Silvio Piola

Silvio Piola (“Silvio gol”) was a formidable striker for Lazio and Italy, scoring 30 times in 34 international matches including two in the 1938 World Cup final in Paris, when the “Azurri” retained their title with a win 4-2 win over Hungary.

Born in the province of Pavia, Piola began his career with Italian club Vercelli, making his Serie A (top division of the Italian Football League) debut against Bologna on February 1930, scoring 13 goals in his first year, at the age of 17. He went on to score 51 goals in 127 appearances in Serie A for Pro Vercelli.
In 1934, he moved to Lazio, who had been on the receiving end of his first Serie A goal on November 1930. He was to spend the next nine seasons there. Piola was the Serie A top scorer twice while at Lazio, in 1937 and 1943. After leaving Lazio, he spent war-torn 1944 at Torino, where he scored an amazing 27 goals in just 23 games. Towards the end of the war, he joined Novara. Then, from 1945to 1947, Piola played for Juventus before moving back to Novara, where he stayed for seven more seasons.

His first game for Italy came against Austria on March 24, 1935, when he also scored his first goal for the team. He was a World Cup winner in 1938, when he scored two of Italy's goals in the 4-2 victory over Hungary. Piola went on to play 34 games for Italy and score 30 goals, a tally that would surely have been greater if not for the interruption caused by World War II. His last international appearance was in 1952, when Italy drew 1-1 with England.

He died in Gattinara, Vercelli, on 1996, keeping the record of the highest striker in the Italian Serie A history, with 274 goals, full 49 goals ahead of anyone else. He played 536 (or 537) Serie A games, putting him in the fourth place on the all-time list for appearances in Italy's top flight.