Albert Gudmundsson has been Genoa’s star of the season so far and he will take on AC Milan on Saturday night, but the game will have some extra meaning to him.
As Calciomercato.com write, the Latin phrase ‘nomen omen’ applies here, which is used to indicate how a person’s name can contain an anticipation of the destiny that awaits him.
Gudmundsson is a 26-year-old Genoa striker who was the namesake of a maternal great-grandfather who, in addition to his name, also shared a profession with his future great-grandson.
Albert Sigurdur Gudmundsson was born in Reykiavik in 1923 and he was the first person from that country to become a professional footballer, while also the first inhabitant of the Atlantic island to land in Italy to play the sport.
Albert senior landed at Milan in autumn 1948 after a long and exhausting summer of negotiations. The reviews provided to the Milan management by Paddy Sloan – an Irish centre-forward purchased in that same period – shared a fleeting experience at Arsenal with ‘Gud’, and that contributed to bringing him to the Rossoneri.
The Icelandic Pearl, as he was nicknamed by the French newspaper L’Equipe, had started playing football before the war, in the improvised matches that he and his fellow villagers set up with the crews of foreign ships that anchored in the port of Reykjavik.
He won a couple of national titles with Valur before setting sail for other shores. In the mid-1940s, his move to Scotland – where he went to study business administration – gave a decisive boost to his sporting career.
He was signed by Glasgow Rangers and he impressed enough there to move to Arsenal who were an established powerhouse of English football, and they allowed him to continue his studies until he graduated.
However, once his academic career was completed, Gudmundsson was forced to leave England as he did not have his residence permit in order. Left without a team, even with a degree in his pocket, he still never thought about retiring.
He therefore decided to continue his tour of Europe in France, settling in Nancy, playing there for a season, and then on 2 October 1948 Milan decided to buy his contract for 11 million lire.
The next day Gudmundsson was put onto the field and he netted first of three goals with which the Rossoneri sank Atalanta. It seemed like the prologue to a predestined story but instead things soon took a different turn.
The Icelandic forward was physically fragile and he had to undergo meniscus surgery after a derby loss to Inter, leaving him out for almost three months. He returned in January, to a Milan that in the meantime had expanded its colony of foreigners by signing a certain Gunnar Nordahl.
Nordahl quickly showed he was one of the best in the world, unlike his Icelandic team-mate who fell out with Mister Bigogno because the coach couldn’t stand his individualistic flair. Gud would play another ten games for the Rossoneri, also scoring a goal in the 5-1 win over Modena, but left in 1949.
On 24 April 1949 he played his last match with Milan, and Genoa were the opponent. The same club that 74 years later would welcome his grandson of the same name.
His only season with the Rossoneri ended with 14 appearances in official matches and two goals, plus one in a friendly against Standard Liège (a club now owned by 777 Partners, an American holding company that also owns Genoa, another coincidence that links him in some way to his nephew).
What happened to Gudmundsson after he left Milan? He played for three seasons at Racing Paris and for as many at OGC Nice, before returning to his homeland to close the circle with Valur and live a new life off the pitch.
He would embark on political career that led him to become president of the Icelandic Football Federation and in the early 1980s to reach the position of minister of industry. He would die in 1994, at the age of 70.
Since February 2010 a statue depicting him has been present in front of the headquarters of the Icelandic Football Federation, testifying to the heavy impact Albert senior had on the spread of the game on the island.
His son, Ingi Bjorn Albertsson, retraced his steps by becoming a prolific striker for the national team. Ingi Bjorn’s daughter, Kristbjorg Helga Ingadottir, also played on the ball fields, as did her husband, Gudmundur Benediktsson, father of Albert Junior.
On Saturday, Albert Gudmundsson will find himself facing the Milan team that welcomed his illustrious ancestor after the war, and ironically he will do so 48 hours after what would have been the 100th birthday of his great-grandfather.
great player,much better than chukwu