Felice Borel


Felice Placido Borel 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.

Club career

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.
He scored 157 goals for Juventus, winning three Serie A titles and a Coppa Italia during his time with the club, as well as the Serie A top-scorer award on two occasions ; 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.

International career

Borel made 3 appearances for Italy between 1933 and 1934, scoring his only international goal on his debut against Hungary on 22 November, in Budapest, during the Dr. Gero Cup. 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.

Style of play

Nicknamed farfallino, 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.

After retirement

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

Personal life

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.

Honours

Club

;Juventus
;Italy