This was the combi piece i was refering to btw :
http://www.juventuz.com/forum/showpost.php?p=40695&postcount=19
Name: Giampiero Combi Nickname: Uomo di Gomma
Date of Birth: 20 December 1902 Place of Birth: Turin, Italy
Died: 1956 Position: Goalkeeper
National Team
Games: 47 (Juventus) Captain: 5 (Juventus)
Honours: World Cup 1934 - Captain
Olympic Bronze Medal 1928
2 - Coppa Internazionale 1930, 1935
Records: First European Captain to lift the World Cup.
First Goalkeeper Captain to lift the World Cup
Technical Commissioner: Games: 5 Wins: 2 Draws: 3 Loses: 0
Seria A
Clubs: Juventus
Seasons: 13 (Juventus)
Games: 348 (Juventus)
Honours: 5 - Italian Champion (Juventus-1926, 1930/31, 1931/32, 1932/33,
1933/34)
Records: First Goalkeeper to win four Italian Championships in a row
Third Goalkeeper to play most games with Juventus
Giampiero Combi is a legendary goalkeeper of the 1930's who is regarded as one of the best pre-Second World War goalkeepers in the world and, with Dino Zoff, the best Italian goalkeeper of all time. He was known as the 'Uomo di Gomma', the Rubber Man, due to his extraordinary agility and his carefree but secure saves. It was not uncommon to find him near his opponent's goal and probably was the first goalkeeper to scientifically study his opponents and their shooting capabilities, thus becoming a great specialist in saving penalty shots, especially by noting the way the penalty taker is looking.
He was born in Turin on the 20 December 1902 in a wealthy family. As a young boy he used to play football with his friends in the Piazza d'Armi. Soon this new sport became his major hobby and he was at his best jumping at his opponent feet to grab the ball. As a young man he was a 'Turineis', that is, a wealthy Turin youth who had a car - a rarity in those years. Giampiero was a very friendly and elegant person who used to spend half an hour to dress before each game and in his everyday life he will take an hour to dress to go just for a walk in Piazza San Carlo. Due to this mania on elegancy he managed also to change temporarily the traditional black or gray shirt colours that the Juventus' goalkeepers used to wear, to a white one. He used to design himself his playing shirts, which were then manufactured by his taylor. To keep his shorts from falling he used to wear a white belt with a round buckel.
He made his debut in the Seria A on the 30 October 1921in Juventus vs Spezia 2-2. At that time Italian football and Juventus were passing through a lot of new changes. The club elected as President Edoardo Agnelli, the son of the owner and founder of the major Italian car manufacturer FIAT - the first step that lead the Agnelli family to eventually own the club. Due to the increased number of supporters Juventus bought a proper Stadium surrounded by a stonewall fencing in Corso Marsiglia. The first real coach arrived to lead Juventus - the Hungarian Jeno Karoly and the first player transfer involving money in football history occurred when Juventus bought from Pro Vercelli Virginio Rosetta.
Besides Combi and Rosetta, Juventus eventually added to their ranks Umberto Caligaris, another star player of the time. Between them these three defenders made a formidable defensive wall that every opponent found so difficult to penetrate Combi between the posts and the Full-backs Rosetta and Caligaris on the sides. This trio eventually become known as the 'Trio della Legenda' (the legendary trio) and left their mark both in the Juventus squad and the Italian National team.
His first honour was obtained in 1926 when he won his first Italian Championship from a total of five won during his career. This was the second Scudetto for Juventus, won 21 years after the first one in 1905. In the National league of that year 44 clubs participated and as the Seria A format had not yet started to be used, these clubs were divided in seven groups: 2 in the Northern League and 5 in the Southern League. Juventus won Group B of the Northern League with a total of 37 points; eight more than the runner-ups Cremonese, through 17 victories, 3 draws and just two loses. In the Northern League final they met the winners of Group A, Bologna the reigning National Champions. After two draws, 2-2 in Bologna and 0-0 in Turin, Juventus won the decider on a neutral ground in Milano 2-1 and qualified for the National Final against the Southern League champions Alba. The team of Combi crashed the roman team 7-1 in Turin and 5-0 in Rome.
The 'Uomo di Gomma' also formed part of the Golden Years of the Club when Juventus established the record of five championship victories in a row. Combi won four of the five scudetti 1930/31, 1931/32, 1932/33 and 1933/34 as then he decided to retire. It was the time that the FIGC changed the format of the national league and created one group of 18 clubs to play for the championship; in fact the 1930/31 season was just the second one in this format. Juventus won the 1930/31 and the 1931/32 seasons with four points ahead of Roma and Bologna respectively. The next two leagues where fought mainly against (Ambrosiana) Inter and the club of Giampiero won with a lead of eight points the 1932/33 season and a lead of four the 1933/34 league. Such a successful period was due to the quality of the players, the good administrative management of the club and mainly the technical expertise of coach Carlo Carcano - an ex-national coach.
He played his last match in the Seria A on the 15 April 1934 in Brescia vs Juventus 1-2. In total Combi played 13 seasons with his beloved club Juventus, totaling 348 Seria A matches to establish the record of the most Goalkeeper to play with Juventus - a record he held for more then 40 years until Dino Zoff in the 1970's and Stefano Tacconi in the 1980's had done better. At that time Juventus had their first experiences of international competitions by their participation in the Coppa Europa (the predecessor of the modern Champions Cup) in which they qualified to play in the semi-finals on four occasions but never won. Giampiero also played 16 games in the Central European Cup or as it was known at the time, the 'Mitropa Cup'.
In Azzurro he made his debut at the age of 22 when the National coach Vittorio Pozzo selected him to play against Hungary in Budapest on the 6 April 1924. It was a disastrous friendly match and Italy lost with the score of 7-1. The result wasn't positive for Combi as he lost his place in the National team and therefore his participation in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
1934 World Cup - The greatest moment in Giampiero's career. The left photo shows the Azzurri in preparation for the final stage of the competition during a retreate held in Roveta near Florence. Combi is seated on the left of National Coach Pozzo. The right photo shows the Azzurri entering the stadium to play the First Round match against the USA (7-1). Combi is seen in the front near Meazza (with the flag) and captain Rosetta. This was the only game of the World Cup in which Giampiero Combi was not the Captain of the Azzurri.
The 'Uomo di Gomma' also formed part of the Golden Years of the Club when Juventus established the record of five championship victories in a row. Combi won four of the five scudetti 1930/31, 1931/32, 1932/33 and 1933/34 as then he decided to retire. It was the time that the FIGC changed the format of the national league and created one group of 18 clubs to play for the championship; in fact the 1930/31 season was just the second one in this format. Juventus won the 1930/31 and the 1931/32 seasons with four points ahead of Roma and Bologna respectively. The next two leagues where fought mainly against (Ambrosiana) Inter and the club of Giampiero won with a lead of eight points the 1932/33 season and a lead of four the 1933/34 league. Such a successful period was due to the quality of the players, the good administrative management of the club and mainly the technical expertise of coach Carlo Carcano - an ex-national coach.
22 year old Combi in a 1924 Juventus team photo wearing a white shirt.
1934 World Cup Quarter Final against Spain (1-1) - two legendary Goalkeeper Captains, Combi and Zamora
He returned in Azzurro a year and seven games later when the Technical Commission, made up of Rangone, Giuseppe Milano and Baccani selected him to play against France in Turin on the 22 March 1925. This match was played in the Juventus stadium 'Corso Marsiglia' and this time the large score was in favor of the Azzurri, a victory of 7-0. After this match Giampiero never looked back and for the next ten years it was extremely rare to see another goalkeeper defending the Azzurri posts.
The 1928 Olympics where held in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and this time Combi formed part of the squad. He lost his place to De Pra of Genoa for the first Round match against France (4-3) but defended the Azzurri's net for the rest of the tournament: Quarter Final against Spain 1-1 after extra time, Quarter Final Replay against Spain 7-1, Semi Final against Uruguay 2-3 and 3rd Place Final against Egypt 11-3. With this result obtained on the 10 June 1928 in the Olympisch Stadion of Amsterdam, the Azzurri won their first honour - the Bronze Medal of the 9th edition of the Olympic games.
Other triumphs followed, the next being the winning of the first edition of the Coppa Internazionale, a predecessor of the European Nations Cup held between the National teams of Central Europe. The competition was held in a period of three years in which each team played eight matches on home and away bases. De Pra of Genoa played in the first four matches of this edition while Combi guarded the Azzurri's goal in the last four. In these matches Italy lost against Austria 0-3 in Vienna but won all the others, against Switzerland 3-2 in Zurich, against Czechoslovakia 4-2 in Bologna and the last match against Hungary. This match was played in Budapest on the 11 May 1930 and as both teams had equal points, whoever was going to win the match was also going to win the Coppa Internazionale. A great game by the Azzurri produced a massive 5-0 victory through a hat trick by Meazza and two goals by Magnozzi and Costantino. The price was a trophy made of Bohemian glass and on the return trip to Italy there were celebrations in every train station where the cup was triumphaly shown.
Around the beginning of 1934, 32-year-old Giampiero was preparing to retire from football. In this season he was on the way to win his fifth Scudetto (a record fourth in a row) with Juventus and his career in Azzurro, very successful with more than then 40 games, was nearing the twilight as a new promising young goalkeeper was emerging - Carlo Ceresoli of Ambrosiana Inter. On his debut Ceresoli had helped the Azzurri to qualify for the 2nd edition of the World Cup being held in Italy that summer, by eliminating Greece in Milano by a 4-0 score. But the National Coach Vittorio Pozzo included 'Uomo di Gomma' in his World Cup squad and demanded Combi to
postpone his retirement until the end of the Competition as his experience might be of great help. An so it was when during a training session a few weeks before the beginning of the tournament, a shot by Pietro Arcari cracked one of Ceresoli's forearms. Therefore he had to miss the World Cup and Giampiero found himself again the top goalkeeper of Italy, with the responsibility to lead the Azzurri on their debut in the most prestigious competition in football history.
The first appointment was for the 27 May 1934 when Italy played in the First Round of the World Cup in the Stadio Nazionale del P.N.F. in Rome against the United States. The Azzurri destroyed their opponents with a 7-1 victory through a hat trick by Schiavio, a double of Orsi and a goal each by Ferrari and Meazza. In the Quarter finals the Azzurri meet Spain, whom were lead by another legenedary goalkeeper of the time Zamora. The game was played on the 31 May 1934 in the Stadio Comunale "Giovanni Berta" of Florence. As both Virginio Rosetta and Caligaris were not selected with the first eleven, from this match onwards Combi was the Captain of the Azzurri. He had already made his debut as Azzurro Captain when he was playing his 33rd game with the blue shirt on the 15 November 1931. On that occasion Italy played their third match in the second edition of the Coppa Internazionale against Czechoslovakia in Rome and equalized 2-2. The game against Spain was a very difficult one, dominated by the velocity and force used by both teams and finished in a draw of 1-1 after extra Time. Therefore a replay had to be played the next day, in which Italy changed four players and Spain seven. Italy won 1-0 with a goal of Meazza.
The semi-final opponents were the archrivals Austria; a great team who had just beat the Azzurri 2-4 in Turin four months before. The match was played in Milano's Stadio Calcistico San Siro on the 3 June and the Azzurri played a great game to win 1-0 with a goal of Guaita. Captain Combi was also decisive when he made two miracle saves to keep the score in favor of Italy till the end. The final was held in Rome on the 10 June 1934 at three in the afternoon. The day was hot and a tense feeling could be felt on Rome. The first half finished without goals but in the 71-minute against all odds Puc managed to beat Giampiero and the Czechs were in the lead. But ten minutes later Orsi equalized and the game went in Extra-time. With the help of a great and noisy support, because of which coach Pozzo had to continually run along the pitch so that the players could hear his instructions, Italy won the match through a goal by Schiavio, who fell sick through his joy and emotions. Italy were crowned World Champions, the first European Nation to reach such a high honor in football. Giampiero Combi as Captain of the Azzurri received the prestigious Rimet Cup and the 'Coppa del Duce' given by the Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini to the winner of the Tournament.
This was the greatest moment in Combi's life, becoming the first European Captain to lift the World Cup and (together with Dino Zoff) the only Goalkeeper Captain to lift the Cup. It was the perfect time to close his career as World and Italian Champion. A year later, in November 1935, in Combi's absence the Azzurri had won the third edition of the Coppa Internazionale, and as he had played in five of the eight games before his retirement, he was credited as one of the winners of the Cup. In total he had played 47 games with the blue shirt of the National team, 5 of which as Captain.
Although he had stopped playing football, this sport remained in his life and he still held a number of unofficial positions with Juventus. He contributed with his advices to the technical staff and also as a scout. In 1951 the FIGC offered him the job to become a technical commissioner of the Azzurri together with Carlino Beretta and Toni Busini. They lead the National Team for seven months, from the 8 April till the 25 November 1951 in which time the Azzurri played 5 games without any loses. They won 4-1 against Portugal and France, and equalized against Yugoslavia (0-0), Sweden (1-1) and Switzerland (1-1) - the only competitive game from the five.
He died in Imperia in August 1956, aged 54. He had placed the game of football as his main objective of his life and had succeeded in writing his name with golden letters on the football history books. On the occassion of the European Nations Championships held in Italy in 1980, the idea to change the name of the major stadium in Turin, Stadio Comunale, was being considered by the Comune. Juventus proposed the name 'Stadio Giampiero Combi'. The idea was finally abandoned and Stadio Comunale remained with its old name. But his beloved Juventus still remembered him and has named one of their minor grounds, the one in which their Primavera squad plays, Campo Combi.