Gianpiero Combi is usually considered Italy’s greatest ever goalkeeper and one of the greatest of all-time from any nation. He was on the Italian Olympic team in 1924 but did not play, won a bronze medal at the 1928 Olympics, and helped Italy win the 1934 FIFA World Cup. Internationally he earned 47 caps between 1924-34.
At the club level, Combi played his entire career with FC Juventus from 1921-34, playing 351 games in Serie A, and winning five league titles, in 1926 and 1931-34. The last four were the first of five consecutive for Juventus, a feat called Il Quinquennio d’Oro (the Golden Quinquennium). In 1934, Combi was getting set to retire, and had been supplanted on the Italian side by the new goalkeeper, Carlo Ceresoli. But shortly before the World Cup, Ceresoli broke his forearm stopping a shot, and Combi was called into the net for Italy, captaining the team in Roma, and allowing only three goals in 510 minutes of play. Combi received the Jules Rimet Trophy from Benito Mussolini on behalf of the Italian team.
Italy