Silvio PIOLA | 1942-1944 | PES Stats Database (Golden Era Backup)

PIOLA PES STATS | 1942-1944

Brezza Silvio Piola Silvio PIOLA | 1942-1944 Clubs: Lazio, Torino Number: 9 Position: CF* Nationality: Italian Era: 1942-1944 Foot: R Side: B Length: 180 Weight: 77 Attack: 95 Defence: 33 Balance: 92 Stamina: 83 Top Speed: 84 Acceleration: 80 Response: 96 Agility: 79 Dribble Accuracy: 82 Dribble Speed: 80 Short Pass Accuracy: 74 Short Pass Speed: 72 Long Pass Accuracy: 70 Long Pass Speed: 69 Shot Accuracy: 90 Shot Power: 86 Shot Technique: 93 Free Kick Accuracy: 70 Swerve: 72 Header: 87 Jump: 92 Technique: 84 Aggression: 95 Mentality: 89 Keeper Skills: 50 Team Work: 74 Injury Tolerance: B Condition/Fitness: 7 Weak Foot Accuracy: 6 Weak Foot Frequency: 6 Consistency: 7 Special Abilities: Positioning Scoring 1-1 Score Post Player 1-Touch Pass Videos: Adobe Flash Player is no longer supported http://www.provincia.vercelli.it/news/i ... 2x136B.wmv (Download) The lanky, slightly stooped Piola was regarded by many experts as Italy's best-ever central striker and also one of Europe's greatest into the bargain. Silvio Piola had a fantastic physique and constantly overran his opponents and was a man of great versatility and a centre forward without fear. He exploited any opportunity for shooting on goal.He was fast, aggressive and eternally goal-hungry, like an old fashioned English striker with skill added, a sort of Paulo Rossi mixed with Christian Vieri at their best. Piola was discovered as a youth by a football-enthusiast priest. Don Sassi was immediately impressed by the player because of his intrepid nature, his speed, and his jumping and shooting power. A good grasp of the game and quick reflexes in front of the opposing goal made Piola an outstandingly promising talent Early in his career with Lazio of Rome, he perfected the famous overhead or bicycle kick,scoring numerous spectacular goals in League and Mitropa Cup matches. Piola, born in 1913 in the Pavia region of Italy, began his career with the small Piemontese club Pro Vercelli in 1929. In 1934 Lazio of Rome spotted his talents and signed him: Piola stayed with the Roman club for nine brilliantly successful years. The 1934 World Cup came a trifle too soon for him by a year. However, later he gained the first of his 34 caps, against Austria and eventually his internationals netted him an amazingly high ratio of 30 goals. In the Italian national team's attack he quickly established a wondrous partnership with Giuseppe Meazza and the two are credited with having masterminded Italy's win in the 1938 World Cup, the second after the first Italian triumph of 1934. After nine seasons, in 1943, Piola transferred to AC Torino, playing in a war-time league and scoring 27 goals in one season. From AC Torino he switched for a couple of seasons to city rivals Juventus and finally moved to the small provincial club Novarra where he played, still with amazing predatory skill, until 1954, when he finally retired, aged 41. The man would be not only the most prolific but also the most senior player to have scored in Serie A, with his last goal coming at the age of 40, were it not that Alessandro Costacurta was allowed to take a penalty in 2007, aged 41. He would be the only player to have scored six goals in one game in Serie A, if Omar Sivori had not been pitted against a youth team in an official game (and, again, awarded a penalty to boot). He would be the most senior player ever to have been called up for the Azzurri, were it not for the natural longevity of goalkeepers which allowed for such a title to be stolen by one of Italy’s greatest, Dino Zoff. He is only the third most prolific bomber in the Azzurri shirt, but he does hold first place in terms of goal ratio - an astonishing 0.88 goals per game, above even Gigi Riva’s 0.83. If one has to remember Piola for what he brought to the pitch, then the best thing to be said is that he had a fight in him - a fight to skin your knuckles. Imagine the iron of Gennaro Gattuso brought to bear on an attacking talent of almost unrepeatable nature (the talent, per se, was obvious - in his debut year in Serie A, he collected 13 goals aged 17). It was this quality that allowed him to last so long on the pitches and to capitalise on so many of his opportunities - this was a man, for the record, capable of walking off the pitch with his head bleeding from injury, have it bandaged, come back into the game and score a header. As for his contributions to the Azzurri, Piola played only one World Cup but his performances were sublime. Five goals in four matches, including two goals in the quarter-finals against France and two goals in the final against Hungary. When flanked by Meazza, he formed a duo which still stands, easily, as the most formidable offensive combination and all-round offence in the history of Italian football. Fate alone proved an adversary capable of getting in his way, making him too young for the 1934 World Cup and cancelling the 1942 one due to the war. Where he could have been with a little more luck is a question open to debate. Where he stands now is the same place his 274 goals have kept him in for half a century - on the tips of Mount Parnassus. _________________ Alan Hansen wrote: How come Liverpool games are on last at the moment? Gary Lineker wrote: Midtable clashes aren't as exciting Silvio PIOLA | 1942-1944 | PES Stats Database (Golden Era Backup)