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José João Altafini (; born 24 July 1938), also known as "Mazzola" in Brazil, is an Italian-Brazilian former
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
, who played as a forward. Although, he began his career with Palmeiras in Brazil, he soon moved to play football in Italy, and is mostly remembered for his highly successful stint with Italian club
AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
, with which he achieved a great domestic and international success; he later played for
Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...
and
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
, before ending his career in Switzerland with spells at
Chiasso Chiasso (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As Extreme points of Switzerland, the southernmost of Switzerland's ...
and Mendrisiostar. A highly prolific goalscorer, Altafini also held the record for the most goals scored in a single
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
campaign for over 50 years; he is also one of only eight players to have scored five goals in a single European Cup match. He is the joint-fourth highest scorer in Italian
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
history (along with Giuseppe Meazza) with 216 goals, and also holds the record for being the fifth-youngest player in Serie A history to score 100 goals, a feat which he managed at the age of 24 years and 239 days. 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. At international level, he represented both
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
; he was a member of the Brazilian side that won the
1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...
, and later also represented Italy at the
1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...
. He was a football pundit on Italian TV for the
SKY Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo, and Sky TG24. Pay TV services on the Sky ...
and a commentator on Italian radio for RTL 102.5, as well as being the secondary commentator on the ''
Pro Evolution Soccer ''eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer'' (''eFootball PES''), known as in Japan, is a series of association football List of association football video games, simulation video games developed by Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. and published ...
'' video games in Italy. Altafini coined the expression "golaço" (or the Italianised "golazzo") whenever a notable goal is scored and was known for his iconic exclamation "incredibile, amici!" ("incredible, friends!"). In his career, Altafini scored 630 goals.


Early life

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 from Trentino 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 from Caldonazzo (
Trentino Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...
), which enabled him to obtain Italian citizenship. José's father worked in a sugar factory, while his mother worked as a housemaid for a wealthy family. José began playing football for the youth side of his city at the age of 16, the XV de Novembro Sporting Club. It was during this time that he earned his nickname "Mazzola", due to his physical resemblance with legendary Italian attacking midfielder Valentino Mazzola. At the age of 17, he began to play for the youth side of the Italian-Brazilian São Paulo club Palmeiras, initially as an
attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
or winger, before being moved to a more offensive position as a forward.


Club career


Palmeiras

Altafini made his debut for the Italian-Brazilian Palmeiras 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. 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. His goalscoring ratio of 0.74 goals per game is the fifth best ever average for a Palmeiras player. On 9 June 1957, he scored all five goals in Palmeiras's 5–0 win over Noroeste, which is also a joint-club record for the most goals by a single player in a Palmeiras match. On 6 March 1958, Altafini scored two goals in an historic match against the legendary Santos team of
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
, Pepe and Zito in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. Altafini was one of the protagonists of the match, which ended in a 7–6 win to Santos, despite his goals.


AC Milan

Altafini began his career in Italy with
AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
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 against Inter and
Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
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. 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 the
1958–59 Serie A The 1958–59 Serie A season was the 29th edition of Serie A, the top-level football competition in Italy. The championship was won by Milan. Teams Triestina and Bari had been promoted from Serie B. Final classification Juventus was the cupw ...
title along the way, and demonstrating his goalscoring prowess; he also managed 4 goals in 4
Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
appearances that season, finishing the season with a total of 32 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions. His first league goal came on 5 October in a win against
Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...
. Altafini was the top scorer of the 1960–61
Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
, 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 the Milan derby against local rivals Inter, 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. On 12 November 1961, he also managed four goals against
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
, as Milan went on to win the
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
title again during the 1961–62 season, in which Altafini finished as the league's joint top scorer with 22 goals in 33 games, alongside Aurelio Milani. In the 1963 European Cup Final, Altafini scored two goals against Benfica to secure Milan's first European triumph. The game ended 2–1, and Altafini finished the competition as the top scorer with a record of 14 goals, which was only broken during the 2013–14 season by
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...
, who managed 17 goals. In Milan's 5–0 win over l'Union Luxembourg, he managed to score five goals in a single match of the competition, a record which he shares with eight other footballers, including
Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
. Milan were defeated in the 1963 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 the
1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
and 1964 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 the 1964–65 season. During his seven seasons with Milan, Altafini was able to win two
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
titles, and a
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
, as well as the top goalscoring awards in
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
, the
Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
and the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
.


Napoli

In 1965, Altafini joined
Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...
, due to his disagreements with Amarildo and Paolo Ferrario at Milan, where he formed a notable attacking partnership with Italo-Argentine advanced
playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...
Omar Sívori, who had been his Italy teammate at the 1962 World Cup in Chile. He remained at the club for seven years, until 1972. On 31 December 1967, in a 2–2 home draw against
Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
, Altafini scored an acrobatic goal from a bicycle kick, a "golaço" which made him extremely popular with the Napoli fans. 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 the 1967–68 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 in
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
and
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
. During the 1971–72 season, Altafini also helped Napoli to the 1971–72 Coppa Italia final, although they were defeated 2–0 by his previous club, Milan. Despite his role in the club's history, during his time at Napoli, Altafini only managed to win a minor trophy, the Coppa delle Alpi, during the 1966–67 season.


Juventus

After his time at Napoli, Altafini joined
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
along with his former Napoli teammate goalkeeping legend
Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever ...
. 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 the 1972–73 and the 1974–75 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 against Roma. Juventus were trailing at half-time, but Altafini scored a crucial equaliser (his ninth of the season), before Antonello Cuccureddu scored the late match winner. Milan were defeated in
Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
, and Juventus's victory allowed them to capture the Serie A title. 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. 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. A few days after the match, a banner with the writing "José core 'ngrato" was placed on one of the gates of the San Paolo stadium, referencing the fact that Altafini had previously played for the Neapolitan club. He also helped Juventus to a
Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
and a European Cup Final in 1973, scoring a goal in the quarter-finals of the 1972–73 European Cup against Újpesti Dózsa, and two goals in the semi-final against Derby County. Juventus narrowly missed out on a treble by losing both cup finals despite their 1973 league title. Their Coppa Italia defeat came at the hands of Altafini's former club, Milan, once again, on penalties, while Juventus were defeated by
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
in the European Cup final. During the 1973–74 season, Juventus went trophyless, although Altafini managed 7 goals in 21 appearances, and in his final 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. 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, alongside Giuseppe Meazza, and behind only
Silvio Piola Silvio Piola (; 29 September 1913 – 4 October 1996) was an Italian footballer who played as a striker. He is known as a highly prominent figure in the history of Italian football due to several records he set, and he is regarded as one of the ...
, Totti and Nordahl. He also holds the second highest number of appearances in Serie A by a non-Italian born player, behind Javier Zanetti.


Later career in Switzerland and retirement

After leaving Italy in 1976, Altafini briefly played in the
National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
with Toronto Italia, where he appeared in the 1976 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. He later played for four years in Switzerland for
Chiasso Chiasso (; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Mendrisio (district), Mendrisio in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As Extreme points of Switzerland, the southernmost of Switzerland's ...
, playing in the second division, and earning a promotion into the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
thanks to his goals, scoring 14 goals in 26 league games in his first season. He later played for Mendrisiostar, another team in the Swiss second division, before retiring at the age of 42 in 1980, after a 25-season professional footballing career.


International career


Brazil

Altafini made his international debut for
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
at the age of 18 and 327 days on 16 June 1957, marking his first appearance with a goal against
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 ...
in a 3–0 friendly victory. On the 7 and 10 July, he helped Brazil to win the Copa Roca against rivals
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 ...
, alongside debutant
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
, scoring a goal. Altafini, playing as Mazzola, was a member of the Brazil team that won the
1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...
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 against
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
on 8 June, which ended in a 3–0 win, but he was injured during the second group match against
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
three days later, which ended in a 0–0 draw, and as a result he missed the final group match against the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
on 15 June, which Brazil won 2–0. He returned to the starting line-up in the quarter-final match against
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
on 19 June, putting on a strong performance and helping Pelé to score the only goal of the match. He later scored a brilliant overhead kick from the edge of the penalty area, which was unfortunately disallowed by the referee. He was replaced by Vavá for the semi-final victory against
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
(5–2) on 24 June, and manager
Vicente Feola Vicente Ítalo Feola (; 20 November 1909 – 6 November 1975) was a Brazilian football manager and coach from São Paulo. He is best known for leading the Brazil national team to its first FIFA World Cup title in 1958. Biography Feola was ...
also left him out in favour of Vavá once again from the squad that would lift the World Cup in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
over hosts
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
on 29 June, following a 5–2 victory. In total he made 8 appearances for the Brazilian national side, scoring 4 goals.


Italy

In the
1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...
, 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." Altafini made his debut for
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
on 15 October 1961, in a play-off against
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
for a place at the
1962 FIFA World Cup The 1962 FIFA World Cup was the 7th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It was held from 30 May to 17 June 1962 in Chile. The qualification rounds took place between ...
. He scored in a 4–2 victory in
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...
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 over
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
. Altafini played in the first two group matches of the 1962 World Cup, against
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
and
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, as Italy were eliminated in the first round. 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. Altafini made six appearances for Italy, scoring five goals, bringing his total international tally to nine goals in 14 appearances.


Style of play

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 and
dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...
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 a centre-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.


Media


Punditry

After retiring from football, Altafini became a notable football commentator in Italy, where he coined the term ''golazzo'', a transliteration of the word ''golaço'' from his native Portuguese, 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 of
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
's ''
Football Italia ''Football Italia'' was a television programme in the United Kingdom, showing Italian football, that ran from 1992 to 2002 on Channel 4, and continued until 2007–08 Serie A, 2008 on other channels. It was known as ''Football Italiano'' in its ...
''.


Film

In the biographical film '' Pelé: Birth of a Legend'', Altafini is portrayed by Mexican actor Diego Boneta.


Author

Altafini also co-wrote two books: ''Incredibile amici! Il mio manuale del calcio'', along with Pierluigi Pardo, and ''Futebol e alegria. Personaggi, fatti, aneddoti del mio calcio'', along with Maurizio Barberis.


Career statistics


In Italy

''*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup & UEFA Cup''


International

*''Altafini's team's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Altafini goal.''


Honours


Club

AC Milan *
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
: 1958–59, 1961–62 *
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
: 1962–63 Juventus *
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
: 1972–73, 1974–75 Napoli * Coppa delle Alpi: 1966


International

Brazil *
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
:
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...


Individual

*
Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...
top Goal-scorer: 1960–61 * Serie A top Goal-scorer: 1961–62 * European Cup top goalscorer: 1962–63 *AC Milan Hall of Fame * Golden Foot: 2019, as football legend


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External links


FIFA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Altafini, Jose 1938 births Living people Footballers from Piracicaba AC Milan players Brazilian emigrants to Italy Brazilian men's footballers Dual internationalists (men's football) Brazilian people of Italian descent Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers SE Palmeiras players Juventus FC players SSC Napoli players Toronto Italia players Serie A players Canadian National Soccer League players 1958 FIFA World Cup players 1962 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players Brazil men's international footballers São Paulo state football team players Italian television personalities People of Trentinian descent Men's association football forwards UEFA Champions League–winning players UEFA Champions League top scorers 20th-century Italian sportsmen 20th-century Brazilian sportsmen