Luigi Allemandi was an
Italian footballFootball is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup 4 times , trailing only Brazil . Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful European nation in the subject of football...
er who played as a defender.
Born in
San Damiano MacraSan Damiano Macra is a comune in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 70 km southwest of Turin and about 25 km northwest of Cuneo...
,
province of Cuneoayr is a province in the southwest of the Piedmont region of Italy. To the west it borders on the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ....
, he debuted in 1921 with
A.C. LegnanoAssociazione Calcio Legnano was an Italian football club, based in Legnano, Lombardy, that was founded in 1913. The team's colors were lilac and white. In the past Legnano have played three seasons in Italy's top league; Serie A, finishing bottom of the league each time.The club were perhaps best...
. Later, he played with
Juventus F.C.Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
,
F.C. Internazionale MilanoFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
,
A.S. RomaAssociazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated in the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence but one season in the early 50s...
, S.S.C. Venezia and
S.S. LazioSocietà Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...
. He was a member of the
ItalianThe Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
national team which won the
1934 World CupThe 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....
. He died in
Pietra LigurePietra Ligure is a comune in the Province of Savona in the Italian region Liguria, located about 60 km southwest of Genoa and about 20 km southwest of Savona...
,
Province of SavonaThe Province of Savona is a province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona.-Overview:...
.
After debuting for the national team in 1925 he eventually won the left back position from
CaligarisUmberto Caligaris was an Italian international footballer who played, normally at left back, for A.S. Casale and Juventus. His 59 caps for the Italian national team stood as a record for many years....
before their
1934 World CupThe 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....
qualifying match against
GreeceThe Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...
.
Vittorio PozzoVittorio Pozzo 21 December 1968) was an Italian football coach who was most famous for leading the Italian national team to victory in the 1934 FIFA World Cup and 1938 FIFA World Cups; managed the side that won the 1930 and 1935 editions of the Central European International Cup, as well as the...
started him in every match, which he repaid by helping win the title. However the part of his career that stands out is the corruption scandal in the
Torino-Juventus derbyDerby della Mole, known in English as the Turin Derby is the local derby, played out between the city's two most successful teams, Juventus F.C. and Torino F.C.. The first match took place in 1906 and most derbies take place in the Serie A or Coppa Italia...
in 1927 that resulted in Torino being stripped of their title. A manager from Torino offered Allemandi 50,000
liraThe lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro...
to throw the game, 25,000 now and the rest after the match. Torino won the match 2–1 but Allemandi played to his best. When he went to collect the rest of the money he was refused. The confrontation was overheard by a journalist from the
Tifone newspaper who then went public with the information. Along with Torino's title revocation, Allemandi was banned for life. He was later pardoned by Umberto of Savoy in 1928 and joined
Ambrosiana-InterFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. Allemandi was ahead of his time as a defender. He was a lateral defender that would push forward on attack along the wings. He had springlike reflexes, precise passing and an inexhaustible pair of lungs.