José Altafini

José Altafini
Altafini in 1974
Personal information
Full name José João Altafini
Date of birth (1938-07-24) 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
Men's Football
Representing  Brazil
FIFA World Cup
Winner1958 Sweden
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

José João Altafini (Italian: [altaˈfiːni]; born 24 July 1938), also known as "Mazzola" in Brazil, 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 a great domestic and international success; he later 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. 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 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.

He was a football pundit on Italian TV for the SKY Italia and a commentator on Italian radio for RTL 102.5, as well as being the secondary commentator on the Pro Evolution Soccer 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.