Francesco Calì

For the American mob boss, see Frank Cali.

Francesco Calì (Italian: [franˈtʃesko kaˈli]; 16 May 1882 – 3 September 1949) was an Italian professional football player, coach and referee, who played as a defender. He captained the Italy national football team in their first ever match, on 15 May 1910.

Francesco Calì

Personal information
Date of birth	(1882-05-16)16 May 1882
Place of birth	Riposto, Italy
Date of death	3 September 1949(1949-09-03) (aged 67)
Place of death	Genoa, Italy
Position(s)	Defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1897–1899	Zürich
1899–1900	Urania Genève Sport
1900–1901	Genoa	1	(0)
1901–1912	Andrea Doria	34	(5)
International career
1910	Italy	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Calì was born in Riposto, Sicily on 16 May 1882, to Bruno Calì, a wine merchant. After pirate assaults on his father's business, he and his family immigrated to Switzerland two years later; he was nicknamed Franz.^[1]

Career

Calì played several games as a left-back for Swiss clubs Zürich and Urania Genève Sport. He then played for two rival Genovese teams: Genoa and Andrea Doria.^[2] He was also a referee during his time at Andrea Doria.^[3][1]

Due to his experience as a footballer, as well as his knowledge of several foreign languages, he was selected as the Italy national team captain, in their first ever game^[2][4][5] on 15 May 1910, in Milan against France, where Italy won 6–2.^[4]

After his retirement as a player, he was also chosen several times as a member of the technical commission, in 1912, 1914, 1915, 1920 and 1921.^[6]