Guglielmo Gabetto

Guglielmo Gabetto
	Gabetto with Torino, c. 1943.
Personal information
Date of birth	24 February 1916
Place of birth	Turin, Kingdom of Italy
Date of death	4 May 1949 (aged 33)
Place of death	Superga, Italy
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team
1934–1941	Juventus
1941–1949	Torino
Total
International career
1942–1948	Italy
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Guglielmo Gabetto (Italian pronunciation: [ɡuʎˈʎɛlmo ɡaˈbetto]; 24 February 1916 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker.

Aside from goalkeeper Alfredo Bodoira, he is the only player to win the Italian championship with both Torino and cross-city rivals Juventus.^[1]

Biography

Gabetto was born in Turin, Italy, in the Aurora district of the Piedmont capital.^[1]

He died in a commercial aeroplane tragedy as one of the victims of the 1949 Superga air disaster, when a plane carrying almost the entire Torino Football Club squad, the Grande Torino, crashed into the Superga hill near Turin. He was buried in the Cimitero Monumentale in Turin.^[1]

Club career

Gabetto began his career with Juventus in 1934, scoring 102 goals for the club in seven seasons, 85 of which came in the league; he is still today one of the club's best goalscorers.^[1]

In 1941 he was acquired by local rivals Torino, for a notable sum of 330,000 Lit.; the same season, Torino bought two other Juventus players: Felice Borel, and Alfredo Bodoira. He formed a notable attack alongside Ezio Loik and Valentino Mazzola, becoming a key player in the Grande Torino side which dominated Italy, winning five consecutive Serie A titles. Only he and his teammate Piero Operto were originally from Turin. In total, he scored 127 goals for Torino in 225 matches.^[1]

International career

Gabetto also made 6 appearances for Italy between 1942 and 1948, scoring 5 goals, the first of which came on his debut against Croatia on 5 April 1942.^[2]

Style of play

Regarded as one of the best Italian players of his generation, and one of Italy's greatest-ever strikers, Gabetto was a complete, creative, fast, and technically gifted forward, who was known for his flair, coordination, speed, and dribbling skills. Nicknamed il barone ("the baron," in Italian), he usually played as a centre-forward, and possessed "acrobatic" characteristics that apparently allowed him to produce "near-impossible" goals. The precision and the power of his kicking made him an impeccable and highly prolific goal-scorer, which made him an idol of the Torino fans, who affectionately called him "Gabe."^[1]^[3]