Alberto Federico 'Beto' Acosta Tabizzi (born 23 August 1966) is an Argentine former professional
footballer who played as a
striker.
In a professional career which spanned 18 years (nearly 700 official games and more than 250 goals), he played for
San Lorenzo in four different spells. Additionally, he represented clubs in France,
Chile, Japan and
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
.
Acosta appeared with
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
in two
Copa América tournaments.
Club career
Born in Arocena,
Santa Fe Province, Acosta started playing professionally at
Unión de Santa Fe, making his
top division debut one month shy of his 20th birthday, in a 0–0 home draw against
Argentinos Juniors.
[Alberto Acosta le dijo adiós al fútbol...y su nombre quedó escrito en la historia (Alberto Acosta said goodbye to football...and his name entered the history books)](_blank)
; Familia (in Spanish) Two years later he transferred to
San Lorenzo de Almagro, scoring 34 goals in his first two seasons combined, that being the first of the four spells with the club in an 18-year career.
In 1990 Acosta had his first abroad experience, with France's
Toulouse FC. After a poor
second season he left in December 1991, having played in seven matches with just one goal, with the club eventually ranking 16th – he returned to San Lorenzo, where he scored a further 19 league goals, which earned him a transfer to country giants
Boca Juniors.
Acosta spent the following three years out of Argentina, starting and ending with
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, known as Universidad Católica, is a professional association football, football club based in Santiago, Chile. Founded in 1937 they play in the Chilean Primera División, Primera División, the top flight o ...
in Chile where he rejoined former San Lorenzo teammate
Néstor Gorosito
Néstor Raúl Gorosito (born 14 May 1964) is an Argentine association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Alianza Lima.
Playing career
Néstor ''Pipo'' G ...
. In 1994, he was crowned the top scorer in South American football, netting 33 times in only 25 matches. Also during that debut campaign, he was unable to further help the team for five matches (four after assaulting
C.F. Universidad de Chile's
Luis Musrri); in between his spell with Universidad, he played in the
J1 League
The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system.
Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...
for
Yokohama Marinos.
In December 1998, Acosta signed with
Sporting Clube de Portugal. In
his first full season, the 33-year-old striker scored 22 goals, helping the
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
side to the
Primeira Liga championship after an 18-year wait. He added 14 the following campaign, but was deemed surplus to requirements after the signing of
Mário Jardel, and returned to San Lorenzo for the fourth and last time, netting always in double digits until his 2004 retirement at the age of 37. Although still physically fit, the scorer of 300 goals in 666 official games opted to retire, instead of being coerced into retirement later on.
Acosta kickstarted his managerial career in
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
, with
FCM Dunărea Galaţi. In the 2007 summer he returned to his country, joining
fourth division team
Club Atlético Fénix's coaching staff and coming out of retirement for a few months.
International career
Having collected 19
caps for
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
during three years, Acosta represented the nation in two
Copa América tournaments. In the
1993 edition in Ecuador, he converted his
penalty shootout attempts in both the quarter-finals and the semifinals, as the nation eventually emerged victorious.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Universidad Católica
*
Copa Chile:
1995
*
Chilean Primera División:
Apertura 1997
*
Copa Interamericana:
1993
Sporting CP
*
Primeira Liga:
1999–2000
*
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira:
2000
San Lorenzo
*
Copa Sudamericana:
2002
*
Copa Mercosur:
2001
Argentina
*
Kirin Cup:
1992
*
FIFA Confederations Cup:
1992
*
Copa América:
1993
*
Artemio Franchi Cup:
1993
Individual
*
Argentine Primera División top scorer:
Apertura 1992 (12 goals)
*
Chilean Primera División Player of the Year: 1994
*
Chilean Primera División top scorer:
1994 (33 goals)
*
Copa Chile top scorer:
1995 (10 goals)
*
Copa Libertadores top scorer:
1997 (11 goals)
*
Francisco Stromp Award: 2000
References
External links
Stats at FutbolPasion
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acosta, Alberto
1966 births
Living people
People from San Jerónimo Department
Men's association football forwards
Argentine Primera División players
Unión de Santa Fe footballers
San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers
Copa Sudamericana–winning players
Boca Juniors footballers
Club Atlético Fénix players
Ligue 1 players
Toulouse FC players
Chilean Primera División players
Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers
J1 League players
Yokohama F. Marinos players
Primeira Liga players
Sporting CP footballers
Argentina men's international footballers
1992 King Fahd Cup players
1993 Copa América players
1995 Copa América players
FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players
Copa América–winning players
Argentine beach soccer players
Argentine expatriate men's footballers
Argentine men's footballers
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Expatriate men's footballers in Chile
Expatriate men's footballers in Japan
Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Portugal
Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Japan
Argentine football managers
Footballers from Santa Fe Province
Copa Libertadores top scorers
20th-century Argentine sportsmen