Alessandro Del Piero

Alessandro Del Piero
OMRI
Del Piero in 2024
Personal information
Full name Alessandro Del Piero[1]
Date of birth (1974-11-09) 9 November 1974 (age 49)
Place of birth Conegliano, Italy
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1982–1988 San Vendemiano
1988–1991 Padova
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1993 Padova 14 (1)
1993–2012 Juventus 513 (208)
2012–2014 Sydney FC 48 (24)
2014 Delhi Dynamos 10 (1)
Total 585 (234)
International career
1991 Italy U17 3 (1)
1992–1993 Italy U18 14 (12)
1993–1996 Italy U21 12 (3)
1995–2008 Italy 91 (27)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2006 Germany
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up 2000 Belgium & Netherlands
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 1996 Spain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI[3][4] (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandɾo del ˈpjeːɾo]; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions.[5][6][7][8] Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia.[9] A technically gifted[10] and creative supporting forward[11][12] who was also a free-kick specialist,[13][14] Del Piero won the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award in 1998 and 2008 and received multiple nominations for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.

A prolific goal-scorer, he is currently the second highest all-time Italian top-scorer in all competitions, with 346 goals, behind only Silvio Piola, with 390 goals; he is also the joint ninth highest goalscorer in Serie A history, with 188 goals, alongside Giuseppe Signori and Alberto Gilardino.[15][16][17][18][19][20] After beginning his career with Italian club Padova in Serie B in 1991, he moved to Juventus in 1993, where he played for 19 seasons (11 as captain), and holds the club records for most goals (290) and appearances (705). During his time at the club, he won six Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. After leaving the club in 2012, he also spent two seasons with Australian side Sydney FC; he retired in 2014, after a season with Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Super League.

Del Piero has scored in every competition in which he has participated.[21] In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations.[22] In the same year, he was also voted into the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, a list of the 50 best European players of the past 50 years.[23] Along with six awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct,[24][25] he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality as well as playing ability.

At international level, Del Piero has also represented the Italy national team at three FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships, most notably winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000 with Italy. He is the joint fourth highest scorer for the Italy national team, with 27 goals, alongside Roberto Baggio, and behind only Silvio Piola with 30 goals, Giuseppe Meazza with 33 goals, and Luigi Riva with 35 goals; with 91 appearances for Italy between 1995 and 2008, he is also his nation's eleventh-most capped player of all-time. In his career Del Piero scored 462 goals.[26]

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Italy" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Alessandro Del Piero, passaporto". Alessandrodelpiero.com.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference 5th class was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference 4th class was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Mike Hytner (12 October 2015). "Alessandro Del Piero and Roberto Carlos touted for A-League coaching roles". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Agent: 'Del Piero could retire'". Football Italia. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  7. ^ Ben Gladwell. "Juventus shouldn't sell Paul Pogba, says Alessandro Del Piero". ESPN FC. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  8. ^ Mark Doyle. "Del Piero: Berlusconi wanted me at AC Milan and now I'm a free agent..." goal.com. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  9. ^ David Schiavone (10 October 2015). "Del Piero wants coaching career". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Totti e Del Piero sulla via del Portogallo" (in Italian). Panorama.it. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  11. ^ "A-League: Del Piero assist-man, Sydney ai playoff". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Del Piero, Totti e Baggio la fantasia al potere". La Repubblica (in Italian). 6 October 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  13. ^ "The Ten Best Free-Kick Specialists: Alessandro Del Piero". The Independent. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  14. ^ "Kings of the free-kick". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Ciao Alex Del Piero, buona nuova avventura". Calcionews360.net. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Capitani Azzurri: Alessandro Del Piero (2004–2008) – Nazionali – TMW". Tuttomercatoweb.com. 20 April 2012.
  17. ^ "Festa Del Piero "Questa maglia mi rende speciale"". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 26 January 2012.
  18. ^ "Le 7 vite di Inzaghi I numeri magici di SuperPippo". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 16 September 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  19. ^ "Inzaghi, riflessioni sul futuro. Via dal Milan, Italia o Stati Uniti" (in Italian). Mediaset.it. 28 October 2011.
  20. ^ "Del Piero a quota 301 gol in carriera: nel mirino c'è Inzaghi". Tuttosport (in Italian). 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Juve, come Del Piero nessuno mai". Tuttosport (in Italian). 29 December 2008. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Fifa names greatest list". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  23. ^ "UEFA Awards". RSSSF.
  24. ^ "Two awards for Alex". Juventus. 10 May 2006. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007.
  25. ^ "Comunicato Stampa" (in Italian). Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  26. ^ "Del Piero".

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