View source for Italo Vassallo

{{Short description|Italo-Eritrean footballer (1940–2021)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Italo Vassallo
| image          = 
| caption        = 
| fullname       = 
| birth_date     = {{birth year|1940}}
| birth_place    = [[Asmara]], [[Italian East Africa]]
| death_date     = {{death date and age|2021|7|30|1940|df=y}}
| height         = 
| position       = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| years1         = 1957–1960 | clubs1 = Hamasien
| years2         = 1961–1973 | clubs2 = [[Cotton Factory Club]]
| nationalyears1 = 1962–1971 | nationalteam1 = [[Ethiopia national football team|Ethiopia]] | nationalcaps1 = 10+ | nationalgoals1 = 4+
}}

'''Italo Vassallo''' (1940 – 30 July 2021<ref>[https://www.africarivista.it/e-morto-italo-vassallo-col-fratello-porto-letiopia-ai-vertici-del-calcio/189198/ È morto Italo Vassallo, col fratello portò l’Etiopia ai vertici del calcio] {{in lang|it}}</ref>) was an Italian-Eritrean [[association football|footballer]]. He played for [[Ethiopia national football team|Ethiopia]] internationally, scoring in their [[1962 Africa Cup of Nations]] final victory over [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]]. His half-brother is [[Luciano Vassallo]], a former footballer for the Ethiopian team.<ref name="Review">{{cite news | url=http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/11653 | title=Ethiopian soccer great Italo Vassallo speaks out | newspaper=[[Ethiopian Review]] | date=4 December 2009 | accessdate=4 June 2011 }}</ref>

==Club career==

Vassallo made his debut at [[Hamasien FC|Hamasien]] where he won the [[Ethiopian Premier League|Ethiopian First Division]] for the first time in 1957.<ref>{{cite web |title=LE GRANDI COPPIE: LUCIANO ED ITALO VASSALLO |url=https://www.footballpills.com/calcio-italiano/personaggi-calcio-italiano/le-grandi-coppie-luciano-ed-italo-vassallo/ |website=Football Pills}}</ref>

When Vassallo's half-brother Luciano moved to [[Cotton Factory Club]], Italo joined him at 17 years old. They would go on to win the [[Ethiopian Premier League|Ethiopian First Division]] four times at Cotton FC before retiring in 1973.

==International career==

Once Eritrean-born footballers were allowed to be called up for the national team, Italo and Luciano were selected for the [[1962 Africa Cup of Nations]]. Italo scored a goal in Ethiopia's extra-time victory in the final against [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]].

==After football==

During the [[Eritrean–Ethiopian War]], Italo was expelled from Ethiopia and returned to Eritrea. He ran a restaurant in Asmara.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Felici |first1=Antonio |title=LUCIANO VASSALLO: IL MAGNIFICO SUPERSTITE |url=http://www.antoniofelici.it/2013/01/luciano-vassallo-il-magnifico-superstite.html |website=antoniofelici.it/}}</ref>

==Career statistics==

===International goals===
{{Expand list|date=August 2020}}

:''Scores and results list Ethiopia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vassallo goal.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Italo Vassallo
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|References}}
|-
|align="center"|1
|{{dts|21 January 1962}} 
|[[Addis Ababa Stadium|Hailé Sélassié Stadium]], [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia
|{{fb|UAR}} 
|align="center"|3–2 
|align="center"|4–2
|[[1962 Africa Cup of Nations]]
|
|-
|align="center"|2
|{{dts|21 February 1965}} 
|[[Kampala]], Uganda
|{{fb|UGA}} 
|align="center"|2–1 
|align="center"|2–1
|[[1965 Africa Cup of Nations qualification]]
|
|-
|align="center"|3
|{{dts|27 March 1965}} 
|[[Khartoum]], Sudan
|{{fb|SUD|1956}}
|align="center"| 
|align="center"|1–2
|1965 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
|
|-
|align="center"|4 
|{{dts|4 April 1965}} 
|[[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia
|{{fb|KEN}} 
|align="center"|1–0 
|align="center"|2–1
|1965 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
|
|-
|}

===International===
;Ethiopia
*[[Africa Cup of Nations]]: [[1962 African Cup of Nations|1962]]

==See also==

*[[Luciano Vassallo]]
*[[Asmara Calcio|GS Asmara]]
*[[Italians of Ethiopia]]
*[[Italian Eritreans]]
*[[Giovanni De Min (footballer)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121111181051/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=59493/index.html FIFA profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vassallo, Italo}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Eritrean men's footballers]]
[[Category:Ethiopian men's footballers]]
[[Category:Ethiopia men's international footballers]]
[[Category:1962 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1963 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1965 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:1970 African Cup of Nations players]]
[[Category:Ethiopian people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Eritrean people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Eritrean emigrants to Italy]]
[[Category:Ethiopian emigrants to Italy]]
[[Category:Africa Cup of Nations–winning players]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Asmara]]