Umberto Caligaris

1919/28 Casale FCB (ITA) 182 matches, 18 goals

1928/35 Juventus Turin (ITA) 178 matches

1935/37 Brescia (ITA) 40 matches

With the National Team :

59 selections

(Friendly matches: 38 selections)

(International Cup: 14 selections)

(Olympic Games: 7 selections)

1st selection: January 15, 1922 against Austria (3-3)

Last selection: February 11, 1934 against Austria (2-4)

Umberto Francesco Luigi Caligaris

Born June 26, 1901 in Casale Monferrato (ITA)

Died on October 19, 1940 in Turin (ITA)

Italian, left back, central defender, 1m75

Nicknames: Berto, Caliga

Umberto Caligaris is one of the best defenders in history and certainly among the very best defenders before World War II. He is a legend of Italy and Juventus in the 1930s.

Umberto Caligaris was born in Casale Monferrato on July 26, 1901. The son of an athlete, he grew up hoping to one day become a regular player for a major team. He studied accounting but continued to excel in many sports activities. At 18, he made his debut with the Casale FCB team on October 12, 1919, in a match won 3-1 against Valenzana.

Very quickly, he established himself in the team and never left the starting lineup. A very good defender, he joined the Italian national team in 1922, on January 15 during a match against Austria 3-3 at the end of the match. In Italy, he is the competitor of his future teammate Virginio Rosetta and Renzo De Vecchi, all 3 legends of Serie A and the Italian national team.

Caligaris is a blond full-back who is very tactically intelligent. He is also a powerful and gutsy defender. Very aggressive in his way of playing, he bases his game above all on his instinct. Endowed with great class, he was remarkable on the field because he wore a piece of white cloth around his head.

In total, he played 9 seasons for the Casale FCB club before joining the Juventus Turin club, in search of the Italian champion trophy. He arrived in 1928 in the Turin club and quickly established himself alongside Virginio Rosetta and Gianpiero Combi. Between the three of them, they are the best defense in the country, if not the world. In the national team as in the club, they are intractable.

The three men also allowed Italy to win the bronze medal at the 1928 Olympic Games. With Caligaris, Juventus would achieve the famous "Quinquennio d'oro". That is, winning the Italian championship 5 times in a row, an achievement for the time.

In 1934, he was selected in the Italian group to participate in the World Cup. Unfortunately, the player who was 33 years old at the time found himself on the bench and saw his team win the trophy. The most precious trophy of his career. A great career made up of many successes.

At the age of 34, he moved to Brescia where, in the last two years of his career, he exercised the dual role of coach-player, leaving football played in 1937 at the age of 36, also due to a septicemia that undermined his circulatory system.

- Named Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1933

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