Pietro Rava

Pietro Rava started playing football with US Alessandria. In 1935 he joined Juventus Torino as left back, making his début in Serie A at the age of 19. He stayed with Juventus until 1950, except for the post-war season (1946-47), when he returned temporarily to US Alessandria. For Juventus he made more than 300 appearances, scoring 14 goals. He was the favorite of former president Giovanni Agnelli, one of the founders of the Fiat car factory. As captain of Juventus, Rava won the Italian Championship trophy in 1950 after two Cup victories in 1938 and 1942. His active career ended with Novara Calcio in 1951.

Rava made his international début playing all four matches for Italy in the 1936 Olympic football tournament. Even though he was sent off during the match against the USA, he was allowed to play the following three games. He continued to be one of Italy’s top performers and was a member of the team that won the 1938 World Cup, where he was picked into the “team of the tournament”. Rava is one of four Italian players to have won both the World Cup and an Olympic gold. In total he played 30 matches for the Italian national team until 1946, including two as a captain. He had a famous partnership with Alfredo Foni for both for Juventus and Italy .

Parallel to his playing career he was enrolled as a student in economics and commerce. During the war he was forced to fight in Russia, but was allowed to return to continue his studies. In his later life, Rava pursued a coaching career, working for several Serie A and B clubs including Calcio Padova, AC Monza Brianza, Sampdoria Genua, US Palermo and US Alessandria. In 2003 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic for his sporting merits. Having suffered from Alzheimer’s disease for several years, he died at the age of 90 after having surgery on his right thigh bone due to a fracture days before. He was the last survivor of the 1938 World Cup winning team.