Michele Andreolo

Miguel Ángel Andriolo Frodella was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on September 6, 1912. In Italy he became known as Michele Andreolo. His family were originally from Valle dell'Angelo near Salerno. In Uruguay he had been nicknamed "el Chivo".

His first club was local Libertad F.C but in 1932 he was signed by Nacional Montevideo, the big tricolores. He played three seasons for Nacional and won two league titles, in 1934 and 1935. He was one of the heroes of the "clásico de los 9 contra 11" when Nacional defeated rivals Peñarol despite playing in nine men. Andreolo played 35 league games.

In 1935 he arrived in Europe to Bologna but was relatively unknown. Bologna immediately won the Scudetto under Hungarian Árpád Weisz. Andreolo played 30 league games with 4 goals, 2 games in Coppa Italia and 2 in the Central European Cup.

He then stayed another seven seasons. He played another 165 league games with 19 goals. Bologna won another three league titles (1937, 1939 and 1941).

In 1943 he signed for Lazio. Due to the war football was limited to regional games. Lazio won the Roman War League (a tournament between local clubs including Roma). Andreolo played 15 games with 1 goal, under manager Dino Canestri.

In 1944-45 Lazio finished 2nd, still under Canestri. Andreolo played 23 games (in War League, Roman Cup and an Interregional tournament) with 3 goals.

After the war in 1945 he joined Napoli. He stayed three seasons, playing 93 games with 11 goals (including Roma). Napoli finished 5th, 8th and 21st (relegated). His managers were compatriot Raffaele Sansone for two seasons, Giovanni Vecchina and then Arnaldo Sentimenti II (Vittorio, Lucidio and Primo's brother).

In 1948 Andreolo joined Catania for a season. The Rossoblu were in Serie C and won promotion to Serie B, under Giovanni Degni (1-8) and then József Bánás. Andreolo only played 8 league games.

In 1949 he joined his last club Forti e Liberi (modern day Forlì) and won promotion to Serie C. At 37 he then retired.

He then had a brief coaching career: Marsala in the 4th tier in 1953-54 with a 7th place and Taranto in Serie B in Serie B finishing 11th.

At international level he earned one cap for Uruguay. He was in the squad that won the Copa America in 1935. In the same year he obtained Italian citizenship. He then played 26 times for Italy with 1 goal (Belgium in a friendly). He won the 1938 World Cup playing every game. He was included in the 1938 World Cup All-Star Team.

Andreolo was a central midfielder. He was small at 1.69 and 71 kilos but extremely dynamic. He had an excellent career especially at Bologna where he is a legend, winning four league titles and the biggest prize in football, the World Cup for Italy

At Lazio he arrived during the difficult war years but had the satisfaction of winning the Roman War League.

Andreolo died in Potenza, on May 15, 1981.

Lazio Career

Season	Total appearances (goals)	Roman War Championship	Other competitions
1943-44	15 (1)	14 (1)	1
1944-45	23 (3)	14 (2)	9 (1)
Total	38 (4)	28 (3)	10 (1)

Sources

Wikipedia