Actually let me clarify that. Not even his voice, but maybe one single word.

Before I get to that word though, a quick bio about the man…

The subject today is José Altafini, a Brazilian born Italian.

“Altafini played for Palmeiras in Brazil, before he began his career in Italy with AC Milan in 1958. He made his debut on September 21, 1958, and, in his first season, played 32 games and scored 28 goals, winning the title along the way. Milan won the title again in 1962, when Altafini was the league’s joint top scorer with 22 goals in 33 games.

In 1965, Altafini joined Napoli, where he stayed until 1972. After his time at Napoli he joined Juventus.

By the time he left Juventus in 1976, Altafini had played 459 games in Serie A and had scored 216 goals.”

As well as all this Altafini had the rare distinction of playing for the Brazilian and then the Italian national team. This was in the days before they changed the rules. Plus he became a naturalised Italian which helped.

After his retirement Altafini eventually became a pundit on Sky Italia, which is where that word comes into play…

The word ? Well in the UK in the 90′s everybody was given a bad translation.

It wasn’t:

It was in fact:

‘Golaccio’

But… that Portuguese word doesn’t actually translate to Italian too well.
- This is from an old Guardian Football Weekly podcast, where James Richardson, the presenter of Channel 4′s Football Italia answers a question about the sample used in the programme’s title:

[See post to listen to audio]

Before the Football Italia theme, the co-creator Steve Duberry was in a band called Definitive Two who’s total output was this one release in 1992:

[See post to listen to audio] » Definitive Two – I’m Stronger Now

As you can hear it is a very familiar tune.

Duberry then took this, along with a sample of Altafini first used by J. Saul Kane in this Depth Charge single done two years earlier and came up with:

[See post to listen to audio] » Channel 4 Football Italia Theme

So there you have it, Jose Altafini sampled.

But you know that’s not the real reason why we are here and I’m writing about him. Yes that’s right he did the same as Chinaglia and recorded a song:

[See post to listen to audio] » Jose Altafini – La Rosa

If you want to have a further laugh then have a read of the (Google Translated) lyrics here.

To finish off we’ll go back to Football Italia and this video of the best goals from the ’94-95 season:

Ask your Dad or Grandad and they’ll have very clear memories of watching The Gentle Giant:

The 6ft 2in Welsh legend was originally signed in 1948 by Leeds United after a trial and initially played at centre half. In fact in his first team debut (in a friendly against Queen Of The South) he was given the task of marking Billy Houliston, who a few weeks before had run the English defence ragged when playing for Scotland (in a match they won 3-1), but when Houliston was up against the 17-year old John Charles, he never got a shot in and the match ended in a nil-nil.

When playing for Leeds and a couple of seasons later he was put up front and scored twice in his second match at centre forward, but spent the rest of his time at the back. Two years after his professional debut Charles was named in the Welsh national squad and in 1958 he appeared – and scored in the World Cup finals.

Whilst also at Leeds he played a pivotal role in helping them get promoted from the old 2nd Division back into Division 1, but after a terrible fire gutted the West Stand the club were in financial straits so they listened to offers for their star center half-turned striker.

It would be the Italian club Juventus who came calling and they paid a world record (at the time) fee of £65,000 for him. Unlike other British players years later Charles settled very well in Italy and n his five years at Juve he scored 93 goals in 155 matches. He was an intergral part of a side who won the Scudetto three times and the Italian Cup twice.

John was given the nickname of “Il Gigante Buono” because in all his time playing for Leeds, in all his time at Juventus and for Wales, Roma, Cardiff and Hereford afterwards the big near-14 stone centre forward was never cautioned. In his entire career was never sent off.

In 1997 on their club centenary the Juventus fans voted him to be the best-ever foreign player to play for their team. John Charles is still talked about by the supporters at the Stadio Olimpico, even by those who never saw him play.

As mentioned John found himself suited to Italian football and was very at home in Italy. He had a powerful set of lungs on him and we are privileged to be able to hear the great one sing some (gentle) love songs:

» John Charles w/William Galassini Orchestra – Love In Portofino » John Charles – La Fine

Additional:
Some video of the Juventus 1957/58 season, including the arrival of John Charles:

Extra Time:
The Welsh singer Lorraine King sings a tribute to King John which reflects on his life:

Lorraine King – Il Gigante Buono: [See post to listen to audio] Stream only. Find more by this artist here. » A visual representation of the song.

Further reading: