Alberto Acosta

Alberto Acosta

Personal information
Full name	Alberto Federico Acosta
Date of birth	August 23, 1966 (1966-08-23)
Place of birth	Arocena, Argentina
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Fénix (coach)
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)
1995–1996	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)
1986–2004	Total	526	(237)
National team
1992–1995	Argentina	19	(3)
Teams managed
2006	Boca Juniors
2006–2007	Dunărea Galaţi
2008–	Fénix
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

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

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 teams 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. Two years later, he transferred to San Lorenzo de Almagro, netting 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 Club Atlético Boca Juniors.

Acosta spent the following three years out of Argentina, starting (and ending) with Universidad Católica in Chile, where he rejoined former San Lorenzo teammate Néstor Gorosito. In 1994, he was crowned the topscorer in South American football, finding the net 33 times, in only 25 matches. Also during that first season, 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 J. League Division 1 for Yokohama F. Marinos.

In December 1998, Acosta signed with Sporting Clube de Portugal. In his first full season, the 33-year-old striker scored 22 times, helping the Lisbon side to the national 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.

Acosta briefly managed Boca (10 June – 20 August 2006) to kick-start his coaching career, then moved to Romania with FCM Dunărea Galaţi. In the 2007 summer, he returned to his country, taking charge of fourth division outfit Club Atlético Fénix.

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 quarterfinals and the semifinals, as the national side eventually emerged victorious.

Statistics

Club

Club performance			League
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals
Argentina			League
1986/87	Unión	Primera División	39	7
1987/88			32	8
1988/89	San Lorenzo	Primera División	36	19
1989/90			28	15
France			League
1990/91	Toulouse	Ligue 1	31	6
1991/92			7	0
Argentina			League
1991/92	San Lorenzo	Primera División	21	7
1992/93			19	12
1992/93	Boca Juniors	Primera División	18	7
1993/94			16	4
Chile			League
1994	Universidad Católica	Primera División	25	33
1995			20	10
Japan			League
1996	Yokohama Marinos	J. League 1	21	10
Chile			League
1997	Universidad Católica	Primera División	25	12
Argentina			League
1997/98	San Lorenzo	Primera División	19	9
1998/99			13	8
Portugal			League
1998/99	Sporting	Primeira Liga	13	3
1999/00			33	22
2000/01			32	14
Argentina			League
2001/02	San Lorenzo	Primera División	29	11
2002/03			30	11
2003/04			18	10
Country	Argentina		318	128
	France		38	6
	Chile		70	55
	Japan		21	10
	Portugal		78	39
Total			525	238

International

Argentina national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1992	6	1
1993	9	0
1994	0	0
1995	4	2
Total	19	3

Honours

Season	Club	Title
Apertura 1992	San Lorenzo	Argentine Primera División Top scorer (12 goals)
1992	Argentina	FIFA Confederations Cup
1993	Argentina	Copa América
1994	Universidad Católica	Chilean Primera División Player of the Year
1994	Universidad Católica	Chilean Primera División Top scorer (33 goals)
1994	Universidad Católica	South America Top scorer (33 goals)
1994	Universidad Católica	Copa Interamericana
1995	Universidad Católica	Copa Chile
1995	Universidad Católica	Copa Chile Top scorer (10 goals)
1997	Universidad Católica	Chilean Primera División
1999–2000	Sporting	Primeira Liga
2002	San Lorenzo	Copa Sudamericana

External links

• Stats at FutbolPasion (Spanish)
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Alberto Acosta at National-Football-Teams.com
• Alberto Acosta – FIFA competition record
• Alberto Acosta statistics and biography at FootballDatabase.com

Preceded by Antony de Ávila

Copa Libertadores Top Scorer 1997

Succeeded by Sergio João