Records are meant to be broken, but for decades it seemed José Altafini’s scoring feats for AC Milan in that 1962/63 campaign would stand the test of time. The 14 goals the Brazilian struck in nine European Cup games were more than any other player in a single season for nearly half a century, until a certain Lionel Messi matched his marker in 2011/12. It wasn’t for another two years that the record was finally surpassed, and it took the competition’s all-time leading scorer to do it – Cristiano Ronaldo hitting 17 in 2013/14, still the most anyone has managed in a single European Cup campaign.
Altafini’s trademark was and still is maintaining a low profile despite achieving extraordinary things. He was part of the first Brazil squad to lift the World Cup in 1958, and then drove the Rossoneri to Italy’s first continental title. In the 1962/63 preliminary round, he punished Union Luxembourg with eight strikes over the two matches, including five in the first leg, before slamming four past Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The pièce de résistance was a double in the final against holders Benfica. Some might claim that Union Luxembourg weren’t top class, and they would have a point. But, likewise, teams only played a maximum of nine matches in the competition back then, as opposed to the 13 of the current format.
Modest and affable, Altafini, now 85, didn’t live for goals alone; he enjoyed life, sometimes too much. Legend has it he was nicknamed ‘Bunny rabbit’ by Milan director Gipo ‘the Sheriff’ Viani after being caught hiding in a nightclub before a game. “In my career, I scored over 300 goals playing with my socks around my ankles and no shinpads. I wasn’t a bunny,” the jovial Brazilian remarked years later. With his two goals at Wembley that May afternoon in 1963, the Bunny had Rossoneri fans jumping for joy.
Records are meant to be broken, but for decades it seemed José Altafini’s scoring feats for AC Milan in that 1962/63 campaign would stand the test of time. The 14 goals the Brazilian struck in nine European Cup games were more than any other player in a single season for nearly half a century, until a certain Lionel Messi matched his marker in 2011/12. It wasn’t for another two years that the record was finally surpassed, and it took the competition’s all-time leading scorer to do it – Cristiano Ronaldo hitting 17 in 2013/14, still the most anyone has managed in a single European Cup campaign.
Altafini’s trademark was and still is maintaining a low profile despite achieving extraordinary things. He was part of the first Brazil squad to lift the World Cup in 1958, and then drove the Rossoneri to Italy’s first continental title. In the 1962/63 preliminary round, he punished Union Luxembourg with eight strikes over the two matches, including five in the first leg, before slamming four past Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The pièce de résistance was a double in the final against holders Benfica. Some might claim that Union Luxembourg weren’t top class, and they would have a point. But, likewise, teams only played a maximum of nine matches in the competition back then, as opposed to the 13 of the current format.
Modest and affable, Altafini, now 85, didn’t live for goals alone; he enjoyed life, sometimes too much. Legend has it he was nicknamed ‘Bunny rabbit’ by Milan director Gipo ‘the Sheriff’ Viani after being caught hiding in a nightclub before a game. “In my career, I scored over 300 goals playing with my socks around my ankles and no shinpads. I wasn’t a bunny,” the jovial Brazilian remarked years later. With his two goals at Wembley that May afternoon in 1963, the Bunny had Rossoneri fans jumping for joy.
Records are meant to be broken, but for decades it seemed José Altafini’s scoring feats for AC Milan in that 1962/63 campaign would stand the test of time. The 14 goals the Brazilian struck in nine European Cup games were more than any other player in a single season for nearly half a century, until a certain Lionel Messi matched his marker in 2011/12. It wasn’t for another two years that the record was finally surpassed, and it took the competition’s all-time leading scorer to do it – Cristiano Ronaldo hitting 17 in 2013/14, still the most anyone has managed in a single European Cup campaign.
Altafini’s trademark was and still is maintaining a low profile despite achieving extraordinary things. He was part of the first Brazil squad to lift the World Cup in 1958, and then drove the Rossoneri to Italy’s first continental title. In the 1962/63 preliminary round, he punished Union Luxembourg with eight strikes over the two matches, including five in the first leg, before slamming four past Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The pièce de résistance was a double in the final against holders Benfica. Some might claim that Union Luxembourg weren’t top class, and they would have a point. But, likewise, teams only played a maximum of nine matches in the competition back then, as opposed to the 13 of the current format.
Modest and affable, Altafini, now 85, didn’t live for goals alone; he enjoyed life, sometimes too much. Legend has it he was nicknamed ‘Bunny rabbit’ by Milan director Gipo ‘the Sheriff’ Viani after being caught hiding in a nightclub before a game. “In my career, I scored over 300 goals playing with my socks around my ankles and no shinpads. I wasn’t a bunny,” the jovial Brazilian remarked years later. With his two goals at Wembley that May afternoon in 1963, the Bunny had Rossoneri fans jumping for joy.
Records are meant to be broken, but for decades it seemed José Altafini’s scoring feats for AC Milan in that 1962/63 campaign would stand the test of time. The 14 goals the Brazilian struck in nine European Cup games were more than any other player in a single season for nearly half a century, until a certain Lionel Messi matched his marker in 2011/12. It wasn’t for another two years that the record was finally surpassed, and it took the competition’s all-time leading scorer to do it – Cristiano Ronaldo hitting 17 in 2013/14, still the most anyone has managed in a single European Cup campaign.
Altafini’s trademark was and still is maintaining a low profile despite achieving extraordinary things. He was part of the first Brazil squad to lift the World Cup in 1958, and then drove the Rossoneri to Italy’s first continental title. In the 1962/63 preliminary round, he punished Union Luxembourg with eight strikes over the two matches, including five in the first leg, before slamming four past Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The pièce de résistance was a double in the final against holders Benfica. Some might claim that Union Luxembourg weren’t top class, and they would have a point. But, likewise, teams only played a maximum of nine matches in the competition back then, as opposed to the 13 of the current format.
Modest and affable, Altafini, now 85, didn’t live for goals alone; he enjoyed life, sometimes too much. Legend has it he was nicknamed ‘Bunny rabbit’ by Milan director Gipo ‘the Sheriff’ Viani after being caught hiding in a nightclub before a game. “In my career, I scored over 300 goals playing with my socks around my ankles and no shinpads. I wasn’t a bunny,” the jovial Brazilian remarked years later. With his two goals at Wembley that May afternoon in 1963, the Bunny had Rossoneri fans jumping for joy.
Records are meant to be broken, but for decades it seemed José Altafini’s scoring feats for AC Milan in that 1962/63 campaign would stand the test of time. The 14 goals the Brazilian struck in nine European Cup games were more than any other player in a single season for nearly half a century, until a certain Lionel Messi matched his marker in 2011/12. It wasn’t for another two years that the record was finally surpassed, and it took the competition’s all-time leading scorer to do it – Cristiano Ronaldo hitting 17 in 2013/14, still the most anyone has managed in a single European Cup campaign.
Altafini’s trademark was and still is maintaining a low profile despite achieving extraordinary things. He was part of the first Brazil squad to lift the World Cup in 1958, and then drove the Rossoneri to Italy’s first continental title. In the 1962/63 preliminary round, he punished Union Luxembourg with eight strikes over the two matches, including five in the first leg, before slamming four past Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The pièce de résistance was a double in the final against holders Benfica. Some might claim that Union Luxembourg weren’t top class, and they would have a point. But, likewise, teams only played a maximum of nine matches in the competition back then, as opposed to the 13 of the current format.
Modest and affable, Altafini, now 85, didn’t live for goals alone; he enjoyed life, sometimes too much. Legend has it he was nicknamed ‘Bunny rabbit’ by Milan director Gipo ‘the Sheriff’ Viani after being caught hiding in a nightclub before a game. “In my career, I scored over 300 goals playing with my socks around my ankles and no shinpads. I wasn’t a bunny,” the jovial Brazilian remarked years later. With his two goals at Wembley that May afternoon in 1963, the Bunny had Rossoneri fans jumping for joy.
Records are meant to be broken, but for decades it seemed José Altafini’s scoring feats for AC Milan in that 1962/63 campaign would stand the test of time. The 14 goals the Brazilian struck in nine European Cup games were more than any other player in a single season for nearly half a century, until a certain Lionel Messi matched his marker in 2011/12. It wasn’t for another two years that the record was finally surpassed, and it took the competition’s all-time leading scorer to do it – Cristiano Ronaldo hitting 17 in 2013/14, still the most anyone has managed in a single European Cup campaign.
Altafini’s trademark was and still is maintaining a low profile despite achieving extraordinary things. He was part of the first Brazil squad to lift the World Cup in 1958, and then drove the Rossoneri to Italy’s first continental title. In the 1962/63 preliminary round, he punished Union Luxembourg with eight strikes over the two matches, including five in the first leg, before slamming four past Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. The pièce de résistance was a double in the final against holders Benfica. Some might claim that Union Luxembourg weren’t top class, and they would have a point. But, likewise, teams only played a maximum of nine matches in the competition back then, as opposed to the 13 of the current format.
Modest and affable, Altafini, now 85, didn’t live for goals alone; he enjoyed life, sometimes too much. Legend has it he was nicknamed ‘Bunny rabbit’ by Milan director Gipo ‘the Sheriff’ Viani after being caught hiding in a nightclub before a game. “In my career, I scored over 300 goals playing with my socks around my ankles and no shinpads. I wasn’t a bunny,” the jovial Brazilian remarked years later. With his two goals at Wembley that May afternoon in 1963, the Bunny had Rossoneri fans jumping for joy.
