The Italian-Brazilian José Altafini, Mazzola, played two World Cups, one for Brazil and one for Italy. With this resume, football player is one of the most important representatives of the success of descendants of Italian immigrants in our country.
Born in Piracicaba On July 24, 1938, José João Altafini is the son of Italians Gioacchino Altafini e Maria Marchesoni, born in the city of Caldonazzo, in the Trentino-Alto Adige region. The couple emigrated to Brazil shortly before the Second World War, in search of better living conditions.
He started playing football at Atlético Piracicabano Club and, in 1956, at the age of 17, he went to Palmeiras. At Palestra Itália, he gained the nickname Mazzola, due to his physical resemblance to Valentino mazzola, star of the Italian national team of the 1940s.
Top scorer at Palmeiras
Goal-scoring striker and who moved very well in the penalty area, Mazzola quickly gained space in Palmeiras' main team, which at the time was led by coach Aymore Moreira.
Since 1951 without winning titles, the phase was not the best in the Palmeiras. But the potential of young center forward It gave everyone hope of taking Alviverde back to its achievements.
At the opening of 1957 Paulista Championship, on June 9, against the Northwest of Bauru at Parque Antártica, Palmeiras won 5-2, with five goals from Mazzola. Seven days later, the Italian-Brazilian player made his debut with the shirt of Brazil National Team, in a friendly against Portugal, at Pacaembu.
In Brazil's 3-0 victory, Mazzola came on during the match, replacing Pagan, still in time to score his first goal with hopscotch.
The player stayed at Palmeiras until May 1958, during which time he played 114 games and scored 85 goals. However, he ended up not winning the titles he dreamed of.
Champion in the 58 World Cup
But the first title of his career would be the biggest of all. At World Cup in Sweden, in 1958, Mazzola helped the Brazilian team win the first of its five world championships.
Starting the competition as a starter in the Brazilian attack, Mazzola scored two goals on his debut, when Brazil beat Austria 3-0. During the campaign, Mazzola and right-winger Joel lost their place in the team to two world cup debutants: Pele and Garrincha. From the bench, they saw Brazil beat Sweden 5-2 in the final and win the World Cup for the first time.
After the World Cup, Mazzola was sold to Milan for 25 million cruises, a fortune at the time. With the money, Palmeiras hired stars like Djalma Santos and Julinho Botelho and put together the team that would become São Paulo champion in 1959. Ultimately, Mazzola helped Alviverde win titles again, even if indirectly.
World Cup for Italy
In Italy, Mazzola began to be called by his surname, Altafini. The name changed, but the football remained the same. In his first season with the Milan, the attacker was crowned Italian champion, marking 28 goals in 32 games.
The excellent performance resulted in the player, who had dual citizenship, being called up to the Italian selection. The debut by Azzurra it was in 1961, in the qualifiers for the following year's World Cup, when he scored a goal in the 4-2 victory over Israel, in Tel-Aviv.
Italy qualified and Mazzola was in the group that competed in the World Cup in Chile, in 1962. However, the Italian campaign was poor. After a draw with ocidental Germany 0-0, defeat to Chile 2-0, and victory over Switzerland 3-0, Italy was in 3rd place in the group and was eliminated in the first phase.
Years later, Mazzola declared that he regretted having contested the 62 World by Italy and not by Brazil. “I played for Italy and saw my former teammates take home their second World Cup,” said the former player.
On the other hand, Mazzola would also later say that there was no space for him in the Brazilian team in 1962. “At that time, Brazil did not call those who played abroad. At 23, 24 years old, he would be very upset if he lost a World Cup. It wasn't me who left Brazil. It was Brazil that left me.”
Mazzola destroys Milan
Despite the frustration in the World Cup, 1962 was one of the best in the team's career. Italian-Brazilian Mazzola. O Milan became Italian champions again and he ended up in competition artillery, with 22 goals.
However, the player's best year at Milan was 1963. The team won its first European Champions Cup and Mazzola was the tournament's top scorer, with 14 goals in nine matches. His performance was crowned with two goals in the decision against Benfica, then two-time European champions, in Wembley Stadium, when the Italian team won 2-1.
This mark of 14 goals in a single edition of the Champions League remained a record for decades, until Cristiano Ronaldo surpass it in the 2013/2014 edition.
Other campaigns in Italy
In 1965, Mazzola left Milan for Napoli, where he formed an attacking duo alongside the Argentine naturalized Italian Omar Sivori, with whom he had already played in Italian selection. Despite good campaigns, including the national runner-up In the 67/68 season, Mazzola did not win titles with the Neapolitan team.
In 1972, at the age of 34, Mazzola went to play for Juventus Turin. At the new club, he was not as successful as he was at Milan, but he won more two national titles, em 1973 and 1975.
Sports commentator
He left Italian football at the end of the 75/76 season. In 456 Serie A games, Mazzola scored 216 goals, establishing itself as the third highest scorer in history of the Italian Championship, alongside the legendary Giuseppe Meazza.
After leaving Juventus, Mazzola played for four more seasons in the minors FC Chiasso e Mendrisio Stabio, Swiss teams, before ending his career in 1980, at the age of 42. Currently, he still live in Italy, where he is one of the best-known sports commentators in the country.
Mazzola married Eleana D'Addio in 1959, with whom he had two daughters: Patricia, married to journalist and writer Pedro Oswaldo Nastri, and Cristina, married to Salvatore Marco Pulvirenti. Both were born in Milan , in Italy, and live in Brazil.
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