Luis Felipe Monti (15 May 1901 – 9 September 1983) was an Italian Argentinefootballer who played as a midfielder and an Olympian.[1] Monti has the distinction of having played in two FIFA World Cup final matches with two different national teams. He played the first of these finals with his native Argentina in 1930, which was lost to Uruguay; and the second with Italy as one of their Oriundi in 1934, thanks to his Romagnol descent.[2] This second time Monti was on the winning side in a 2–1 victory over Czechoslovakia.
Monti was a rugged, physical, and ruthless player, but he had the technical skills to go with his stamina and strong tackling. He played as an attacking centre half or metodista in the old-fashioned Metodo system: a position roughly equivalent to the defensivecentral midfield position of today. As such he would mark the opposing centre forward when his team were defending, but would be the main midfieldplaymaker when his team were on the attack, due to his passing and creativity, which enabled him to start attacking plays after winning back the ball.[2][3][4] He was nicknamed doble ancho (double wide) due to his coverage of the pitch. Monti is considered one of the best center-halves of his generation.[5]
Monti started his career in 1921 with Huracán, where he won the first of his many championships. The following year he signed with Boca Juniors but left without playing a game. He joined San Lorenzo where he won a further three Argentine championships. All of Monti's honours in Argentina were recorded during the Amateur Era.
Monti was first called up to represent the Argentina national team in 1924. He won the 1927 South American Championship and the silver medal at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[6] With Monti as a key player, Argentina cruised to the World Cup final in 1930, defeating France, Mexico, Chile, and the United States. Monti scored two goals along the way, and injured opponents with his tackling. Some sources speculate that Monti was carrying an injury, but whatever the truth, and despite a death threat,[7] he had a quiet game as Uruguay triumphed 4–2.
Italy
Monti in the early 1930s while playing at Juventus.
In 1930 Monti was signed by the Italian club Juventus, as he had Italian citizenship. As he was overweight and out of condition, he had a month's solitary training. Monti was back to top form helping Juventus to four consecutive Serie A titles (1932 to 1935), also serving as the club's captain. Monti went on to play 225 matches and scored 19 goals in Italy. During the 1930s, he formed a formidable and successful defensive trio at the club, along with full-backsVirginio Rosetta and Umberto Caligaris, who played behind him.[8]
The Battle of Highbury is a match that took place between Italy and England on 14 November 1934 at Highbury, the home ground of Arsenal. Monti was playing centre half for Italy, but as early as the second minute he broke a bone in his foot after a clash with England centre forward Ted Drake. Down to 10 men, in the days before substitutes, Italy succumbed 2–3.[9] Monti was only to play twice more for Italy.
In total Monti won 16 caps (5 goals) for Argentina between 1924 and 1931, and 18 caps (1 goal) for Italy between 1932 and 1936.
After football
Monti became manager after retiring. In 1947, he managed the first team of Huracán. He died in 1983 aged 82.
