Alessandro Altobelli

Alessandro Altobelli ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; born 28 November 1955) 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,<ref name="Mondiali di calcio 1982. Altobelli o il gol della sicurezza">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Altobelli was a prolific goalscorer and regarded as one of the greatest and most effective Italian strikers of the late 1970s and 1980s.<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="tuttojuve">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Altobelli is currently the all-time top scorer in the Coppa Italia, with 56 goals in 93 appearances,<ref name="Mondiali di calcio 1982. Altobelli o il gol della sicurezza" /> and the ninth-highest scoring Italian player in all competitions, with almost 300 career goals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Club career

Altobelli was born in Sonnino, Latina. Following spells at Latina (Serie C) and Brescia (Serie B), he was signed by Serie A club Inter Milan 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 (scoring 15 goals), 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 nine goals. Altobelli was also the top scorer in the 1978–79 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 with Juventus during the 1988–89 season, before ending his career with Brescia in Serie B once again, during the 1989–90 season.<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/><ref name="storiedicalcio-Beccalossi">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Mondiali di calcio 1982. Altobelli o il gol della sicurezza" /> His most notable international goal was Italy's third goal in the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, which Italy won 3–1 over West Germany.<ref name="Mondiali di calcio 1982. Altobelli o il gol della sicurezza" /> After coming on in the seventh minute of play for the injured Francesco Graziani, 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, with Italy finishing in fourth place on home soil, as well as representing Italy at the 1986 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 at Euro 88, where he played as the team's captain, 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 over Denmark in the group stages.<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Style of play

Altobelli was a highly prolific goalscorer, who was regarded as a complete, world class striker.<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/> A well rounded centre-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.<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name="VIERCHOWOD">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="cinquantamila">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

After retirement

After retirement, he played for Italy national beach soccer team, being the top scorer at the 1995 and 1996 Beach Soccer World Championships.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 1990s, he entered politics.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also worked as a sporting director for Padova and as a football scout for Inter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 2000s, he served as a pundit for Al Jazeera.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Since September 2020, he serves as a pundit for RAI TV show A tutto campo.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also featured as a pundit in 90º minuto.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career statistics

Club

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Club	Season	League			Coppa Italia		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Latina	1973–74	Serie C	28	7	–		–		28	7
Brescia	1974–75	Serie B	16	2	1	0	–		17	2
	1975–76	Serie B	26	11	4	0	–		30	11
	1976–77	Serie B	34	13	3	3	–		37	16
	Total		76	26	8	3	–		84	29
Inter Milan	1977–78	Serie A	28	10	10	4	2Template:Efn	0	40	14
	1978–79	Serie A	29	11	2	1	6Template:Efn	7	37	19
	1979–80	Serie A	29	15	5	4	4Template:Efn	3	38	22
	1980–81	Serie A	29	12	4	1	8Template:Efn	4	41	17
	1981–82	Serie A	29	9	9	9	4Template:Efn	3	42	21
	1982–83	Serie A	30	15	11	4	5Template:Efn	3	46	22
	1983–84	Serie A	28	10	5	3	6Template:Efn	2	39	15
	1984–85	Serie A	30	17	11	6	10Template:Efn	2	51	25
	1985–86	Serie A	29	9	6	4	10Template:Efn	6	45	19
	1986–87	Serie A	28	11	7	5	8Template:Efn	3	43	19
	1987–88	Serie A	28	9	10	5	6Template:Efn	2	44	16
	Total		317	128	80	46	69	35	466	209
Juventus	1988–89	Serie A	20	4	6	7	8Template:Efn	4	35	15
Brescia	1989–90	Serie B	32	7	1	0	–		33	7
Career total			473	172	95	56	77	39	645	275

International

citation

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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	Template:Abbr
1	Template:Dts	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	3–1	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2				2–1
3	Template:Dts	Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain	Template:Fb	3–0	3–1	1982 FIFA World Cup	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
4	Template:Dts	San Siro, Milan, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
5	22 December 1983	Stadio Renato Curi, Perugia, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
6	Template:Dts	BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Template:Fb	2–1	2–3	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
7	Template:Dts	Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
8	Template:Dts	Stadio Adriatico – Giovanni Cornacchia, Pescara, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
9	Template:Dts	Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
10	Template:Dts	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Template:Fb	2–1	2–1	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
11	Template:Dts	Stadio Via del Mare, Lecce, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	1–2	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
12	Template:Dts	Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy	Template:Fb	1–1	2–1	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
13	Template:Dts	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
14	Template:Dts	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	1986 FIFA World Cup	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
15	Template:Dts	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico	Template:Fb	1–0	1–1	1986 FIFA World Cup	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
16	Template:Dts	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico	Template:Fb	1–0	3–2	1986 FIFA World Cup	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
17				2–1
18	Template:Dts	San Siro, Milan, Italy	Template:Fb	2–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
19				3–1
20	Template:Dts	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Template:Fb	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
21	Template:Dts	Stadio Comunale, Bergamo, Italy	Template:Fb	3–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
22				4–0
23	Template:Dts	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
24	Template:Dts	Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani, Pisa, Italy	Template:Fb	1–0	1–0	Friendly	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
25	Template:Dts	Müngersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, Germany	Template:Fb	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1988	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Honours

Inter Milan<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/>

• Serie A: 1979–80
• Coppa Italia: 1977–78, 1981–82

Italy<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/>

• FIFA World Cup: 1982

Individual

• European Cup Winners' Cup top goalscorer: 1978–79<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/>
• Coppa Italia top goalscorer: 1981–82<ref name="Il Pallone Racconta: Alessandro ALTOBELLI" /><ref name=tuttojuve/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Beach Soccer World Championships top goalscorer: 1995,<ref name=":0" /> 1996<ref name=":0" />
• Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2022<ref name="2022-SerieAHoF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Official website Template:In lang
• Alessandro Altobelli at Treccani Template:In lang