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
Position(s)	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)
International career
1980–1988	Italy	61	(25)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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, Altobelli was a prolific goalscorer, and he became one of the greatest and most effective Italian striker of the late 1970s and 1980s. A well rounded centre-forward, he excelled in the air due to his heading and acrobatiic ability; he was also a fast and opportunistic player with good technique and an accurate shot. Altobelli is currently the all time top scorer in the Coppa Italia, with 56 goals in 93 appearances.

Playing career

Club

Following spells at Latina (Serie C) and Brescia (Serie B), he was signed by Serie A giants Internazionale, 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, scoring 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. 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.

International

For Italy, Altobelli was capped 61 times between 1980 and 1988, scoring 25 goals, and he is currently Italy's sixth highest goalscorer. His most notable international goal was Italy's third goal in the 1982 FIFA World Cup final, which Italy over West Germany. 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, on 1986 and on 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.

After retirement

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

Honours

Club

Inter

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

International

Italy

• FIFA World Cup: 1982

Individual

• European Cup Winners' Cup Top Goal Scorer: 1978–79
• Coppa Italia Top Goal Scorer: 1981–82

External links

• Official website (Italian)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Graziano Bini	Internazionale captain 1985-1988	Succeeded by Giuseppe Baresi