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Vittorio Pozzo

Vittorio Pozzo

Name: Vittorio Pozzo
Date of birth : 12 March 1886

In a brilliant four-year period, Vittorio Pozzo led Italy to two FIFA World Cups TM crowns and an Olympic gold medal, duly cementing his place in the coaching pantheon.

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He Was My Coach

Giorgio Bocca (Italian writer)
Vittorio Pozzo found himself at the head of the Azzurri without having been either a coach by trade or a football administrator. Instead, he was simply a Piedmontese native who felt a strong attachment to the values of his region and a man for whom words and work were sacred. He was an officer in the mountain infantry at the height of Fascism. He liked the trains to run on time but he never locked himself into a rigid structure.

    Did You Know?

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    • Pozzo ordered the team bus back to the hotel when crowds blocked Italy’s route to the 1938 FIFA World Cup™ final with Hungary in Paris.
    • Waving off concerns about the nationality of imported players, Pozzo said: “If they can die for Italy, they can play football for Italy.”
    • Pozzo carried two good luck charms. One was a piece of glass from a broken trophy and the other was an unused return ticket to England.
    • Many of the players closest to Pozzo were from his hometown club Torino. The whole team died in the tragic Superga airplane crash of 1949.
    • When Vittorio Pozzo left his job as Pirelli manager to take charge of the national team, he did so on the condition that he was not paid.

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