Place of birth Riposto, Italy Playing position Position Defender | Place of death Genoa, Italy Years Team | |
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Date of birth (1882-05-16)16 May 1882 Date of death 3 September 1949(1949-09-03) (aged 67) Died 3 September 1949, Genoa, Italy | ||
Francesco Calì (16 May 1882 in Riposto – 3 September 1949 in Genoa) was a Swiss and later Italian professional football player and coach, who played as a defender. He captained the Italy national football team in their first ever match, in 1910.
Career
Born in Italy, Calì moved to Switzerland at a young age and played several games as a left-back for the Switzerland national football team, and with Swiss club Zürich. Later he moved back to Italy, where he played for two rival Genovese teams: Genoa and Andrea Doria. Due to his experience as a footballer, as well as his knowledge of several foreign languages, he was selected as team captain for Italy's first ever game, on 15 May 1910, in Milan, against France, which saw the Italians win 6–2.
After his retirement he became a coach. Under his management, Juventus F.C. won the Coppa Città di Torino, which was an important trophy at the time in 1902. After that, on several occasions he was a member of the technical commission managing the Italy national football team, in total he managed the national team for 13 games with 6 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses.