On July 16, 1922, the bianconeri lost away: a goal from the Ligurian bomber who broke through the goals decided
UDINE. One hundred years ago, on July 16, 1922, Udinese played the only final of a national competition in its history: that of the Italian Cup against Vado. The Ligurians won 1-0 with a goal scored in the 118th minute (therefore at the end of extra time) by the Ligurian striker Virgilio Felice Levrato, born in 1904 and died in 1968. Levrato was not just any footballer, his story has something to the limits of the mythological.
He kicked so hard that his shots broke through the goal nets. Legend has it that even on that afternoon of July 16, 1922 the ball from his foot tore through the net of the Friulian goal. He caused such a sensation at the power of his conclusions that in 1959 the Quartetto Cetra dedicated a song to him entitled “Che centrattacco”.
In the four-year period from ’24 to ’28 he put together 28 matches with the national team, scoring 11 goals and winning the bronze medal at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics. starting tapes not many teams showed up: the big names, for example, who had just left the FIGC to join the CCI.
All the southern formations were also absent (the most southern team, just think, was Livorno). Udinese, the only member of the Triveneto together with Treviso and Triestina, in the first round, played on 2 April, beat Feltrese 4-0. The halberds won the derby 4-2 with Ivy Trieste, but then lost at the table guilty of having deployed a player (the Spalatino Antonio Blasevich) who could not be deployed. Edera was Udinese’s opponent in the next round: the bianconeri imposed themselves with another quatern.
The opponent of the bianconeri in the quarter-finals was the Novese: the match, which should have been played on June 18, was won by Udinese because the opponent did not show up. Things of other times, as well as the episode of the semifinal with Lucchese won 4-3 after extra time: due to a technical error in the execution of a penalty kick, the match was made to repeat and ended 1-0.
Udinese showed up in Vado with the underdogs: Vado had had a much more complicated path and had risked elimination in the first round when they won 4-3 in extra time with Fiorente, then in the quarterfinals they had always surpassed by 1 -0 Pro Livorno and Libertas Firenze. Introducing oneself as favorites did little.
The historical fact remains: a final against Udinese that never before came close to raising a trophy to the highest category level. Also for this reason a century later it is right to remember those eleven pioneers of Friulian football. Here they are: Lodolo, Schiffo, Pertoldi, De Marco, Barbieri, Liuzzi II, Gerace, Melchior, Moretti, Dal Dan IV, Bellotto
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