Luis Monti

Luis Felipe Monti (15 May 1901 – 9 September 1983) was an Italian Argentine footballer who played as a midfielder and an Olympian. 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. 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 defensive central midfield position of today. As such he would mark the opposing centre forward when his team were defending, but would be the main midfield playmaker 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. He was nicknamed doble ancho (double wide) due to his coverage of the pitch. Monti is considered one of the best centre-halves of his generation.