Alessandro Altobelli

Alessandro Altobelli
Personal information
Full name Alessandro Altobelli
Date of birth (1955-11-28) 28 November 1955
Place of birth Sonnino, Italy
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973–1974 Latina 28 (7)
1974–1977 Brescia 76 (26)
1977–1988 Internazionale 317 (128)
1988–1989 Juventus 20 (4)
1989–1990 Brescia 32 (7)
Total 473 (172)
National team
1980–1988 Italy 61 (25)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Alessandro Altobelli (born 28 November 1955 in Sonnino, Latina) is a former professional Italian footballer, who played as a forward, and who won the 1982 World Cup with Italy. Nicknamed Spillo ("Needle") for his slender build,[1] Altobelli was a prolific goalscorer, and he became one of the greatest and most effective Italian strikers of the late 1970s and 1980s.[2][3] A well rounded centre-forward, he excelled in the air due to his heading accuracy, power, agility and acrobatic ability; he was also a fast and opportunistic player with good technique and an accurate shot.[2][4] Altobelli is currently the all-time top scorer in the Coppa Italia, with 56 goals in 93 appearances.[1]

Club career

Following spells at Latina (Serie C) and Brescia (Serie B), he was signed by Serie A giants Internazionale in 1977, for whom he played 466 times, scoring 209 goals (128 in Serie A). He contributed heavily to his team's scudetto victory of 1980, and also helped Inter to win two Coppa Italia titles in 1978 and 1982, finishing as the tournament's top scorer in the 1982 edition, with 9 goals. Altobelli was also the top scorer in the 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup, with 7 goals, leading Inter to the quarter-finals of the tournament. After his lengthy period with Inter, he played one season with Juventus during the 1987–88 season, before ending his career with Brescia in Serie B once again, during the 1989–90 season.[2][3]

International career

For Italy, Altobelli was capped 61 times between 1980 and 1988, scoring 25 goals, and he is currently Italy's sixth highest goalscorer.[1] His most notable international goal was Italy's third goal in the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, which Italy over West Germany.[1] He became the second ever substitute to score in a FIFA World Cup final (after Dick Nanninga in 1978 and with Rudi Völler and Mario Götze repeating this, in 1986 and in 2014, respectively). Altobelli also played at Euro 80, where Italy reached the semi-finals, finishing in fourth place on home soil, as well as representing Italy at the 1986 FIFA World Cup, scoring 4 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 at Euro 88, where he played as the team's captain, leading the Italian squad to the semi-finals once again. He made 4 substitute appearances scoring just after coming on in a 2–0 win over Denmark in the group stages.[2][3][5][6]

After retirement

He is currently a sports analyst for beIN Sports, with Cesare Maldini, also having previously served as a pundit for AlJazeera.[7] After retiring, he had briefly entered politics,[8] and also worked as a sporting director for Padova, and as a scout for Inter.[9]

Honours

Club

Inter[2][3]

International

Italy[2][3]

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Mondiali di calcio 1982. Altobelli o il gol della sicurezza" (in Italian). Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" (in Italian). Il Pallone Racconta. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stefano Bedeschi (28 November 2013). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Stefano Bedeschi (19 April 2013). "Gli eroi in bianconero: Pietro VIERCHOWOD" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Alessandro ALTOBELLI". FIFA.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Nazionale in cifre: Altobelli, Alessandro". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Altobelli Believes Inter Can Overcome Manchester United". Goal.com. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Elezioni, "Spillo" Altobelli candidato con Paroli" (in Italian). Il Giornale di Brescia. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Altobelli - Inter" (in Italian). I Cuori Nerazzurri. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Roberto Di Maggio; Davide Rota (4 June 2015). "Italy - Coppa Italia Top Scorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by
Graziano Bini		 Internazionale captain
1985–1988 		Succeeded by
Giuseppe Baresi
Preceded by
Antonio Cabrini		 Italy captain
1987–1988 		Succeeded by
Giuseppe Bergomi
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