.jpg) Altafini in 1974 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | José João Altafini | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1938-07-24)24 July 1938 (age 87) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Piracicaba, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1956–1958 | Palmeiras | 114 | (89) | ||||||||||||||
| 1958–1965 | AC Milan | 205 | (120) | ||||||||||||||
| 1965–1972 | Napoli | 180 | (71) | ||||||||||||||
| 1972–1976 | Juventus | 74 | (25) | ||||||||||||||
| 1976 | Toronto Italia | ||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1979 | Chiasso | 60 | (18) | ||||||||||||||
| 1979–1980 | Mendrisiostar | 20 | (11) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 653 | (334) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1957–1958 | Brazil | 8 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 1961–1962 | Italy | 6 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
José João Altafini (Italian:[altaˈfiːni]; born 24 July 1938), also known as"Mazzola" in Brazil, is anItalian-Brazilian formerfootballer, who played as aforward.[1] Although, he began his career withPalmeiras in Brazil, he soon moved to play football in Italy, and is mostly remembered for his highly successful stint with Italian clubAC Milan, with which he achieved a great domestic and international success; he later played forNapoli andJuventus, before ending his career in Switzerland with spells atChiasso andMendrisiostar.[2][3][4] A highly prolific goalscorer, Altafini also held the record for the most goals scored in a singleEuropean Cup campaign for over 50 years; he is also one of only eight players to have scored five goals in a singleEuropean Cup match.[2] He is the joint-fourthhighest scorer in ItalianSerie A history (along withGiuseppe Meazza) with 216 goals, and also holds the record for being thefifth-youngest player in Serie A history to score 100 goals, a feat which he managed at the age of 24 years and 239 days.[5][6][7][8][9] Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, and as one of Serie A's and Milan's greatest-ever players, Altafini had an eye for goal and was quick, skilful and powerful.[2][3][4][10][11]
At international level, he represented bothBrazil andItaly; he was a member of the Brazilian side that won the1958 FIFA World Cup, and later also represented Italy at the1962 FIFA World Cup.
He was a football pundit on Italian TV for theSKY Italia and a commentator on Italian radio forRTL 102.5, as well as being the secondary commentator on thePro Evolution Soccer video games in Italy.[12] Altafini coined the expression "golaço" (or the Italianised "golazzo") whenever a notable goal is scored[13] and was known for his iconic exclamation "incredibile, amici!" ("incredible, friends!").[2][10] In his career, Altafini scored 630 goals.[14]
Altafini was born on 24 July 1938 in Piracicaba, a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with a large Italian community, mostly originating fromTrentino Alto Adige, where certain dialects are still spoken. He came from a working-class family of Italian origin, born to Gioacchino Altafini and Maria Marchesoni, his mother being fromCaldonazzo (Trentino),[15] which enabled him to obtain Italian citizenship.[16] José's father worked in a sugar factory, while his mother worked as a housemaid for a wealthy family.[17] José began playing football for the youth side of his city at the age of 16, theXV de Novembro Sporting Club. It was during this time that he earned his nickname "Mazzola", due to his physical resemblance with legendary Italian attacking midfielderValentino Mazzola.[2] At the age of 17, he began to play for the youth side of the Italian-Brazilian São Paulo clubPalmeiras, initially as anattacking midfielder orwinger, before being moved to a more offensive position as a forward.[10][18]
Altafini made his debut for the Italian-BrazilianPalmeiras team of São Paulo in Brazil on 29 January 1956, scoring a brace on his debut, and becoming the youngest goalscorer for the club, at the age of 17, a record which still stands today.[10] He played for the Brazilian club for two seasons (1956 and 1957), scoring 32 goals in 63 matches competitive, and 89 goals in 114 matches including semi-official matches and friendly matches.[19] His goalscoring ratio of 0.74 goals per game is the fifth best ever average for a Palmeiras player.[19] On 9 June 1957, he scored all five goals in Palmeiras's 5–0 win overNoroeste, which is also a joint-club record for the most goals by a single player in a Palmeiras match.[19] On 6 March 1958, Altafini scored two goals in an historic match against the legendarySantos team ofPelé,Pepe andZito in theTorneio Rio-São Paulo. Altafini was one of the protagonists of the match, which ended in a 7–6 win to Santos, despite his goals.[19]
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Altafini began his career in Italy withAC Milan in 1958, following the World Cup in Sweden; his talent and offensive potential had been noticed by Milan's agents during some friendly matches in Italy againstInter andFiorentina in preparation for the upcoming tournament, in which Altafini scored. He was purchased by the Italian club prior to the World Cup in Sweden for 135 million Lire.[18] Altafini made his scoreless Milan debut on 21 September 1958, at the age of 20, and, in his first season, he played 32 games and scored 28 goals, winning the1958–59 Serie A title along the way, and demonstrating his goalscoring prowess; he also managed 4 goals in 4Coppa Italia appearances that season, finishing the season with a total of 32 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions.[4][18][20] His first league goal came on 5 October in a win againstBari. Altafini was the top scorer of the 1960–61Coppa Italia, with 4 goals, although Milan were not able to make it past the second round of the competition. On 27 March 1960, he scored four goals in theMilan derby against local rivalsInter, which ended in a 5–3 victory for Milan. During these next few seasons, Milan managed a third and second-place finish, as Altafini continued to reach the 20 goal season mark.[13] On 12 November 1961, he also managed four goals againstJuventus, as Milan went on to win theSerie A title again during the1961–62 season, in which Altafini finished as theleague's joint top scorer with 22 goals in 33 games, alongsideAurelio Milani.[13][20]
In the1963 European Cup Final, Altafini scored two goals againstBenfica to secure Milan's first European triumph.[20] The game ended 2–1, and Altafini finishedthe competition as thetop scorer with arecord of 14 goals,[13][21] which was only broken during the2013–14 season byCristiano Ronaldo, who managed 17 goals.[22] In Milan's 5–0 win overl'Union Luxembourg, he managed to score five goals in a single match of the competition, a record which he shares with eight other footballers, includingLionel Messi.[13][21] Milan were defeated in the1963 Intercontinental Cup final 1–0 by Pelé's Santos in a play-off match following a 6–6 draw on aggregate; Altafini scored one goal in the competition, in Milan's 4–2 second leg defeat. Altafini's performances led him to be nominated for the1963 and1964 Ballon d'Or awards, in which he finished in 11th and 16th place respectively. His appearances became more limited during the next few seasons at the club, as Milan went trophyless, finishing in second place behind Inter during the1964–65 season.[13] During his seven seasons with Milan, Altafini was able to win twoSerie A titles, and aEuropean Cup, as well as the top goalscoring awards inSerie A, theCoppa Italia and theEuropean Cup.[20]
In 1965, Altafini joinedNapoli, due to his disagreements withAmarildo and Paolo Ferrario at Milan.[2] In a 2024 interview, Altafini explained: "The last year... only that last year with that story I don't want to recount. Let's say Gipo Viani sent me away; he put me on the market and I went to Napoli." When asked if he would have stayed at Milan otherwise, he said, "Of course! They sold me because it wasn't possible to continue that way."[23]
Altafini formed a notable attacking partnership with Italo-Argentine advancedplaymakerOmar Sívori, who had been his Italy teammate at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.[10] He remained at the club for seven years, until 1972. On 31 December 1967, in a 2–2 home draw againstTorino, Altafini scored an acrobatic goal from a bicycle kick, a "golaço" which made him extremely popular with the Napoli fans.[24] During his time at the club, he helped Napoli to compete for the title regularly, and he was able to lead Napoli to their best ever Serie A finish up until that point, helping them to finish second in the1967–68 Serie A campaign, behind his former club Milan, also finishing as the second highest goalscorer in Serie A that season. He also helped them finish in third place in1966 and1971. During the1971–72 season, Altafini also helped Napoli to the1971–72 Coppa Italia final, although they were defeated 2–0 by his previous club, Milan. Despite his role in the club's history,[3] during his time at Napoli, Altafini only managed to win a minor trophy, theCoppa delle Alpi, during the 1966–67 season.[13]
After his time at Napoli, Altafini joinedJuventus along with his former Napoli teammate goalkeeping legendDino Zoff. Despite his advancing age, which often led him to be used as a substitute, Altafini was decisive in helping Juventus to win two more Serie A titles during the1972–73 and the1974–75 seasons. During the 1972–73 season, Juventus were point behind Milan, who were leading the Serie A table, before their final match of the season againstRoma. Juventus were trailing at half-time, but Altafini scored a crucial equaliser (his ninth of the season), beforeAntonello Cuccureddu scored the late match winner. Milan were defeated inVerona, and Juventus's victory allowed them to capture the Serie A title.[3][13] Another one of his most notable moments during his Juventus career was his goal against his former club, Napoli, during the 1974–75 season, at the age of 37.[13] Before the match, Juventus were in first place, two points ahead of Napoli, in second place; Altafini came off the bench a few minutes before the end of the match, scoring the match winner in the 88th minute, helping Juventus to a 2–1 victory, which allowed them to increase their lead over Napoli and win the title; Altafini managed eight goals in 20 appearances that season.[3] A few days after the match, a banner with the writing "José core 'ngrato" was placed on one of the gates of theSan Paolo stadium, referencing the fact that Altafini had previously played for the Neapolitan club.[13]
He also helped Juventus to aCoppa Italia and aEuropean Cup Final in 1973, scoring a goal in the quarter-finals of the1972–73 European Cup againstÚjpesti Dózsa, and two goals in the semi-final againstDerby County. Juventus narrowly missed out on atreble by losing both cup finals despite their 1973 league title.[10] Their Coppa Italia defeat came at the hands of Altafini's former club, Milan, once again, on penalties, while Juventus were defeated byAjax in the European Cup final.[10][13] During the1973–74 season, Juventus went trophyless, although Altafini managed 7 goals in 21 appearances, and in hisfinal season, Altafini made only 10 appearances however, as Juventus missed out on the title, finishing in second place behind local rivals Torino; Altafini decided to leave Serie A after 18 seasons in Italy.[13]
By the time he left Juventus at the age of 38 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. He is currently the fourth highest goalscorer of all time in Serie A, alongsideGiuseppe Meazza, and behind onlySilvio Piola,Totti andNordahl. He also holds the second highest number of appearances in Serie A by a non-Italian born player, behindJavier Zanetti.[13]
After leaving Italy in 1976, Altafini briefly played in theNational Soccer League withToronto Italia, where he appeared in the1976 CONCACAF Champions' Cup.[25][26] He later played for four years in Switzerland forChiasso, playing in the second division, and earning a promotion into theSuper League thanks to his goals, scoring 14 goals in 26 league games in his first season. He later played forMendrisiostar, another team in the Swiss second division, before retiring at the age of 42 in 1980, after a 25-season professional footballing career.[13]
Altafini made his international debut forBrazil at the age of 18 and 327 days on 16 June 1957, marking his first appearance with a goal againstPortugal in a 3–0 friendly victory.[27] On the 7 and 10 July, he helped Brazil to win theCopa Roca against rivalsArgentina, alongside debutantPelé, scoring a goal.[4][27]
Altafini, playing as Mazzola, was a member of the Brazil team that won the1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, and at 19 was the second-youngest member of the squad, after Pelé, to be called up. He started the tournament strongly, scoring two goals in the opening group match againstAustria on 8 June, which ended in a 3–0 win, but he was injured during the second group match againstEngland three days later, which ended in a 0–0 draw, and as a result he missed the final group match against theSoviet Union on 15 June, which Brazil won 2–0.[28] He returned to the starting line-up in the quarter-final match againstWales on 19 June, putting on a strong performance and helping Pelé to score the only goal of the match.[10] He later scored a brilliant overhead kick from the edge of the penalty area, which was unfortunately disallowed by the referee. He was replaced byVavá for the semi-final victory againstFrance (5–2) on 24 June, and managerVicente Feola also left him out in favour of Vavá once again from the squad that would lift the World Cup in thefinal over hostsSweden on 29 June, following a 5–2 victory.[4][29][30] In total he made 8 appearances for the Brazilian national side, scoring 4 goals.[4]
In the1962 FIFA World Cup, he played for Italy under his own name, stating: "It was very simple. Back then Brazil never called on players who were based overseas. Never. I was only 23 or 24 and I would have been devastated at missing a World Cup. It wasn't me who left Brazil. It was Brazil that left me."[31]
Altafini made his debut forItaly on 15 October 1961, in a play-off againstIsrael for a place at the1962 FIFA World Cup. He scored in a 4–2 victory inRamat Gan and also featured in the second leg as the Italians booked their place at the tournament. Prior to the World Cup, he scored two braces in friendly wins overFrance andBelgium. Altafini played in the first two group matches of the 1962 World Cup, againstWest Germany andChile, as Italy were eliminated in the first round.[32] Despite being only 24, he did not receive another call-up for Italy following Italy's disappointing World Cup campaign, and he was criticised throughout the tournament for avoiding physical challenges and giving up possession too easily.[10] Altafini made six appearances for Italy, scoring five goals, bringing his total international tally to nine goals in 14 appearances.[2][4][33]
Regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation, Altafini was a complete striker, with good skills, fast feet and an eye for goal, who was quick, agile and physically strong. In addition to his pace and physical attributes, he was gifted with excellent control, technique, flair anddribbling ability; he was also a highly creative player, having started his career as an attacking midfielder or winger, before being switched to a more offensive role as acentre-forward. He made a name for himself as a highly prolific goalscorer throughout his career, due to his powerful, accurate shot and ability to make attacking runs, as well as his intelligence and instinctive opportunism inside the penalty area.[2][3][4][10][11][18]
After retiring from football, Altafini became a notable football commentator in Italy, where he coined the termgolazzo, a transliteration of the wordgolaço from his nativePortuguese, which roughly translates into English as 'great goal'; 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 ofChannel 4'sFootball Italia.[13]
In the biographical filmPelé: Birth of a Legend, Altafini is portrayed by Mexican actorDiego Boneta.[17]
Altafini also co-wrote two books:Incredibile amici! Il mio manuale del calcio, along with Pierluigi Pardo, andFutebol e alegria. Personaggi, fatti, aneddoti del mio calcio, along with Maurizio Barberis.[34]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| AC Milan | 1958–59 | 32 | 28 | 4 | 4 | – | – | 2 | 2 | 38 | 34 |
| 1959–60 | 33 | 20 | – | – | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 39 | 26 | |
| 1960–61 | 34 | 22 | 2 | 4 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 38 | 26 | |
| 1961–62 | 33 | 22 | – | – | 2 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 22 | |
| 1962–63 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 46 | 31 | |
| 1963–64 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 38 | 19 | |
| 1964–65 | 12 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | 3 | |
| Total | 205 | 120 | 9 | 9 | 19 | 20 | 13 | 12 | 246 | 161 | |
| Napoli | 1965–66 | 34 | 14 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 5 | 7 | 41 | 22 |
| 1966–67 | 27 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 33 | 18 | |
| 1967–68 | 29 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | – | – | 34 | 17 | |
| 1968–69 | 21 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | – | – | 28 | 8 | |
| 1969–70 | 15 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 26 | 11 | |
| 1970–71 | 25 | 7 | 11 | 4 | – | – | – | – | 36 | 11 | |
| 1971–72 | 29 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 10 | |
| Total | 180 | 71 | 28 | 11 | 16 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 234 | 97 | |
| Juventus | 1972–73 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 35 | 12 |
| 1973–74 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 10 | |
| 1974–75 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 5 | – | – | 35 | 13 | |
| 1975–76 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 2 | |
| Total | 74 | 25 | 24 | 3 | 20 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 119 | 37 | |
| Career total | 459 | 216 | 61 | 23 | 55 | 34 | 24 | 22 | 599 | 295 | |
*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup & UEFA Cup
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 1957 | 3 | 2 |
| 1958 | 5 | 2 | |
| Total | 8 | 4 | |
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 1961 | 2 | 1 |
| 1962 | 4 | 4 | |
| Total | 6 | 5 | |
| No. | Team | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brazil | 1 | 16 June 1957 | Pacaembu Stadium,São Paulo, Brazil |  Portugal | – | 3–0 | Friendly | [42] |
| 2 | 10 July 1957 | Pacaembu Stadium, São Paulo, Brazil |  Argentina | – | 2–0 | 1957 Roca Cup | [43] | |
| 3 | 8 June 1958 | Rimnersvallen,Uddevalla, Sweden |  Austria | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1958 FIFA World Cup | [44] | |
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||||
 Italy | 5 | 15 October 1961 | Ramat Gan Stadium,Ramat Gan, Israel |  Israel | 2–2 | 4–2 | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | [45] |
| 6 | 5 May 1962 | Stadio Comunale,Florence, Italy |  France | 1–1 | 2–1 | Friendly | [46] | |
| 7 | 2–1 | |||||||
| 8 | 13 May 1962 | Stade du Heysel,Brussels, Belgium |  Belgium | 2–1 | 3–1 | Friendly | [47] | |
| 9 | 3–1 |
AC Milan[20]
Napoli[3]
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