Silvio Piola

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography

Silvio Piola (Template:IPA; 29 September 1913 – 4 October 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He is known as a highly prominent figure in the history of Italian football due to several records he set, and he is regarded as one of the greatest strikers of his generation, as well as one of the best Italian players of all time. Piola was part of the squad that won the 1933–35 Central European International Cup & the squad that won the 1938 FIFA World Cup with Italy, scoring two goals in the final, ending the tournament as the second-best player and the second-highest scorer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Piola is third in the all-time goalscoring records of the Italy national team.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He is also the highest goalscorer in Italian first league history, with 290 goals (274 in Serie A and 16 in Divisione Nazionale), and also in Serie A history.<ref name="Topscorers">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He played 566 Serie A games, putting him fourth on the all-time list for appearances in Italy's top flight. Piola is the only player to have the honour of being the all-time Serie A top scorer of three different teams (Pro Vercelli, Lazio and Novara)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Piola is also the highest scoring Italian player in all competitions, with 364 goals (391 if his goals in the Divisione Nazionale and for the Italy B team are also included).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Throughout his career, including friendlies, Piola scored 682 goals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After his death, a pair of Italian stadiums were renamed after him: one in Novara in 1997 and another in Vercelli in 1998. In 2011, he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

Club career

Piola began his career with Italian club Pro Vercelli, making his Serie A debut at age 16 against Bologna on 16 February 1930. Piola scored 13 goals in his first season. On 8 February 1931, he scored a hat-trick against Napoli; at 17 years and 132 days old, Piola set the record as the youngest player to score a hat trick in Europe's top five leagues, surpassing José Iraragorri of Atlético Madrid, who was 17 years and 337 days when he achieved the feat against Real Sociedad on 23 February 1930.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As of the 2025 season, this record still stands. On 29 October 1933, Piola scored six goals, the joint-most goals scored in a single match in Serie A, in a 7–2 win over Fiorentina.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He went on to score 51 goals in 127 appearances in Serie A for Pro Vercelli.

In 1934, he moved to Lazio, who had been on the receiving end of his first Serie A goal on 11 November 1930. He was to spend the next nine seasons there. Piola was the Serie A top scorer twice while at Lazio, in 1937 and 1943. Piola was Lazio's highest all-time leading goalscorer with 149 goals until it was surpassed in 2021 by Ciro Immobile.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After leaving Lazio, he spent war-torn 1944 at Torino, where he scored an amazing 27 goals in just 23 games. Toward the end of the war, he joined Novara. Then, from 1945 to 1947, Piola played for Juventus, before moving back to Novara, where he stayed for seven more seasons.

During his final years with Novara, Piola became the oldest player in Serie A history to score two goals in a single league match, a feat which he managed on 1 February 1953, at the age of 39 years, 4 months and 2 days, against his former team Lazio; the record stood until 20 April 2016, when Francesco Totti scored a Serie A brace at the age of 39 years, 6 months and 23 days.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In his last season in 1953–54, Piola turned 40 years old on 29 September 1953, and then he scored one goal in three consecutive matches in November and December against Sampdoria, Palermo, and Inter Milan, thus becoming the first player to score a Serie A goal after his 40th birthday.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He scored his fifth and last goal of the season on 7 February, in a 1–1 draw against AC Milan, and in doing so at the age of 40 years and 129 days, he became the oldest Serie A goalscorer in history, although his record has since been broken by both Alessandro Costacurta in 2007 and Zlatan Ibrahimović in 2023, who both scored a Serie A goal aged 41.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> With five goals, Piola is the joint-second highest 40-year-old goalscorer in Europe's top five leagues, alongside English League's Stanley Matthews, and Bundesliga's Claudio Pizarro, and only behind Ibrahimović, who scored eight in Serie A. To this day, Piola is still currently the highest all-time goalscorer in Serie A.<ref name="Topscorers"/>

International career

His first game for Italy came against Austria on 24 March 1935, when he also scored his first goals for the team in the form of a brace to help Italy defeat the hosts Austria 2–0 in the 1933–35 Central European International Cup.<ref name=EU>Template:Cite web</ref> He was a World Cup winner in 1938, when he scored two of Italy's goals in the 4–2 victory over Hungary;<ref name=EU/> he finished the tournament as the second highest scorer and was named the second-best player, also earning a place in the Team of the Tournament.

Piola went on to play 34 games for Italy and score 30 goals between 1935 and 1952, a tally that would surely have been greater if not for the interruption caused by World War II. He served as the national side's captain from 1940 until 1947. In 1939 he scored a goal with his hand to England 47 years before Diego Armando Maradona.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His last international appearance was in 1952, when Italy drew 1–1 with England. Piola is currently Italy's third highest goalscorer of all-time, behind only Giuseppe Meazza, and Luigi Riva. He also co-holds, with Riva, the national team's record for most goals on opposition soil with 13.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Style of play

Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time, Piola was widely renowned for his goalscoring ability throughout his career, and his eye for goal.<ref name="Silvio Piola: Il Senso del gol">Template:Cite web</ref> He was considered to be a modern and well-rounded player during his time, as he used his physical attributes, intelligence, and control to play with his back to goal, and lay off the ball for teammates in order to provide them with assists.<ref name="Silvio Piola, l’uomo dei Record!">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Silvio Piola: Il Senso del gol"/> Piola's vision, work-rate, and technical ability, as well as his passing ability, made him a tactically versatile player,<ref name="Piola, Italy's small town hero">Template:Cite web</ref> who was capable of playing in several positions, and he was deployed on the wing, in midfield, or as a creative advanced playmaker or second striker on occasion.<ref name="Silvio Piola, l’uomo dei Record!"/><ref name="Silvio Piola: Il Senso del gol"/> Piola particularly excelled as a centre-forward, however; his speed, positional sense, offensive movement, and opportunism enabled him to lose his markers with his attacking runs and receive his team-mates' deliveries or pounce on loose balls in the area. Piola was also known for his powerful and accurate finishing ability with his head and both feet, from any position on the pitch, which made him a prolific goalscorer throughout his career.<ref name="Silvio Piola, l’uomo dei Record!"/><ref name="Silvio Piola: Il Senso del gol"/><ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Silvio PIOLA">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Gli eroi in bianconero: Silvio PIOLA">Template:Cite web</ref> Due to his agility and athletic ability, Piola also excelled in the air, and he was capable of scoring spectacular acrobatic goals from volleys and bicycle kicks.<ref name="Piola, Italy's small town hero"/><ref name="Silvio Piola: Il Senso del gol"/> Despite his talent and his reputation, he was occasionally accused of diving throughout his career. Unlike his legendary international team-mate, club rival, and friend Giuseppe Meazza,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> however, with whom he was often compared,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Piola was much more reserved both on and off the pitch, and he preferred to score through efficiency and pragmatism rather than flamboyance.<ref name="Piola, Italy's small town hero"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On top of his playing ability and prolific goalscoring, Piola also stood out for his longevity throughout his career.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>Single source here, if player is inactive. If player has not retired, move source next to "Updated" template.</ref>
Club Season League Coppa Italia Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Pro Vercelli 1929–30 Serie A 4 0 — 4 0
1930–31 32 13 — 32 13
1931–32 31 12 — 31 12
1932–33 32 11 — 32 11
1933–34 28 15 — 28 15
Total 127 51 0 0 127 51
Lazio 1934–35 Serie A 29 21 — 29 21
1935–36 27 19 2 2 29 21
1936–37 28 21 1 0 29 21
1937–38 28 15 0 0 28 15
1938–39 21 9 1 0 22 9
1939–40 23 9 2 1 25 10
1940–41 25 10 0 0 25 10
1941–42 24 18 2 3 26 21
1942–43 22 21 2 0 24 21
Total 227 143 10 6 237 149
Torino 1944 CAI 23 27 — 23 27
Juventus 1945–46 Serie A-B 29 16 — 29 16
1946–47 Serie A 28 10 — 28 10
Total 57 26 0 0 57 26
Novara 1947–48 Serie B 30 16 — 30 16
1948–49 Serie A 36 15 — 36 15
1949–50 17 4 — 17 4
1950–51 37 19 — 37 19
1951–52 31 18 — 31 18
1952–53 25 9 — 25 9
1953–54 9 5 — 9 5
Total 185 86 0 0 185 86
Career total 619 333 10 6 629 339

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Italy 1935 2 2
1936 5 2
1937 5 5
1938 7 9
1939 6 8
1940 4 1
1941 – –
1942 1 1
1943 – –
1944 – –
1945 1 1
1946 1 1
1947 1 0
1948 – –
1949 – –
1950 – –
1951 – –
1952 1 0
Total 34 30
Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Piola goal.
List of international goals scored by Silvio Piola
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Template:Abbr
1 Template:Dts Praterstadion, Vienna, Austria Template:Fb 1–0 2–0 1933–35 Central European International Cup <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2 2–0
3 Template:Dts San Siro, Milan, Italy Template:Fb 2–1 4–2 1936–38 Central European International Cup <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
4 3–1
5 Template:Dts Letná Stadium, Prague, Czechoslovakia Template:Fb 1–0 1–0 1936–38 Central European International Cup <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
6 Template:Dts Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway Template:Fb 2–0 3–1 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
7 3–0
8 Template:Dts Charmilles Stadium, Geneva, Switzerland Template:Fb 1–0 2–2 1936–38 Central European International Cup <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
9 2–2
10 Template:Dts San Siro, Milan, Italy Template:Fb 4–1 6–1 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
11 5–1
12 6–1
13 Template:Dts Stadio comunale Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy Template:Fb 2–0 4–0 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
14 Template:Dts Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France Template:Fb 2–1 2–1 1938 FIFA World Cup <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
15 Template:Dts Stade olympique de Colombes, Colombes, France Template:Fb 2–1 3–1 1938 FIFA World Cup <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
16 3–1
17 Template:Dts Stade olympique de Colombes, Colombes, France Template:Fb 2–1 4–2 1938 FIFA World Cup final <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
18 4–2
19 Template:Dts Stadio Giovanni Berta, Florence, Italy Template:Fb 1–0 3–2 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
20 3–1
21 Template:Dts San Siro, Milan, Italy Template:Fb 2–1 2–2 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
22 Template:Dts BSK Stadion, Belgrade, Yugoslavia Template:Fb 1–0 2–1 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
23 Template:Dts Ferencváros Stadion, Budapest, Hungary Template:Fb 1–0 3–1 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
24 Template:Dts Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland Template:Fb 1–0 3–2 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
25 2–1
26 3–1
27 Template:Dts Stadio Nazionale PNF, Rome, Italy Template:Fb 2–1 2–1 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
28 Template:Dts San Siro, Milan, Italy Template:Fb 3–0 4–0 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
29 Template:Dts Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland Template:Fb 1–0 4–4 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
30 Template:Dts San Siro, Milan, Italy Template:Fb 3–1 3–2 Friendly <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Honours

Lazio<ref name=football-the-story.com>Template:Cite web</ref>

Juventus<ref name=football-the-story.com/>

Novara<ref name=football-the-story.com/>

Italy<ref name="eurosport">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=football-the-story.com/>

Individual

See also

References

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