Adolfo Baloncieri

At International level, Baloncieri was the captain of the Italy national team that won the bronze medal at the 1928 Olympic Games, and the winner of the 1930 Coppa Internazionale, alongside Giuseppe Meazza. He earned 47 caps for Italy between 1920 and 1930, and with 25 goals, he is Italy's sixth all-time highest goalscorer and the highest scoring midfielder in the history of the Italy national team. He also played in two other editions of the Olympics, in 1920 and 1924, making him the player with the most all-time appearances and goals, eleven and eight respectively, at Olympic football tournaments for the Italy national side.

Usually deployed as an offensive playmaker, Baloncieri had technical skills, vision, passing ability, and a notable eye for goal from midfield.

After spending much of his childhood in Argentina, Baloncieri returned to Italy in 1913 and joined Alessandria; for which he debuted in 1914 at the age of 17 before World War I suspended league fixtures. During the conflict he was at the front as a gunner. After football resumed he distinguished himself among the most famous footballers of the 1920s with Torino, when they won two national titles (one was revoked for the "Allemandi Case"). In 1930, he was knighted by the Crown of Italy on the recommendation of the Italian Football Federation's Leandro Arpinati. Baloncieri retired in 1931; interested in the development of young athletes, he was responsible for the development of the Torino youth system. He later became a manager.

Baloncieri was born in Castelceriolo in the province of Alessandria, to a family originally from Caselle Torinese. During childhood, he lived with his family in Rosario, Argentina for 12 years where he entered the world of football at age nine. Eager to play sport, he did not complete his studies in accountancy. His older brother Mario was an amateur footballer in Alessandria and then a reporter, while his cousin William Brezzi, who died at a young age, was his teammate at Alessandria and the national team. His brother Carlo drowned in Finale Ligure in August 1933, while his son also died at a young age. With his other daughter, Flora, a teacher, and a sister, he lived in Genoa in later years. He died in 1986, four days before he turned 89, from pneumonia.