The 1910 association football match between the national teams of Italy and France was the first ever official match played by Italy. The match took place on 15 May 1910 at the Arena Civica in Milan.[1] Officiated by Harry Goodley, the match was watched by about 4,000 spectators and ended in a 6–2 home win for Italy. Italy's Pietro Lana scored the first goal of the match, and of Italy's history.
By the time Italy played their first official match, many other nations, especially those from Northern Europe, had already formed their respective national teams.[2] On 16 March 1898, the Italian Football Federation was founded in Turin under the name Federazione Italiana del Football (FIF). Luigi Bosisio and Arturo Baraldi, then-president and secretary of the Federation respectively, laid the groundwork for the creation of the Italy national team.[3] Due to organisational difficulties, the Federation headquarters were later relocated to Milan.[2] FIF officially entered FIFA—the international governing body of association football—in 1905, one year after FIFA's formation.[2][4]
During this era, Pro Vercelli won the 1908 and 1909scudetti using exclusively Italian players, in contrast to many clubs that relied heavily on English or Swiss footballers.[4] Meanwhile, FIF the was renamed Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) in a 1909.[5] Before the establishment of an official national team, several unofficial Italian selections had played matches against Swiss clubs. In 1899, a team of players from Genoa and Internazionale Torino faced a Swiss selection in Turin. In 1907, a FIF team played against Grasshopper in Milan.[4]
After observing the early international matches of neighbouring countries such as France, Switzerland, and Austria, Italian football authorities, under Luigi Bosisio's impulse, decided in early 1910 to form a national team.[4]
"THE ITALIAN NATIONAL TEAM – This year Italy will also have its national team composed only of Italian players. To this end, the FIGC has instructed the Commissione Tecnica Arbitrale ... [to] put together a team that will worthily represent the colors of Italy, with the hope that victory will come to the eleven valiant athletes."
FIGC established a technical commission composed of referees Umberto Meazza (US Milanese), Alberto Crivelli (Ausonia Milano), Agostino Recalcati (AC Milan), Giuseppe Gama (Internazionale), and Gianni Camperio (AC Milan) to select Italy's national team players. Leadership of the team was entrusted to Meazza.[2] The players selected by the Commissione Tecnica Arbitrale were divided into two squads: one representing the "probable" starters and the other the "possible" starters. Most of the chosen players came from northwestern Italy. The formation of a national team generated widespread enthusiasm among directors, players, and fans alike. It was decided that the two squads would face each other to determine the stronger line-up. Two internal matches were played on 5 and 8 May 1910 between the "probables" and the "possibles," with the former winning both encounters—4–1 and 4–2, respectively. Ten of the eleven players from the "probables" squad would be selected to start Italy’s inaugural match against France.[4]
Despite having won the league titles in 1908 and 1909, Pro Vercelli players were unavailable for national team duty. On 24 April 1910, the club forfeited the scudetto playoff match against Internazionale because many of its first-team players were participating in a military tournament, which held considerable importance at the time. As a result, Pro Vercelli fielded a team composed mostly of boys aged 10 to 15 and lost 3–10. The club's senior players were suspended until 31 December 1910, effectively ruling them out of Italy's historic international debut.[2]
All players game from a Paris club. Notably, Étoile des Deux Lacs had six starters. Other such clubs were AS Bon Conseil, l’AF La Garenne-Colombes et le CA Vitry, who provided three players including captain Étienne Jourde.[6] France could not lean on the players coming from their top teams such as Racing Club, Stade Rennais, Patronage Olier, and Club Français due to controversies on professional and amateur football.[7]
Match
The match, played on a sunny Sunday, 15 May 1910 was Italy's first official international game.[1] The match was set to be played at the Arena Civica in Milan which did not typically host football matches as it was mostly a venue for chariot races and circus shows. La Stampa and Guerin Sportivo reported the presence of 4,000 spectators, while others suggested up to 8,000.[7] The French had just lost 4–0 and 10–0 against Belgium and England respectively.[5] They reached Milan on a ten-hour overnight journey.[4] They played with a white-and-light-blue-striped shirt with red hand-guards.[4] Instead, Italy played in a white shirt with starched collar and cuffs; above the breast pocket, a tricolor rectangle is stitched.[4] The players could wear socks of their choice.[8]
The referee was former Juventus coach Harry Goodley from England.[4]
In the 13th minute, assisted by Arturo Boiocchi, Pietro Lana scored Italy's first historical goal with a 30-metre shot.[7] Seven minutes later, Italy doubled the score as 19-year-old Virgilio Fossati scored another long-distance goal.[4]Aldo Cevenini scored a third goal through a header, which was later disallowed for offside.[7] Three minutes after half-time, France halved their deficit with Henri Bellocq.[4] France's comeback hopes were cancelled since Pietro Lana scored a brace.[4]Jean Ducret's free-kick meant the result would be 3–2.[4] However, France would concede three more goals.[6]Giuseppe Rizzi re-established the two-goal gap after collecting goalkeeper Louis Tessier's rebound, on a Francesco Calì's throw.[4]Torino FC founder and right-winger Enrico Debernardi scored Italy's fifth goal. Finally, after a penalty had been awarded to Italy for handball on a Boiocchi's shoot, Pietro Lana made it 6–2 with a penalty kick, completing a hat-trick.[4]
La Stampa characterised the game as "quite one-sided" and mentioned that it had failed to meet expectations, noting that the home team was superior in both physicality and technique.[7] In detail, it reported Debernardi distinguished himself for his pace, Rizzi, Lana and Boiocchi for their precise low passing. Only Cevenini was reported to fall short of his teammates, due to a sprain.[7] In addition, it remarked Italy could have won with a higher deficit had Pro Vercelli players been able to play, while France could not employ their best players. La Gazzetta dello Sport praised captain Calì's offensive abilities and his capacity to provide key passess to his teammates.[9]
In contrast, L'Auto reported that French players were already exhausted due to the long journey to reach Italy, and that they had troubles playing in a "scorching heat".[1]
The match marked France's tenth consecutive defeat.[10]Étienne Jourde became France's youngest captain being 20 years and three months old.[6]
Italy's following match would be played 11 days later, on 26 May 1910: they would lose 6–1 to Hungary in Budapest.[10] Before the outbreak of World War I, Italy and France would face each other annually.[11]
Pietro Lana, the scorer of Italy's first goal and hat-trick, would only be called-up for the match against Hungary.[12] Virgilio Fossati would fight for Italy in World War I and was killed in Monfalcone in 1916.[4] Italy's coach Umberto Meazza would guide them until 1924.[8] Italy would adopt the iconic blue shirt, probably as an homage to the Savoy reigning in the country, starting from their third match.[8]
Papa, Antonio; Panico, Guido (2002). Storia sociale del calcio in Italia[Social history of football in Italy] (in Italian). Bologna: Il Mulino. ISBN88-15-08764-8.
Bagnati, Giuseppe (2010). Gaetano Sconzo, Il primo capitano. Francesco Calì e la Nazionale[Gaetano Sconzo, The first captain. Francesco Calì and the National team] (in Italian). Antipodes. ISBN978-88-96926-00-0.
Chiesa, Carlo (2012). La grande storia del calcio italiano[The great history of Italian football] (in Italian). Guerin Sportivo.
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