Alessandro Altobelli

Alessandro Altobelli (; 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, Altobelli was a prolific goalscorer and regarded as one of the greatest and most effective Italian strikers of the late 1970s and 1980s. Altobelli is currently the all-time top scorer in the Coppa Italia, with 56 goals in 93 appearances,

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.

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.

Style of play Altobelli played as a centre-forward and was regarded by several commentators as one of the leading strikers of his generation.

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.

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

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

Career statistics Club

International

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Altobelli goal.

Honours Inter Milan Beach Soccer World Championships top goalscorer: 1995,