Antonio Vojak was born in Pola on November 19, 1904.
Due to the anti-Slavic laws in Italy during the fascist era, he was forced to change his name to Vogliacco. When he was born, Pola was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but by the time he started playing football, he was Italian. He began in his hometown team Grion Pola with whom he also played one match in goal.
In 1924 he signed for Lazio. He had been noticed by Ezio Sclavi while he was doing his military service in Rome. He was a powerful and courageous centre forward, a big athlete for the time. Once he finished with the military he could have stayed in Rome, but at that time Lazio were still amateurs, so he preferred to make a living elsewhere. He hence stayed just one year making 10 appearances with 8 goals. He was spotted by Juventus and signed for them the following year. He played four years for the Bianconeri, winning a scudetto in 1925-26, playing 105 games with 47 goals.
For the first Serie A championship, he moved to Naples and became an idol. His 102 goals in six years of Serie A was the record number of goals for Napoli until Dries Mertens overtook him on November 21, 2021. He was also the record man for the Neapolitan team for the highest number of goals scored in a single Serie A tournament, 22, beaten by Edison Cavani in 2010-11. He stayed in Naples until 1935 when he signed for Genoa 1893. But his career was moving towards the end and he stayed just one year in Liguria before moving to Lucca for another season where he however only played one game.
His final years of active football were in Serie C with Italo Gambacciani Empoli (where he was also manager) and Stabia.
Vojak played one game for the Nazionale, in Naples against Switzerland on February 14 1932. Italy won 3-0. He won more caps for the Nazionale B, two as a Juventus player and four as a Napoli one.
When he stopped playing he became a manager. He was head coach of many minor teams with the exception of Napoli, where he was manager from 1940 to 1943.
He died in Varese on May 9, 1975.
Lazio Career
Season | Appearances National Championship | Goals National Championship |
1924-25 | 10 | 8 |
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