Giovanni Ferrari was an Italianfootballer who played as a midfielder and as an inside forward on the left. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation, one of Italy's best ever players, and as one of the greatest players of all time, having won the Serie Aa record 8 times, as well as two consecutive FIFA World Cup titles with the Italy national football team. Along with Giuseppe Meazza and Eraldo Monzeglio, he is one of only three Italian players to have won two World Cups. A creative, advanced midfieldplaymaker, Ferrari was a strong, physically fit, hardworking, versatile, and well-rounded footballer, as well as being a generous team player. Due to his technical ability, vision, tactical intelligence, and passing ability, he excelled at building attacking plays and creating chances for teammates, although he was also capable of scoring himself due to his powerful and accurate shot. He was also deployed as a left–sided insideforward, or as an offensive–minded central midfielder throughout his career, known as the mezzala role, in Italian football jargon.
Club career
Ferrari was born in Alessandria, Italy, and began his footballing career with local club Alessandria Calcio in the prima divisione nazionale in 1923, making his debut in the newly established Serie A on 6 October 1929, in a 3–1 home win over Roma. He remained with the club until 1930, aside from a brief loan to Internaples during the 1925–26 season. He was given credit over the seven-year period with Alessandria Calcio and Internaples to playing in 122 games and for scoring 78 times. The following year Ferrari changed over to Juventus F.C and was handed the number 10 shirt; over that five-year period he played in 125 games and scored 35 goals, in addition to providing many assists. Although the official number of assists he provided was not recorded, it was said to be extremely high. The next move Ferrari would make would be to Inter in 1935, and subsequently to Bologna for the 1940–41 season, before returning to Juventus once again for the final season of his career, in which he also acted as coach, retiring from football in 1942. After his season spell as a player-manager with Juventus, Ferrari also managed Inter from 1942 to 1943. One of Italy's greatest ever players, he won 5 Championships with Juventus, 2 with Inter and 1 with Bologna; along with Giuseppe Furino and Gianluigi Buffon, he is one of only three players to have won an Italian record of eight Serie A titles. Ferrari is also one of six footballers to have won the Serie A title with three clubs, a feat he managed with Juventus, Inter, and Bologna; the other five players to have managed the same feat are Filippo Cavalli, Aldo Serena, Pietro Fanna, Sergio Gori, and Attilio Lombardo.
