Alessandro Altobelli

Alessandro Altobelli (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro altoˈbɛlli]; 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,^[1] Altobelli was a prolific goalscorer and regarded as one of the greatest and most effective Italian strikers of the late 1970s and 1980s.^[2][3] Altobelli is currently the all-time top scorer in the Coppa Italia, with 56 goals in 93 appearances,^[1] and the ninth-highest scoring Italian player in all competitions, with almost 300 career goals.^[4]

Alessandro Altobelli

Personal information
Date of birth	(1955-11-28) 28 November 1955 (age 69)
Place of birth	Sonnino, Italy
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1973–1974	Latina	28	(7)
1974–1977	Brescia	76	(26)
1977–1988	Inter Milan	317	(128)
1988–1989	Juventus	20	(4)
1989–1990	Brescia	32	(7)
Total		473	(172)
International career
1980–1988	Italy	61	(25)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Italy FIFA World Cup Winner 1982 Spain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.^[2][3][5]

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 won 3–1 over West Germany.^[1] 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.^{[2][3][6][7][8]}

Style of play

Altobelli was a highly prolific goalscorer, who was regarded as a complete, world class striker.^[2][3] 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.^{[2][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

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.^[15]

In the 1990s, he entered politics.^[16] He also worked as a sporting director for Padova and as a football scout for Inter.^[17]

In the 2000s, he served as a pundit for Al Jazeera.^[18] Since September 2020, he serves as a pundit for RAI TV show A tutto campo.^[19] He also featured as a pundit in 90º minuto.^[20]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[21][22]

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	2[a]	0	40	14
	1978–79	Serie A	29	11	2	1	6[b]	7	37	19
	1979–80	Serie A	29	15	5	4	4[a]	3	38	22
	1980–81	Serie A	29	12	4	1	8[c]	4	41	17
	1981–82	Serie A	29	9	9	9	4[a]	3	42	21
	1982–83	Serie A	30	15	11	4	5[b]	3	46	22
	1983–84	Serie A	28	10	5	3	6[a]	2	39	15
	1984–85	Serie A	30	17	11	6	10[a]	2	51	25
	1985–86	Serie A	29	9	6	4	10[a]	6	45	19
	1986–87	Serie A	28	11	7	5	8[a]	3	43	19
	1987–88	Serie A	28	9	10	5	6[a]	2	44	16
	Total		317	128	80	46	69	35	466	209
Juventus	1988–89	Serie A	20	4	6	7	8[a]	4	35	15
Brescia	1989–90	Serie B	32	7	1	0	–		33	7
Career total			473	172	95	56	77	39	645	275

1. Appearances in UEFA Cup
2. Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
3. Appearances in European Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[23]

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	Ref.
1	22 June 1980	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Portugal	1–0	3–1	Friendly	[24]
2				2–1
3	11 July 1982	Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain	West Germany	3–0	3–1	1982 FIFA World Cup	[25]
4	13 November 1982	San Siro, Milan, Italy	Czechoslovakia	1–0	2–2	UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying	[26]
5	22 December 1983	Stadio Renato Curi, Perugia, Italy	Cyprus	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying	[27]
6	3 March 1984	BJK İnönü Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey	Turkey	2–1	2–3	Friendly	[28]
7	26 May 1984	Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada	Canada	1–0	2–0	Friendly	[29]
8	9 December 1984	Stadio Adriatico – Giovanni Cornacchia, Pescara, Italy	Poland	1–0	2–0	Friendly	[30]
9	5 February 1985	Dalymount Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Republic of Ireland	2–0	2–0	Friendly	[31]
10	6 June 1985	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	England	2–1	2–1	Friendly	[32]
11	25 September 1985	Stadio Via del Mare, Lecce, Italy	Norway	1–0	1–2	Friendly	[33]
12	26 March 1986	Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy	Austria	1–1	2–1	Friendly	[34]
13	11 May 1986	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	China	2–0	2–0	Friendly	[35]
14	31 May 1986	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	Bulgaria	1–0	1–1	1986 FIFA World Cup	[36]
15	5 June 1986	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico	Argentina	1–0	1–1	1986 FIFA World Cup	[37]
16	10 June 1986	Estadio Cuauhtémoc, Puebla, Mexico	South Korea	1–0	3–2	1986 FIFA World Cup	[38]
17				2–1
18	15 November 1986	San Siro, Milan, Italy	Switzerland	2–1	3–2	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	[39]
19				3–1
20	6 December 1986	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	[40]
21	24 January 1987	Stadio Comunale, Bergamo, Italy	Malta	3–0	5–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	[41]
22				4–0
23	14 February 1987	Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, Portugal	Portugal	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying	[42]
24	23 September 1987	Arena Garibaldi – Stadio Romeo Anconetani, Pisa, Italy	Yugoslavia	1–0	1–0	Friendly	[43]
25	17 June 1988	Müngersdorfer Stadion, Cologne, Germany	Denmark	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1988	[44]

Honours

Inter Milan^[2][3]

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

Italy^[2][3]

• FIFA World Cup: 1982

Individual

• European Cup Winners' Cup top goalscorer: 1978–79^[2][3]
• Coppa Italia top goal scorer: 1981–82^[2][3][45]
• FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup top goalscorer: 1995,^[15] 1996^[15]
• Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2022^[46]

References

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External links

• Official website (in Italian)
• Alessandro Altobelli at Treccani (in Italian)