José Altafini

Palmeiras

Altafini made his debut for the Italian-Brazilian Palmeiras team of São Paulo in Brazil on 29 January 1956, scoring a brace on his debut, and becoming the youngest goalscorer for the club, at the age of 17, a record which still stands today. He played for the Brazilian club for two seasons (1956 and 1957), scoring 32 goals in 63 matches competitive, and 89 goals in 114 matches including semi-official matches and friendly matches. His goalscoring ratio of 0.74 goals per game is the fifth best ever average for a Palmeiras player. On 9 June 1957, he scored all five goals in Palmeiras's 5–0 win over Noroeste, which is also a joint-club record for the most goals by a single player in a Palmeiras match. On 6 March 1958, Altafini scored two goals in a historic match against the legendary Santos team of Pelé, Pepe and Zito in the Torneio Rio-São Paulo. Altafini was one of the protagonists of the match, which ended in a 7–6 win to Santos, despite his goals.

AC Milan

Altafini began his career in Italy with AC Milan in 1958, following the World Cup in Sweden; his talent and offensive potential had been noticed by Milan's agents during some friendly matches in Italy against Inter and Fiorentina in preparation for the upcoming tournament, in which Altafini scored. He was purchased by the Italian club prior to the World Cup in Sweden for 135 million Lire. Altafini made his scoreless Milan debut on 21 September 1958, at the age of 20, and, in his first season,…

Brazil

Altafini made his international debut for Brazil at the age of 18 and 327 days on 16 June 1957, marking his first appearance with a goal against Portugal in a 3–0 friendly victory. On the 7 and 10 July, he helped Brazil to win the Copa Roca against rivals Argentina, alongside debutant Pelé, scoring a goal. Altafini, playing as Mazzola, was a member of the Brazil team that won the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden, and at 19 was the second-youngest member of the squad, after Pelé, to be called up. He started the tournament strongly, scoring two goals in the opening group match against Austria on 8 June, which ended in a 3–0 win, but he was injured during the second group match against England three days later, which ended in a 0–0 draw, and as a result he missed the final group match against the Soviet Union on 15 June, which Brazil won 2–0. He returned to the starting line-up in the quarter-final match against Wales on 19 June, putting on a strong performance and helping Pelé to score the only goal of the match. He later scored a brilliant overhead kick from the edge of the penalty area, which was unfortunately disallowed by the referee. He was replaced by Vavá for the semi-final victory against France (5–2) on 24 June, and manager Vicente Feola also left him out in favour of Vavá once again from the squad that would lift the World Cup in the final over hosts Sweden on 29 June, following a 5–2 victory. In total he made 8 appearances for the Brazilian national…

Altafini was known to have excellent control, technique, flair and dribbling ability. He was also a highly agile player, having started his career as an attacking midfielder or winger, before being switched to a more offensive role as a centre-forward. He was a highly prolific goalscorer throughout his career, due to his powerful, accurate shot and ability to make attacking runs, as well as his agility inside the penalty area.

Altafini was born on 24 July 1938 in Piracicaba, a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, with a large Italian community, mostly originating from Trentino Alto Adige, where certain dialects are still spoken. He came from a working-class family of Italian origin, born to Gioacchino Altafini and Maria Marchesoni, his mother being from Caldonazzo (Trentino), which enabled him to obtain Italian citizenship. José's father worked in a sugar factory, while his mother worked as a housemaid for a wealthy family. José began playing football for the youth side of his city at the age of 16, the XV de Novembro Sporting Club. It was during this time that he earned his nickname "Mazzola", due to his physical resemblance to legendary Italian attacking midfielder Valentino Mazzola. At the age of 17, he began to play for the youth side of the Italian-Brazilian São Paulo club Palmeiras, initially as an attacking midfielder or winger, before being moved to a more offensive position as a forward.