Sandro Puppo

Sandro Puppo was a midfielder who had two long careers, first as a player and later as a coach. He spent the early years in Shanghai, where his father was a violinist, and he learned football there on his school team. In 1934 Puppo returned to Italy, joining Piacenza in the Italian Third Division. Puppo was a non-playing substitute for the Italian gold medalists at the 1936 Olympics. In 1937 he moved to Ambrosiana-Inter where he won the Italian title at the end of the 1937/38 season. The following year the team won the Coppa Italia. In the summer of 1939 Puppo joined AFC Venezia in the First Division, playing with them for five championships, appearing in 148 matches with six goals, and winning his Coppa Italia in June 1941.

Puppo finished his playing career with AS Roma in 1947-49, and then started coaching. He started with Venezia and Rovereto, and later coached FC Barcelona in 1954/55, FC Juventus from 1955-57, and was later with Siracusa, returned to Venezia, and ended his coaching career in 1966/67 with Piacenza. Puppo also coached the Turkish national team the 1952 Olympics and the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and was later with them again in 1960-62. In 1970 Puppo was chosen as a member of the FIFA Technical Group at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.