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| 1924-1925 Serie A winner |
AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan,
Roma, Lazio, Torino, Napoli, Fiorentina,
Sampdoria, Geona, Bologna, Parma, Udinese, Brescia.
This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.
Established on 7 September 1893, it is Italy's oldest football team currently active and the fourth overall. During their long history, Genoa have won the Serie A nine times. Genoa's first title came at the inaugural championship in 1898 and their last was in 1923–24. They also won the Coppa Italia once. Historically, Genoa is the fourth most successful Italian club in terms of championships won. However, their last Serie A titled was the 1922-1923 season. Their last major domestic trip was the 1936-1937 Coppa Italia.
Team
GK: Giovanni De Prà (Italy)
Born in 1900, Giovanni De Prà spent his entire club career with his hometown side Genoa C.F.C., playing more than 300 games over almost 15 years. With the club, he won two league titles in the 1922–23 and 1923–24 season. At the international level, Giovanni De Prà had 19 caps. He competed at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics, and won a bronze medal in 1928 for Italy.
GK: James Richardson Spensley (England)
Spensley arrived in Genoa in 1896. He opened the footballing section for Genoa Cricket & Athletics Club on 10 April 1897 and became its first ever manager. He participated as a player-manager for Genoa in the first ever Italian Football Championship (which he initiated) during 1898 which his club won. The following season he switched position from defender to goalkeeper, playing on until 1906. Genoa won the Italian league six times while he was at the helm.
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| Spensley the founder of Genoa's football team |
Born in Naples, Giovanni Cervone joined the youth team of Juve Stabia. Later, he played with the Avellino, Genoa, Parma and Verona. In 1989, he was bought by Rome, where he played between 1989 and 1997. He was briefly displaced by Angelo Peruzzi while in Rome. He represented Italy on the under-21 level in the 1980's.
RB/LB: Fosco Becattini (Italy)
Between 1945 and 1961, Fosco Becattini played 12 seasons in the Serie A with Genoa C.F.C. (338 games, 1 goal). He made his debut for the Italy national football team on 27 March 1949 in a game against Spain. He picked up his second and last cap against Hungary the same year. He has the second-most appearances for Genoa with 425 matches.
RB: Ottavio Barbieri (Italy)
As a player Ottavio Barbieri was a one club man and spent his entire career at hometown side Genoa. He joined Genoa immediately after the First World War in 1919. With the club, he won two Italian Football Championship: 1922–23, 1923–24. On the international level, Barbieri most notably represented Italy at the 1924 Summer Olympics.
CB: Gianluca Signorini (Italy)
Signorini played successively for Pisa, Pietrasanta, Prato, Livorno, Ternana and Cavese before joining Parma, with Arrigo Sacchi as coach. He quickly became a key player for Parma, helping the club to Serie B promotion in 1986. He later played for A.S. Roma, and then to Genoa in 1988. Genoa managed to reach the semi-finals of the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, and also to a fourth-place finish during the 1990–91 Serie A season, the club's best league finish since the end of the Second World War
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| Gianluca Signorini |
After starting his career at minor league club Nocerina and Torrente Vincenzo Torrente joined Genoa at the age of 19. He quickly became a mainstay for the club, spending 15 consecutive seasons with the Rossoblu at both Serie A and Serie B level, playing also at European level during the Osvaldo Bagnoli period in the early 1990s. He left Genoa in 2000, after having collected more than 400 games with the club, in order to join Alessandria.
CB/LB: Renzo De Vecchi (Italy)
De Vecchi was probably the first star player in Italian football. His nickname was "The Son of God". He started his career with Milan. He later moved to Genoa in 1913, winning three Italian League titles with the club. Between 1927 and 1929, he worked as a player-manager for them. He was the youngest ever national team player for Italy, representing Italy at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympic Games. In total, he had 43 caps for Italy between 1910 and 1925.
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| Renzo De Vecchi |
LB/CB: Domenico Criscito (Italy)
Domenico Criscito moved to Juventus's academy from Genoa in 2004, but he returned to Genoa for his professional debut. He rejoined Juventus in 2007, but returned to Genoa again in 2008. Capped 22 times, he was Italy's starting left back at South Africa 2010. Since 2010, he has been playing for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg in the Russian league.
LB: Branco (Brazil)
Branco appeared 72 times for Brazil, between April 1985 and February 1995. He went to both the World Cup Finals in 1990 and 1994. In 1994, he scored a powerful goal against Holland that sent Brazil to the semifinal. Brazil won the World Cup that year. He played in a total of 12 matches in three World Cup Finals. At the club level, Branco played for Internacional, Fluminense, Brescia , FC Porto , Genoa, Grêmio, Flamengo, Corinthians, Middlesbrough, and New York MetroStars.
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| Branco |
Ettore Leale started his career with Genoa and was an undisputed starter by the age of 18. He won the league in the 1914-1915 season. He was injured during the First War as an infantry. He later became a fighter pilot. After the Warm Genoa was one of the great sides in the 1920's. He lwon two scudetti (1922-23 and 1923-24). He had two caps for Italy.
CM: Gennaro Ruotolo (Italy)
Gennaro Ruotolo started his career with Sorrento in 1984, but is best known for having been a key player for Genoa for over a decade; he joined the Grifone in 1988 to left it only in 2002 to join Livorno of Serie C1. During his spell at Genoa he lifted the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup. He also had a four-months stint at Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad. He was capped once for Italy against Denmark in 1991.
CM/ST: Mario Perazzolo (Italy)
Perazzolo played for Padova and Fiorentina before moving to Genoa, where he spent most of his career. He also played for Brescia and Siracusa. For Italy, he had 8 caps between 1936 and 1939. He won the World Cup in 1938. He was a starter in their final warm up before the World Cup Finals in 1938, but Pietro Serantoni became the starter in the Finals. He would win another six caps with the national team.
CM: Marco Rossi (Italy)
Marco Rossi started playing football with Lucchese in Serie B, moving to Salernitana in 1998, newly promoted to Serie A. After two seasons he joined Fiorentina, but left Fiorentina in 2002. In 2002, he joined Genoa when it was in Serie B, where he played until 2014. In the 2006–07 campaign he became club captain, and the club returned to division one under manager Gian Piero Gasperini. He was an important player for Genoa during that period.
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| Marco Rossi |
Eranio started his professional football career with Genoa in 1984. In total, Eranio played for the club for eight seasons before he moved to AC Milan in 1992. At Milan he won three league titles (1993, 1994 and 1996), three Italian Super Cups (1992, 1993 and 1994) and he also played in two Champions League finals. In May 1997 he moved for free to the English club Derby County. Capped 20 times.
LW: John van 't Schip (Holland)
Born in Canada, Van 't Schip began his career in the Jong Ajax youth academy. He would spend the next 11 seasons with the club. During this period he became league champion in 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1990, and cup champion in 1983, 1986 and 1987. He also helped Ajax win the 1987 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 1992 UEFA Cup. After Ajax's UEFA Cup victory, he was bought by Italian team Genoa, where he played four seasons.
AM/FW: Juan Carlos Verdeal (Argentina)
Juan Carlos Verdeal joined Estudiantes in 1938 and went to play in Brazil in 1941. In Brazil , Verdeal played with Fluminense, Canto do Rio and Juventus SP. In 1946, he went to Genoa and formed a partnership with striker Dalla Torre . He became one of the fan favourite. In 1950, he went to play in France with Lille and Valenciennes. After France, he played briefly in unofficial matches in Algeria.
FW: Julio Abbadie (Uruguay)
During his career, Julio Abbadie played for Peñarol in Uruguay, where he won the 1966 Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup. He also played in Italy (from 1956 to 1962) with Genoa and Lecco. In total, he played 140 matches and scored 31 goals in Serie A. For Uruguay, he had 26 caps between 1952 and 1957, scoring 14 goals. He participated in the 1954 FIFA World Cup and scored two goals in a group match against Scotland.
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| Julio Abbadie |
Carlos Aguilera began his career playing for River Plate Montevideo, from 1980 to 1982. He played with Club Nacional de Football, Independiente Medellín, Racing Club of Argentina, Tecos of Mexico , Genoa C.F.C. and then A.C. Torino. With Uruguay, he was capped 64 times and won the Copa America in 1983, where was the joint top scorer with 3 goals. He also went to the World Cup Finals in 1986 and 1990.
ST: Diego Milito (Argentina)
Diego Milito began his club career with Racing Club in 1999. He starred at both Genoa and Real Zaragoza. He is best remembered for playing with Inter Milan. He scored 32 goals in all competitions including two goals in the 2010 Champions League Final the club's 2009–10 treble-winning season scoring. He earned 25 caps for Argentina. He represented his country in two Copa América, and at the 2010 World Cup. His brother also played for Argentina.
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| Diego Milito |
Virgilio Levratto played for F.C. Vado (won in 1922 first Coppa Italia edition, scoring decisive goal in final) and played also for Hellas Verona F.C., Genoa C.F.C. (148 matches and 84 goal scored), Inter Milan in 1932, S.S. Lazio in 1934, Savona in Serie C and closed his career in Serie D with Cavese. With the national football team he got 28 caps (11 goals), played in the 1924 Summer Olympics and won bronze medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
ST: Tomáš Skuhravý (Czechoslovakia)
At club level, Tomáš Skuhravý mostly played in the early 1990s with Genoa, being signed from Sparta Prague. In the 1990–91 season, Genoa reached a fourth place in the final standings, and his team reached the Semi-finals in the UEFA Cup. He joined Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1995. He played for Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic. He went to the 1990 World Cup, where he scored five goals to become the second highest scorer for the tournament.
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| Tomáš Skuhravý |
Guillermo Stabile began his career with with Huracán. He started out on the right wing but soon evolved into a centre forward. Stábile won many competitions with Huracán, most notably the championships of 1925 and 1928. He was capped 31 times for Argentina and went to the first ever World Cup Finals. He finished as the top scorer. Then, he moved to Italy, playing for Genoa and Napoli before heading to France with Red Star Paris.
ST: Edoardo Catto (Italy)
Born in 1990, Edoardo Catto played his only game for the Italy national football team on March 9, 1924 in a game against Spain. He started his career with Serenitas. He played for Genoa from 1921 to 1929. He is Genoa C.F.C.'s number one scorer in history with 92 goals in the Italian championship. He won the Italian championship with the club in 1922/23 and 1923/24.
ST: Roberto Pruzzo (Italy)
Pruzzo made his professional debut for Genoa in 1973, winning the Serie B title in the 1975–76 season, as well as the top scoring award. He went to Roma in 1979, for the then record sum of 3 billions liras. He won one scudetto during the 1982–83 season, and four Italian Cups in 1980, 1981, 1983, and 1986. He also won the Serie A top scorer award three times in 1981, 1982, and 1986. For Italy, he was capped 6 times. He went to Euro 1980 hosted by Italy.
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| Roberto Pruzzo |
Honorable Mention
Bror Mellberg (Sweden), Ivan Juric (Croatia), Silvano Martina (Italy), Simone Braglia (Switzerland), Amedeo Cattani (Italy), Delfo Bellini (Italy), Giacomo Neri (Italy), Luigi Burlando (Italy), Aristodemo Santamaria (Italy), Sergio Bertoni (Italy), Mario Genta (Italy), Mario Perazzolo (Italy), Carlos Aguilera (Uruguay).
Squad Explanation
-- Yes, James Richardson Spensley was playing in an era when Italian football was probably very amateurish, but he won 6 titles with Genoa. The club only managed to win the title 9 times in total. He definitely contributed to the glorious history of the club. I did not really consider the fact that he was the founder of the club for his selection. I based upon of his successes on the field.
-- As mentioned, Genoa won 9 Serie A titles. All of them came before the Second World War. Their last Serie A title was the 1922-1923 season. Their last major domestic trip was the 1936-1937 Coppa Italia. Thus, a large number of the players selected were from before the War. I selected the following players: Renzo De Vecchi, Edoardo Catto, Virgilio Levratto, Ettore Leale, Ottavio Barbieri and Giovanni De Prà from the early 1920's..
-- With the exception of Renzo De Vecchi, I have never heard of any of their players from the 1920's before I started my research. I did my best to come up with a reasonable team.
-- Renzo De Vecchi is probably the biggest Italian star ever played for them. He is the first ever star player from Italy when he played in the 1910's. His nickname was "Il Figlio di Dio" (The Son of God). He played on the left side of the defence, but was more likely to be considered a centerback in the modern game.
-- Guillermo Stábile is the most famous player ever to have played for them. He was one of the stars at the 1930 World Cup Finals playing for Argentina. He was the top scorer of the tournament. He joined Genoa after the World Cup Finals.
-- Geona enjoyed a tiny resurgence during the early 1990's. Branco, John van 't Schip, Vincenzo Torrente, Gianluca Signorini, Tomáš Skuhravý and Gennaro Ruotolo all played for Geona at that time.
-- Tomáš Skuhravý became famous by finsihing as the second highest scorer at the 1990 World Cup Finals. He joined Genoa after the World Cup Finals.
-- Geona was Diego Milito's first club in Europe. They were playing in Serie B when he played for them.
-- Marco Rossi spent time with the club at the lower division. I rewarded him for his loyalty and for taking to the club to reach the next level.
-- Stefano Eranio was one of the few players after the Second World War who was capped by Italy while playing for Genoa. Domenico Criscito was another Italian capped during his time here. He went to the 2010 World Cup Finals.
-- The other big name players who played for the club was Branco, who won a World Cup with Brazil in 1994.
-- Roberto Pruzzo was born in Genoa. He was a homegrown player. He played parts of his career in Serie B when he was in Genoa. He later became an All-Timer with AS Roma. He played with Bruno Conti in Geona who was on loan at that time from AS Roma. The pair would team up in Rome again.
-- Genoa retired two numbers: #6 Gianluca Signorini and #7 Marco Rossi. Gianluca Signorini died in 2002 at the age of 42. Marco Rossi could play various position in the midfield.
Formation
Spensley
ReplyDeleteBarbieri Fausto-Ghigliotti Signorini Criscito
Ruotolo Joseph-William-Agar Perazzolo Aguilera
Catto Santamaria
I took Lincoln's option of putting Aguilera on the left.
Ghigliotti won 4 scudetti with Genoa. He was invited for an international game against Nice, which was won 6-0. He could have won another scudetto the next year but chose to found Sora Calcio 1907.
Aristodemo Santamaria was an inside forward. He won 4 scudetti, of which 3 with Genoa. His and Catto's goals were crucial for Genoa's success. He had 3 goals and 11 games for Italy.
Agar was an English player who won 5 scudetti with Genoa. He was invited to play for Italy against Switzerland.