Italian footballer (born 1955)
Alessandro Altobelli Personal information Date of birth (1955-11-28 ) 28 November 1955 (age 69) Place of birth Sonnino , ItalyHeight 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) Position Forward Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1973–1974 Latina 28 (7) 1974–1977 Brescia 76 (26) 1977–1988 Inter Milan 317 (128) 1988–1989 Juventus 20 (4) 1989–1990 Brescia 32 (7) Total 473 (172) International career 1980–1988 Italy 61 (25) * Club domestic league appearances and goals
Alessandro Altobelli (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro altoˈbɛlli] ; born 28 November 1955) is a former professional Italianfootballer who played as aforward , and who won the1982 World Cup withItaly . NicknamedSpillo ("Needle") for his slender build,[ 1] Altobelli was a prolific goalscorer and regarded as one of the greatest and most effective Italianstrikers of the late 1970s and 1980s.[ 2] [ 3] Altobelli is currently the all-time top scorer in theCoppa Italia , with 56 goals in 93 appearances,[ 1] and theninth-highest scoring Italian player in all competitions , with almost 300 career goals.[ 4]
Altobelli was born inSonnino ,Latina . Following spells at Latina (Serie C) andBrescia (Serie B), he was signed bySerie A clubInter Milan in 1977, for whom he played 466 times, scoring 209 goals (128 inSerie A ). He contributed heavily to his team'sscudetto victory of1980 (scoring 15 goals), and also helped Inter to win twoCoppa Italia titles in 1978 and 1982, finishing as the tournament's top scorer in the 1982 edition, with nine goals. Altobelli was also the top scorer in the1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup , with seven goals, leading Inter to the quarter-finals of the tournament. After his lengthy period with Inter, he played one season withJuventus during the1988–89 season , before ending his career with Brescia in Serie B once again, during the1989–90 season .[ 2] [ 3] [ 5]
International career [ edit ] ForItaly , Altobelli was capped 61 times between 1980 and 1988, scoring 25 goals, and he is currentlyItaly's sixth highest goalscorer .[ 1] His most notable international goal was Italy's third goal in the1982 FIFA World Cup final, which Italy won 3–1 overWest Germany .[ 1] After coming on in the seventh minute of play for the injuredFrancesco Graziani , he became the second ever substitute to score in aFIFA World Cup final (afterDick Nanninga in 1978 and withRudi Völler andMario Götze repeating this, in1986 and in2014 , respectively). Altobelli also played atEuro 80 , with Italy finishing in fourth place on home soil, as well as representing Italy at the1986 FIFA World Cup , scoring four goals, which were, however, not enough to prevent the defending champions from crashing out of the tournament in the round of 16. He also represented Italy atEuro 88 , where he played as the team'scaptain , leading the Italian squad to the semi-finals once again. He made four substitute appearances scoring just after coming on in a 2–0 win overDenmark in the group stages.[ 2] [ 3] [ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
Altobelli was a highly prolific goalscorer, who was regarded as a complete, world class striker.[ 2] [ 3] A well roundedcentre-forward , with an eye for goal, he excelled in the air due to his heading accuracy, power, elevation, agility and acrobatic ability; he was also a fast, hard-working, and opportunistic player, with excellent technique, and he possessed an accurate shot with either foot, in spite of being naturally left-footed. Despite his slender build, he had excellent balance and deceptive strength. Moreover, he was capable of protecting the ball with his back to goal, and holding it up for his teammates.[ 2] [ 9] [ 10] [ 11] [ 12] [ 13] [ 14]
After retirement, he played forItaly national beach soccer team , being the top scorer at the1995 and1996 Beach Soccer World Championships .[ 15]
In the 1990s, he entered politics.[ 16] He also worked as a sporting director forPadova and as a football scout for Inter.[ 17]
In the 2000s, he served as a pundit forAl Jazeera .[ 18] Since September 2020, he serves as a pundit forRAI TV showA tutto campo .[ 19] He also featured as a pundit in90º minuto .[ 20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year[ 23] National team Year Apps Goals Italy 1980 6 2 1981 3 0 1982 7 2 1983 4 1 1984 9 3 1985 7 3 1986 10 9 1987 10 4 1988 5 1 Total 61 25
Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Altobelli goal. List of international goals scored by Alessandro Altobelli No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref. 1 22 June 1980 Stadio Luigi Ferraris ,Genoa , Italy Portugal 1–0 3–1 Friendly [ 24] 2 2–1 3 11 July 1982 Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ,Madrid , Spain West Germany 3–0 3–1 1982 FIFA World Cup [ 25] 4 13 November 1982 San Siro ,Milan , Italy Czechoslovakia 1–0 2–2 UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying [ 26] 5 22 December 1983 Stadio Renato Curi ,Perugia , Italy Cyprus 1–0 3–1 UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying [ 27] 6 3 March 1984 BJK İnönü Stadium ,Istanbul , Turkey Turkey 2–1 2–3 Friendly [ 28] 7 26 May 1984 Varsity Stadium ,Toronto , Canada Canada 1–0 2–0 Friendly [ 29] 8 9 December 1984 Stadio Adriatico – Giovanni Cornacchia ,Pescara , Italy Poland 1–0 2–0 Friendly [ 30] 9 5 February 1985 Dalymount Park ,Dublin , Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland 2–0 2–0 Friendly [ 31] 10 6 June 1985 Estadio Azteca ,Mexico City , Mexico England 2–1 2–1 Friendly [ 32] 11 25 September 1985 Stadio Via del Mare ,Lecce , Italy Norway 1–0 1–2 Friendly [ 33] 12 26 March 1986 Stadio Friuli ,Udine , Italy Austria 1–1 2–1 Friendly [ 34] 13 11 May 1986 Stadio San Paolo ,Naples , Italy China 2–0 2–0 Friendly [ 35] 14 31 May 1986 Estadio Azteca ,Mexico City , Mexico Bulgaria 1–0 1–1 1986 FIFA World Cup [ 36] 15 5 June 1986 Estadio Cuauhtémoc ,Puebla , Mexico Argentina 1–0 1–1 1986 FIFA World Cup [ 37] 16 10 June 1986 Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico South Korea 1–0 3–2 1986 FIFA World Cup [ 38] 17 2–1 18 15 November 1986 San Siro, Milan, Italy Switzerland 2–1 3–2 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying [ 39] 19 3–1 20 6 December 1986 National Stadium ,Ta' Qali , Malta Malta 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying [ 40] 21 24 January 1987 Stadio Comunale ,Bergamo , Italy Malta 3–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying [ 41] 22 4–0 23 14 February 1987 Estádio Nacional ,Lisbon , Portugal Portugal 1–0 1–0 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying [ 42] 24 23 September 1987 Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani ,Pisa , Italy Yugoslavia 1–0 1–0 Friendly [ 43] 25 17 June 1988 Müngersdorfer Stadion ,Cologne , Germany Denmark 1–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 1988 [ 44]
Inter Milan [ 2] [ 3]
Italy [ 2] [ 3]
Individual
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