups, along with Giovanni Ferrari, Guido Masetti and Eraldo Monzeglio.
• San Siro stadium was named Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on 3 March 1980.