José Altafini
José João Altafini (Italian: [altaˈfiːni]; born 24 July 1938), also known as "Mazzola" in Brazil (as when he started to play it was noted that he resembled the Italian legend Valentino Mazzola), is an Italian-Brazilian former footballer, 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, with which he achieved great domestic and international success; he later also played for Napoli and Juventus, before ending his career in Switzerland with spells at Chiasso and Mendrisiostar. A highly prolific goalscorer, Altafini also held the record for the most goals scored in a single European Cup 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 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. At international level, he represented both Brazil and Italy; he was a member of the Brazilian side that won the 1958 FIFA World Cup, and later also represented Italy at the 1962 FIFA World Cup.
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Altafini in 1974 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | José João Altafini | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 24 July 1938 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Piracicaba, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | 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
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Regarded as one of the best and most complete strikers of his generation, and as one of Serie A's and Milan's greatest ever players, Altafini was a well-rounded striker with an eye for goal, who was quick, skilful, and powerful.
He is currently a well-known football pundit on Italian TV for SKY Italia and a commentator on Italian radio for RTL 102.5. He is also the secondary commentator on Pro Evolution Soccer video games in Italy. As a pundit, he is popular and known in Italy for coining the expression "golaço" (or the Italianised "golazzo") whenever a notable goal is scored, as well as his iconic exclamation "incredibile, amici!" ("incredible, friends!"). In his career, Altafini scored 630 goals.