Eraldo Monzeglio

Career context

Italian footballer and manager (1906–1981)

1906–1981

Eraldo Monzeglio was an Italian association football coach and player, who played as a defender, in the position of full-back. Monzeglio had a highly successful career as a footballer, although he also later attracted controversy due to his close relationship with the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. At club level, he played for Casale, Bologna, and Roma, winning the Serie A title and two editions of the Mitropa Cup with Bologna. At international level, he also had success representing the Italy national football team, and was a member of the Italian teams that won consecutive FIFA World Cup titles in 1934 and 1938, being named to the tournament's All-star Team in 1934; he also won two editions of the Central European International Cup with Italy. Along with Giuseppe Meazza and Giovanni Ferrari, he is one of only three Italian players to have won two World Cups. Following his retirement as a player, he worked as a coach for Italian clubs Como, Pro Sesto, Napoli, Sampdoria, and Juventus, as well as Swiss club Chiasso. He was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.