Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 6 August 1911 | ||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Muzzana del Turgnano, Kingdom of Italy | ||||||||||||||
Date of death | 26 February 1999 | (aged 87)||||||||||||||
Place of death | Milan, Italy | ||||||||||||||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||
Playing position | Midfielder, Forward | ||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||
1929–1931 | Udinese | 32 | (0) | ||||||||||||
1931–1933 | Padova | 47 | (10) | ||||||||||||
1933–1934 | Bari | 30 | (12) | ||||||||||||
1934–1935 | Padova | 26 | (14) | ||||||||||||
1935–1936 | L'Aquila | 34 | (9) | ||||||||||||
1936–1942 | Ambrosiana | 125 | (40) | ||||||||||||
1942–1943 | Pro Patria | 24 | (3) | ||||||||||||
1945 | Como | 5 | (2) | ||||||||||||
Total | 323 | (90) | |||||||||||||
National team | |||||||||||||||
1937 | Italy B | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||
1936–1937 | Italy | 5 | (8) | ||||||||||||
Teams managed | |||||||||||||||
1946–1948 | Luino | ||||||||||||||
1948–1949 | Mortara | ||||||||||||||
1949–1953 | Monza | ||||||||||||||
1954–1956 | Torino | ||||||||||||||
1956–1957 | Internazionale | ||||||||||||||
1958–1959 | Genoa | ||||||||||||||
1959 | Napoli | ||||||||||||||
1960–1961 | Genoa | ||||||||||||||
1962–1964 | Modena | ||||||||||||||
1964–1965 | Triestina | ||||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Annibale Frossi (6 August 1911 – 26 February 1999) was an Italian football manager and player, who played as a midfielder or as a forward.
Frossi is perhaps best known for wearing correctional glasses during his playing years after suffering from myopia from when he was a child. As a footballer, he was a member of the Italian national team, which won the gold medal in the football tournament at the 1936 Summer Olympics, finishing the tournament as top-scorer. As a manager, he is also known for his developments of the theory of catenaccio, which emphasises a defensive style of football.
Born in Muzzana del Turgnano, Frossi began his career as a professional footballer with Udinese, and, after a long stay in Serie B (with Padova, Bari, and L’Aquila) he was discovered by the coach of the Italian national side, Vittorio Pozzo, who called him up for the 1936 Summer Olympics. Following his prolific performances in the victorious tournament, he gained the interest of several more prominent teams in Italian football, and was acquired by Ambrosiana Inter, where he made his Serie A debut on 13 September 1936, in a 2–1 home win over Triestina. He played with Inter from 1936 until 1942, winning the “Scudetto” or league championship, twice in 1938 and 1940, as well as the Coppa Italia in 1939. He scored 49 goals in 147 matches with Inter, 40 of which came in the league, in 125 appearances. During World War II, he later also played with Pro Patria between 1942 and 1943, and Como in 1945, before retiring.