Alberto Acosta

Alberto Federico 'Beto' Acosta (born 23 August 1966) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a striker.

For other people named Alberto Acosta, see Alberto Acosta (disambiguation).

Alberto Acosta
Acosta in Boca Juniors, January 1993
Personal information
Full name Alberto Federico Acosta
Date of birth (1966-08-23) 23 August 1966
Place of birth Arocena, Argentina
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1984–1986 9 Julio Arocena
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1988 Unión Santa Fe 71 (15)
1988–1990 San Lorenzo 64 (34)
1990–1991 Toulouse 38 (6)
1991–1993 San Lorenzo 41 (19)
1993–1994 Boca Juniors 34 (10)
1994–1995 Universidad Católica 45 (43)
1996 Yokohama Marinos 21 (10)
1996–1997 Universidad Católica 25 (12)
1997–1998 San Lorenzo 32 (17)
1999–2001 Sporting CP 78 (39)
2001–2004 San Lorenzo 77 (32)
2009 Fénix 6 (2)
Total 532 (239)
National team
1992–1995 Argentina 19 (3)
Teams managed
2006–2007 Dunărea Galaţi
2007–2009 Fénix (assistant)
2009–2011 Fénix
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

In a professional career which spanned 18 years (nearly 700 official games and more than 250 goals), he played for San Lorenzo in four different spells. Additionally, he represented clubs in France, Chile, Japan and Portugal.

Acosta appeared with Argentina in two Copa América tournaments.

Club career

Born in Arocena, Santa Fe Province, Acosta started playing professionally at Unión de Santa Fe, making his top division debut one month shy of his 20th birthday, in a 0–0 home draw against Argentinos Juniors.[1] Two years later he transferred to San Lorenzo de Almagro, scoring 34 goals in his first two seasons combined, that being the first of the four spells with the club in an 18-year career.

In 1990 Acosta had his first abroad experience, with France's Toulouse FC. After a poor second season he left in December 1991, having played in seven matches with just one goal, with the club eventually ranking 16th – he returned to San Lorenzo, where he scored a further 19 league goals, which earned him a transfer to country giants Boca Juniors.

Acosta spent the following three years out of Argentina, starting and ending with Club Deportivo Universidad Católica in Chile where he rejoined former San Lorenzo teammate Néstor Gorosito. In 1994, he was crowned the top scorer in South American football, netting 33 times in only 25 matches.[2] Also during that debut campaign, he was unable to further help the team for five matches (four after assaulting C.F. Universidad de Chile's Luis Musrri); in between his spell with Universidad, he played in the J1 League for Yokohama Marinos.

In December 1998, Acosta signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal. In his first full season, the 33-year-old striker scored 22 goals, helping the Lisbon side to the Primeira Liga championship after an 18-year wait. He added 14 the following campaign, but was deemed surplus to requirements after the signing of Mário Jardel, and returned to San Lorenzo for the fourth and last time, netting always in double digits until his 2004 retirement at the age of 37. Although still physically fit, the scorer of 300 goals in 666 official games opted to retire, instead of being coerced into retirement later on.[1]

Acosta kickstarted his managerial career in Romania, with FCM Dunărea Galaţi. In the 2007 summer he returned to his country, joining fourth division team Club Atlético Fénix's coaching staff and coming out of retirement for a few months.[3]

International career

Having collected 19 caps for Argentina during three years, Acosta represented the nation in two Copa América tournaments. In the 1993 edition in Ecuador, he converted his penalty shootout attempts in both the quarter-finals and the semifinals, as the nation eventually emerged victorious.[4]

Career statistics

Club

[5]

Club performance League
Season Club League AppsGoals
Argentina League
1986–87UniónArgentine Primera División397
1987–88328
1988–89San LorenzoArgentine Primera División3619
1989–902815
France League
1990–91ToulouseLigue 1316
1991–9270
Argentina League
1991–92San LorenzoArgentine Primera División217
1992–931912
1992–93Boca JuniorsArgentine Primera División187
1993–94164
Chile League
1994Universidad CatólicaChilean Primera División2533
19952010
Japan League
1996Yokohama MarinosJ1 League2110
Chile League
1997Universidad CatólicaChilean Primera División2512
Argentina League
1997–98San LorenzoArgentine Primera División199
1998–99138
Portugal League
1998–99SportingPrimeira Liga133
1999–20003322
2000–013214
Argentina League
2001–02San LorenzoArgentine Primera División2911
2002–033011
2003–041810
CountryArgentina 318128
France 386
Chile 7055
Japan 2110
Portugal 7839
Total 525238

International
Argentina
YearAppsGoals
199261
199390
199400
199542
Total193

Honours

Club
Universidad Católica
Sporting
San Lorenzo

International
Argentina

Individual

References
  1. Alberto Acosta le dijo adiós al fútbol...y su nombre quedó escrito en la historia (Alberto Acosta said goodbye to football...and his name entered the history books) Archived 13 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine; Familia (in Spanish)
  2. "South American Topscorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  3. Ex jugador de la selección jugará en un equipo de Primera C (Former national team player with play in Primera C team); El Día, 16 January 2009 (in Spanish)
  4. "Copa América 1993". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  5. "Alberto Acosta". Footballdatabase. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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