José Altafini
Encyclopedia
José João Altafini, (born August 24, 1938) is an Italian Brazilian
former footballer. He is the joint-third highest scorer in Italian
Serie A
history (along with Giuseppe Meazza
) with 216 goals. He currently holds the record for the highest no. of goals scored by any individual in a single Champions league/European Champion Clubs' Cup season with 14 goals.
He is currently a well-known football pundit on Italian TV SKY Italia
and a speaker on Italian radio RTL 102.5
. He's also the second speaker on Pro Evolution Soccer
video games in Italy.
in Brazil, before he began his career in Italy with AC Milan
in 1958. He made his debut on September 21, 1958, and, in his first season, played 32 games and scored 28 goals, winning the title along the way. His first league goal came on October 5 in a win against Bari
. Milan won the title again in 1962, when Altafini was the league's joint top scorer with 22 goals in 33 games.
In 1963 European Cup Final
, Altafini scored two goals against SL Benfica to secure Milan's first European triumph. The game ended 2–1.
In 1965, Altafini joined Napoli, where he stayed until 1972. In 1972, Napoli ironically lost 2–0 in the final of the Coppa Italia
to Altafini's previous club, Milan.
After his time at Napoli, he joined Juventus and lost another cup final in 1973. He did, however, win two more league titles: in 1973 and 1975. By the time he left Juventus in 1976, Altafini had played 459 games in Serie A and had scored 216 goals, although he had scored most of these in the early part of his career. In fact, he only scored 53 goals in his last 8 seasons in Italy, whereas he had scored 134 in his first 8.
After leaving Italy he played for four years in Switzerland for FC Chiasso
and Mendrisiostar
before retiring at the age of 42.
After retiring from football, Altafini became a commentator where he coined the term 'Golazzo' which translates in English as 'Goaltastic'; although it is not actually a word in Italian. A sound bite of his use of the phrase while commentating was used at the start and finish of Channel 4's Football Italia
, although it was commonly mistaken as 'Goal Lazio' by the British audience.
and Italy
. In Brazil he is nicknamed 'Mazola' (in Brazil often spelled with only one 'z') for his resemblance to the Grande Torino legendary captain Valentino Mazzola
. He played in the 1958 World Cup for winners Brazil, but didn't play in the later stages, having been replaced by Pelé
. His Italy debut came against Israel
on October 15, 1961, a game in which he also scored. He played in the 1962 World Cup for Italy.
*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup & UEFA Cup
Italian Brazilian
-Italian immigration to Brazil:The Italian government claims there are 25 million Brazilians of Italian descent, which would be the largest population of Italian background outside of Italy itself. There are no actual surveys, or even verifiable calculations supporting such claims. According to...
former footballer. He is the joint-third highest scorer in Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
history (along with Giuseppe Meazza
Giuseppe Meazza
Giuseppe "Peppino" Meazza , also known as il Balilla, was an Italian footballer playing mainly for Internazionale in the 1930s, scoring 242 goals in 365 games for the club. He led Italy to win two World Cups: in 1934 and in 1938, winning the Golden Ball Award in 1934. He is widely considered the...
) with 216 goals. He currently holds the record for the highest no. of goals scored by any individual in a single Champions league/European Champion Clubs' Cup season with 14 goals.
He is currently a well-known football pundit on Italian TV SKY Italia
Sky Italia
Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian digital satellite television platform owned by News Corporation launched on 1 August 2003, when the former platforms TELE+ and Stream TV merged together...
and a speaker on Italian radio RTL 102.5
RTL 102.5
RTL 102.5 is a private Italian radio station. Despite its name, this radio station is not endorsed or affiliated with RTL Group.It has been the first Italian radio station using the format Contemporary hit radio, which involves the broadcasting of greatest hits only.The RTL 102.5 group includes...
. He's also the second speaker on Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer is a series of football video game developed and published by Konami...
video games in Italy.
Club career
Altafini played for PalmeirasSociedade Esportiva Palmeiras
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras is a Brazilian football club from São Paulo. The club was founded on August 26, 1914, as Palestra Italia but changed to the current name on September 14, 1942...
in Brazil, before he began his career in Italy with AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
in 1958. He made his debut on September 21, 1958, and, in his first season, played 32 games and scored 28 goals, winning the title along the way. His first league goal came on October 5 in a win against Bari
A.S. Bari
Associazione Sportiva Bari is an Italian football club founded in 1908, they are based in Bari, Apulia and plays in Serie B. The club have spent many seasons bouncing between the top two divisions in Italian football, Serie A and Serie B....
. Milan won the title again in 1962, when Altafini was the league's joint top scorer with 22 goals in 33 games.
In 1963 European Cup Final
1963 European Cup Final
The 1963 European Cup Final was a football match between Milan and Benfica, held at Wembley Stadium, London, on 22 May 1963. Milan won the match 2–1, winning the European Cup for the first time.-Match details:-See also:*1962–63 European Cup...
, Altafini scored two goals against SL Benfica to secure Milan's first European triumph. The game ended 2–1.
In 1965, Altafini joined Napoli, where he stayed until 1972. In 1972, Napoli ironically lost 2–0 in the final of the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
to Altafini's previous club, Milan.
After his time at Napoli, he joined Juventus and lost another cup final in 1973. He did, however, win two more league titles: in 1973 and 1975. By the time he left Juventus in 1976, Altafini had played 459 games in Serie A and had scored 216 goals, although he had scored most of these in the early part of his career. In fact, he only scored 53 goals in his last 8 seasons in Italy, whereas he had scored 134 in his first 8.
After leaving Italy he played for four years in Switzerland for FC Chiasso
FC Chiasso
FC Chiasso is a Swiss football club based in Chiasso. It was founded in 1905.Chiasso also played in the Italian first league between 1914 and 1923....
and Mendrisiostar
FC Mendrisio-Stabio
F.C. Mendrisio-Stabio, is a football club from Mendrisio, Switzerland.The club was founded in 2006, FC Mendrisio merges with FC Stabio to form a new club, F.C. Mendrisio-Stabio, is currently playing in the Swiss 1. Liga.- Squad :...
before retiring at the age of 42.
After retiring from football, Altafini became a commentator where he coined the term 'Golazzo' which translates in English as 'Goaltastic'; although it is not actually a word in Italian. A sound bite of his use of the phrase while commentating was used at the start and finish of Channel 4's Football Italia
Football Italia
Football Italia is an Italian football programme in the United Kingdom, known as Football Italiano for its final season. The first broadcasting of the show was in 1992 on Channel 4, the show is centered around live coverage of Serie A football, the top flight in the Italian league system...
, although it was commonly mistaken as 'Goal Lazio' by the British audience.
International career
Born in Brazil, Altafini played international football for both BrazilBrazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
and Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
. In Brazil he is nicknamed 'Mazola' (in Brazil often spelled with only one 'z') for his resemblance to the Grande Torino legendary captain Valentino Mazzola
Valentino Mazzola
Valentino Mazzola was an Italian footballer and captain of the legendary Grande Torino side, killed in the Superga air disaster. He is considered one of the best football players of all time and perhaps the first modern all-around footballer, as he was an attacking midfielder who could score,...
. He played in the 1958 World Cup for winners Brazil, but didn't play in the later stages, having been replaced by Pelé
Pelé
However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
. His Italy debut came against Israel
Israel national football team
The Israel national football team is the national football team of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association .Israel National Football is the direct successor of the Eretz Yisrael National Team during British Mandate...
on October 15, 1961, a game in which he also scored. He played in the 1962 World Cup for Italy.
Statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Milan A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others... |
1958-1959 | 32 | 28 | |4 | 4 | – | – | 2 | 2 | 38 | 34 |
| 1959-1960 | 33 | 20 | – | – | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 38 | 26 | |
| 1960-1961 | 34 | 22 | 2 | 4 | – | – | |2 | 0 | 38 | 26 | |
| 1961-1962 | 33 | 22 | – | – | 2 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 22 | |
| 1962-1963 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 46 | 31 | |
| 1963-1964 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 19 | |
| 1964-1965 | 12 | 3 | – | – | |– | – | – | – | 12 | 3 | |
| Total | 205 | 120 | 9 | 9 | 19 | 20 | 13 | 12 | 246 | 161 | |
| Napoli S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season.... |
|||||||||||
| 1965-1966 | 34 | 14 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| ? | 7 | 36+? | 22 | ||||||||
| 1966-1967 | 27 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | – | – | 33 | 19 | |
| 1967-1968 | 29 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 34 | 17 | |
| 1968-1969 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ? | 0 | 28+? | 8 | |
| 1969-1970 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ? | 3 | 21+? | 11 | |
| 1970-1971 | 25 | 7 | 11 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 36 | 11 | |
| 1971-1972 | 29 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 10 | |
| Total | 180 | 71 | 28 | 11 | 16 | 6 | ? | 10 | 224+? | 98 | |
| Juventus Juventus F.C. Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont... |
|||||||||||
| 1972-1973 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 35 | 12 | |
| 1973-1974 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 10 | |
| 1974-1975 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 5 | – | – | 35 | 13 | |
| 1975-1976 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 2 | |
| Total | 74 | 25 | 24 | 3 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 37 | |
| Career totals | 459 | 216 | 61 | 23 | 55 | 35 | 14+? | 22 | 589+? | 296 | |
*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup & UEFA Cup