Felice Placido Borel (Italian pronunciation: [feˈliːtʃe boˈrɛl]; 5 April 1914 – 21 February 1993) was an Italian football player who played as a striker. He was a member of the Italy national football team that won the 1934 FIFA World Cup.

Felice Borel
Borel II with Juventus in the 1930s
Personal information
Full name Felice Placido Borel II
Date of birth 5 April 1914
Place of birth Nice, France
Date of death 21 February 1993 (aged 78)
Place of death Turin, Italy
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1932–1941 Juventus 205 (119)
1941–1942 Torino 25 (7)
1942–1946 Juventus 75 (24)
1946–1947 US Alessandria 1 (0)
1948–1949 Napoli 1 (0)
Total 307 (150)
International career
1933–1934 Italy 3 (1)
Managerial career
1942–1946 Juventus
1946–1947 Alessandria
1948–1949 Napoli
1954 Cenisia (technical director)
1954–1956 Fossanese
1958–1959 Catania (technical director)
1966–1967 Ternana
Medal record
 Italy
FIFA World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1934 Italy
Central European International Cup
Gold medal – first place 1933–35 Central European International Cup
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

edit

Borel was born in Nice, France. During his career, he played for Juventus and cross-city rivals Torino in Serie A and, in Serie B, for Alessandria, and finally for S.S.C. Napoli, where he finished his career.[1][2][3]

He scored 158 goals for Juventus, winning three Serie A titles (1933, 1934, and 1935) and a Coppa Italia (1938) during his time with the club, as well as the Serie A top-scorer award on two occasions (1933 and 1934); he is currently Juventus's sixth highest goal scorer. During his second spell with the club in the 1940s, he held the position of player-manager.[1][2][3]

He still holds the record for most goals, in winning the Capocannoniere/Top scorer title, in Serie A while playing for Juventus with 31 goals. Although Ferenc Hirzer still holds the record for most goals in winning the Capocannoniere/Top scorer title, in the Best Italian League while playing for Juventus with 35 goals (in only 24 matches) but then it was called Prima Divisione.

International career

edit

Borel made three appearances for the Italy national team between 1933 and 1934, scoring his only international goal on his debut against Hungary on 22 November, in Budapest, during the gold winning 1933-35 Central European International Cup campaign. He was part of the 1934 FIFA World Cup winning national team, appearing once throughout the tournament, during the quarter-final victory over Spain on 1 June.[2][4]

Style of play

edit

Nicknamed farfallino ("little butterfly," in Italian), Borel usually played as a centre-forward, and is regarded as one of Italy's and Juventus's greatest forwards of all time. He was known for his speed, movement, shooting, goalscoring, dribbling, team-play, and technical ability. In his later career he usually played as an inside forward or mezzala, or even as an offensive–minded central midfielder. Despite his ability, however, he was also injury prone.[2][3][5]

After retirement

edit

During the 1958–59 season, he was technical director of Catania.[1]

Personal life

edit

Felice's older brother Aldo Borel played football professionally, spending 10 seasons in the Serie A, and their father Ernesto Borel played for OGC Nice, AS Cannes and Juventus in the 1900s and 1910s, and later also served as a manager. To distinguish the brothers, Aldo was known as Borel I and Felice - as Borel II.[3]

Honours

edit

Juventus[1][3]

International

edit
Italy[1][2]

Individual

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Borel, Felice Placido" (in Italian). Enciclopedia del Calcio. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e Caminiti, Vladimiro. "BOREL Felice Placido: il volo di Farfallino" (in Italian). storiedicalcio. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Bedeschi, Stefano (1 April 2019). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Felice Placido BOREL" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Nazionale in cifre: Borel, Felice" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  5. ^ Garanzini, Gigi. "BOREL, Felice Placido" (in Italian). Treccani: Enciclopedia del Calcio (2002). Retrieved 19 May 2020.
edit