GIUSEPPE MEAZZA
Giuseppe "Peppino" Meazza (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe meˈattsa]; 23 August 1910 – 21 August 1979), also known as il Balilla, was an Italian football manager and player. Due to his technical skill, prolific goalscoring, and creative ability, he was often given the nickname "il genio" (the genius) by the Italian press during his career.[8] He has been ranked fourth-best player in the history of the World Cup. Meazza is widely considered one of the best players of his generation, and among the greatest of all time, as well as being regarded by many in the sport as Italy's greatest ever player. The principal stadium in his native city of Milan, which is today shared by two of his former clubs, Internazionale and crosstown rivals A.C. Milan, is now officially called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the player's honour.
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. With Meazza in the squad, Inter won 3 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 3 times (1930, 1936, 1938), top-scorer in the pre-Serie A year of 1929 and top scorer of the Mitropa Cup three times: 1930 (7), 1933 (5) and 1936 (10); he finished with a runners-up medal in the competition in 1933. n 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 A.C. Milan on 28 November 1940, where the closest he got to a trophy was the Coppa Italia in 1941/42 but finished as runners up. Later in his career he also played for Juventus, A.S. Varese 1910 and Atalanta Bergamo.
His debut with the Italy national team was in Rome on 9 February 1930 against Switzerland. Then 19-year-old, Meazza scored twice in that game (in the 37th and 39th minutes) to help Italy to a 4–2 victory after they had been down by two goals in only 19 minutes. Meazza helped Italy win the Central European International Cup that year; the cup was a three-year international tournament between the strongest national teams of central and eastern Europe. In the 1934 World Cup, which was hosted by Italy, Meazza appeared in every game for the Italy, as they lifted their first World Cup. He was elected into the All-Star Team of the tournament and won the Golden Ball, the award presented to the best player at each FIFA World Cup finals. In 1935 he claimed the Central European International Cup again. In the 1938 World Cup hosted by France, Meazza captained Italy, again playing in every match and leading them to their second consecutive World Cup triumph. In the semi-final against Brazil, he scored an infamous penalty which enabled Italy to comeback and win 2-1. In the final, he grabbed three assists as Italy ran out 4-2 winners against Hungary.