This was just an indication of further greatness that awaited Italian football, as it was the birth of a generational talent. 3 years later on 29th October 1933, he scored six goals against Fiorentina, which was the joint-most goals scored in a single match in Serie A, as Pro Vercelli destroyed them 7-2. The Italian striker's time at Vercelli was a successful one, as he scored a commendable 51 goals in 127 appearances for the club.

Let us now look at how the rest of his career panned out, which saw this youngster from Vercelli eventually establish himself as one of Italy's finest ever players.

The Lazio move and subsequent Turin years

Piola made the switch to Lazio in 1934, who were ironically on the receiving end of his first Serie A goal on 11 November 1930. The Italian striker went on to spend the next 9 seasons at Lazio, emerging as Serie A top scorer in two of them (1937, 1943). Those goalscoring feats also saw emerge as Lazio's highest all-time leading goalscorer at the time with 149. This record stood till 2021, as it was surpassed by Ciro Immobile. Despite his individual brilliance, Piola never managed to win anything at Lazio, with the closest being runners-up of the 1936–37 league season.

The next chapter of his career took him to Turin, as he joined Torino, where he scored a magnificent 27 goal haul in just 23 appearances. This was also a time when Italy was severely affected by war.

Towards the end of the war, he joined Italian side Novara. Piola then made a switch to Juventus, where he spent 2 years from 1945 till 1947. He was heartbreakingly robbed of league triumph on 2 occasions, with Juventus finishing as runners-up for both the 1945–46 and 1946–47 campaigns.

The final dance with Novara

Piola returned to Novara in 1947, where he spent the final 7 years of his career. On 1st February 1953, at the age of 39 years, 4 months and 2 days, the Italian striker managed to score a brace against his former club Lazio. This feat made him the oldest player in Serie A history to score two goals in a single league match, until it was broken by Francesco Totti on 20th April 2016.

During his final season with Novara, Piola turned 40 years old on 29th September 1953. He went on to score goals against Sampdoria, Palermo, and Inter Milan later in the season, which made him achieve the historic feat of becoming the first player to score a Serie A goal after his 40th birthday.

The Former Lazio striker scored his fifth and last goal of the season on 7th February, in a 1–1 draw against AC Milan, and in doing so at the age of 40 years and 129 days, he became the oldest Serie A goalscorer in history. This was yet another record of Piola that was later broken, with Alessandro Costacurta and later Zlatan Ibrahimović scoring at the age of 31.

It was also with Novara that Piola managed to win the only club title in his career, which was the 1947–48 Serie B title. The legendary striker's inability to lift the Serie A title was nothing less than immense bad luck. Despite this shortcoming, Piola managed to finish his career as the highest all-time goalscorer in Serie A history. He still holds this record, with his phenomenal feat of scoring 274 league goals.

International legacy

Although Piola didn't manage to achieve major silverware success at the club, the Italian won the 1933–35 Central European International Cup and 1938 World Cup with Italy. He was especially key in the World Cup, scoring a brace to help Italy beat Hungary 4-2.

Piola scored 30 goals in just 34 games for Italy between 1935 and 1952, a tally that would surely have been greater if not for the interruption caused by World War II. Even with those circumstances, he ended his career as Italy's third highest goalscorer of all-time, only behind Giuseppe Meazza and Luigi Riva.

Italian football will forever remember Silvio Piola, and the legendary striker's legacy will live on forever.

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