Alessandro Del Piero

Personal information
Full name	Alessandro Del Piero
Date of birth	November 9, 1974 (1974-11-09) (age 32)
Place of birth	Conegliano, Italy
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Supporting striker
Club information
Current club	Juventus
Number	10
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1993 1993–	Padova Juventus	014 00(1) 519 (218)
National team2
1995–	Italy	85 (27)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 June, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 22 August 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Alessandro Del Piero Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (born November 9, 1974 in Conegliano) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He is the captain of Juventus and a member of the Italian national team. He is regarded as one of the best Italian footballers ever, along with Roberto Baggio.

Usually, Del Piero plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers (in the hole), known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position. He is not the tallest of forwards, but is certainly one of the more creative attacking players in the world, often choosing wit, finding another player, rather than playing as a traditional "goal poacher."

Del Piero is renowned for his deadly finishing, and the ease in which he dribbles past defenders. He is an expert in dead-ball situations as he is among the world's best freekick takers and is a penalty specialist (as evident in the 2006 world cup final shootout).

Biography

Alessandro was born in Conegliano, to Bruna, a housekeeper and Gino Del Piero, who was an electrician. Along with his brother Stefano (who also became a professional footballer briefly , the family lived at a rural home. He would often play football in the backyard with three friends, Nelso, Pierpaolo, and Giovanni-Paolo. The four of them wanted to become footballers, but only Alessandro would eventually manage to do so.

While growing up, Del Piero recalls that as a youngster there was never any money for travelling abroad and that he wanted to be a lorry driver so he could see places. Later, as a professional football player he was eventually able to travel all around the world.

Club football

Alessandro Del Piero is recognised as one of the greatest players of his generation. Del Piero was first spotted playing for hometown San Vendemiano — he left home at the age of 17 to start his professional career in 1991 with Padova of Italian Serie B. In 1993, he transferred to Juventus, and has been there ever since. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia in September 1993, scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana after appearing as a substitute, and then grabbed a hat-trick against Parma on his first start. Juventus claimed their first Scudetto in eight years in his first season and success continued to follow. With the Turin club, he won the Serie A championship seven times (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006), the Champions League (1996), and the Intercontinental Cup (1996). His best season was in 1997-98, when he scored 21 goals in Serie A and finished top scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 10 goals, which included a peach of a freekick against Monaco in the semi finals.

Del Piero struggled for form at the beginning of the 1998-99 season, whilst doping allegations were aimed at Juventus (they were later found innocent). In October he picked up a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Udinese. This kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Juventus struggled without him and limped home to a lowly 6th place in Serie A. It is claimed by some that Del Piero has never fully recovered from this injury, and therefore never quite fulfilled the potential he had shown at a very young age.

His nickname is Pinturicchio, in reference to a joke by Gianni Agnelli when he compared the emerging Del Piero to Roberto Baggio in a parallel between the student Pinturicchio from Perugia and the teacher Caravaggio. He's also been nicknamed by the fans "Il Fenomeno Vero" meaning the real "Phenomenon".

A commemorative shirt, celebrating Del Piero's 500th Juventus appearance

One of Del Piero's greatest strengths as a footballer is his versatility, which allows him to play in a variety of attacking positions. While he started his club career playing as a full-fledged striker, he settled into a deeper role as a support-striker. Because of his great technical ability, accurate passing skills and impressive vision, he has also been positioned as a playmaker; in the central slot behind the forwards. In any zone surrounding the penalty area, his prowess as a creator of goals came to the fore. Under Marcello Lippi's reign as Juventus coach, Del Piero's creative abilities were on display whatever the coach's formation was. Del Piero showed his class in the lethal "trident-attack" formation along with veterans Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli. After that, he took a leading role in a creative combination with Zinedine Zidane behind Filippo Inzaghi. As Juve's playing style changed in Lippi's second stint with Juventus starting 2001, Del Piero was still vital as his partnerships with Pavel Nedvěd in midfield and David Trezeguet upfront has contributed enormously to Juve's continued success in Italy and Europe.

Del Piero is currently the all-time top scorer for Juventus, in all competitions he has also made over 500 appearances in official matches for the club.

International: World Cup Winner

Despite huge success on the club level, Del Piero in the past has somewhat disappointed playing for the Italian national team, although he is currently the national teams all-time 4th topscorer.

His first tournament was Euro 96, but he only played the first half of Italy's match against Russia as he was substituted at half time. He didn't make another appearance in the tournament, as Italy crashed out in the first round.

Coming into the 1998 FIFA World Cup with huge expectations, he competed with fan favorite Roberto Baggio for a spot, and had some troubles because of a recent injury he picked up during the Champions' League final whilst playing for Juventus. Two years later Del Piero became one of the culprits for Italy's last minute loss in Euro 2000 final, missing 2 chances, which could have killed France off.

However, he returned to the international scene in the 2002 FIFA World Cup on the back of a very impressive season in Serie A, in which he led Juventus to the title. Del Piero scored the decisive goal against Hungary which qualified the Azzurri to the World Cup. In the tournament he scored a goal against Mexico with his first touch of the game seconds within coming on as a substitute to send Italy through to the second round, but they would get no further.

After Euro 2004, Del Piero faced another tough moment after Juventus replaced their Coach Marcello Lippi with Fabio Capello. Capello was not convinced of Del Piero's abilities and favoured the new signing from Ajax, Zlatan Ibrahimović. However, the Juve captain fought back and scored 14 goals in Serie A that season helping Juventus to their 28th Scudetto. Most memorable perhaps was his bicycle-kick against AC Milan which clinched the title.

Although a strong fan favourite, the Juventus captain found himself starting on the bench for most of Italy’s matches in the World Cup 2006. During all of the group stage matches, Del Piero started on the bench, coming on twice; first as a substitute late in game in the first match with Ghana. Then in the following match he came on as a substitute at the 54th minute in the match against the United States in which he represented a constant threat to the U.S. defence. The match was to end in a 1-1 draw.

Del Piero was more active for Italy during the knockout stages; starting in the last sixteen clash with Australia. On July 4, 2006 while facing host nation Germany in the semifinals of the competition, Del Piero, after coming on as a substitute towards the end of the game, changed the destination of the match with his presence on the attack and went on to score Italy's second goal. In a devastating break, Italy moved forwards quickly, barely giving Germany time to get back. Gilardino, who had kept the ball outside the German box, laid off a cute ball for the oncoming Del Piero, who deftly curled the ball past Jens Lehmann, thus sealing Germany's fate. This goal was chosen as one of the best in the tournament with Del piero going on to be considered to have been the decisive factor of the match.

In the final, Del Piero scored the fourth penalty kick of the World Cup 2006 by sending the ball to the upper left while France's goalkeeper, Fabien Barthez, dove to the right. This helped Italy to win the World Championship for the 4th time in its history. Italy managed to score all five penalties. Del Piero admitted subsequently that winning the World Cup was his childhood dream.

Apart from being Juventus' captain, Del Piero occasionally captained Italy in the absence of the current captain at that time. As of 2006, Del Piero has captained Italy 5 times. He also had the honour of wearing the number ten for the Italian National Team. He later gave the jersey to Francesco Totti, who is still using that number although recently under manager Roberto Donadoni it's been used by other players including Antonio Cassano and Daniele De Rossi. Del Piero switched to the Azzurri shirt number of 7 for sentimental reasons since this was the first number in which he ever played professional football. Since the international retirement of team mate Francesco Totti the number 10 shirt has become available for Del Piero to have once again, however Del Piero has denied any interest in taking back the number as he is quite happy with the number 7.

2006-07 season and onwards

Experts agree that Del Piero was back to his best in the 2005-06 season having scored 20 goals in all competitions. His most memorable goal this season was the free kick which won the match against bitter rivals Internazionale. However, his role at Juventus changed in the following season, as coach [Fabio Capello] preferred to use him as a substitute for an "immediate impact", as Capello put it. In 2006 Del Piero equalled José Altafini's Serie A record of 6 goals as a substitute after scoring in the final minute of Juventus's final game of the 2005-06 season. Del Piero himself is ambivalent about his ability to get goals off the bench, stating that "I want people to know me for more than being able to come off the bench to change a game", and in late March of 2006 revealed his openness to finishing his career with a club outside of Italy if it would guarantee him a place as a starting forward.

On January 10, 2006 Del Piero became the all time leading goalscorer for Juventus when he scored three times in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina and took his total goals for the club to 185. The previous record holder was Giampiero Boniperti, who scored 182 goals for the club. Del Piero scored the last goal for Juventus in their latest Scudetto for the 05/06 Season.

Due to the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus were demoted to Serie B and their last two Scudetti were revoked. Del Piero announced that he will stay to captain the team in Serie B. He underlined that players should stick with the team, explaining that “The Agnelli family deserve this, as do the fans and the new directors".

Del Piero's first appearance after the World Cup's triumph was in the Coppa Italia match against Cesena on August 23, 2006. Since Juventus will be playing in Serie B for the 2006-07 season, the Coppa Italia campaign became increasingly important for the club in order to achieve a Uefa Cup spot. Having being in vacation beforehand, Del Piero started from the bench. Juventus and Cesena were locked on 1-1 when Del Piero entered in the 74th minute and after 9 seconds scored the winning goal for Juventus.

Del Piero then came in as a substitute at the 61' minute for Juve's next Coppa match on August 27 vs. Napoli in Napoli's stadium, the San Paolo. Again Juventus was behind but Del Piero scored twice to give Juve the lead. In the end the match went into penalties, Del Piero scored a decisive one, but Napoli eventually won 5-4 in the shoot-out.^[23]

As of May 2007, Del Piero has 217 goals for Juventus in official matches (includes Serie A, Serie B, Champions League, Coppa Italia and other official competitions). He scored his 200th goal for the Bianconeri in the match against Frosinone on the 28th October 2006. In February and March 2007 Del Piero scored 2 consecutive hat-tricks at Juventus' home ground against Crotone and Piacenza. As of May 25, 2007, Del Piero leads Serie B scoring with 20 goals (2 by penalty).

Del Piero recently announced that he is going to have a baby with his wife Sonia Del Piero and is looking forward to the 2007 - 2008 season back in Serie A under new coach Claudio Ranieri.

• His brother Stefano, who is nine years older, briefly played football for Sampdoria before injury struck him. Alessandro's father Gino, died in February 2001.
• He once said that he used to play as a goalkeeper because he could play a lot more football that way. His mother thought it would be better for him if he played as a goalkeeper, since he wouldn't sweat and the possibility of him getting injured was smaller. But one day, Stefano told their mother: "Don't you see that Alex is good in the attack?"
• Sonia Amoruso is Del Piero's wife. Alex and Sonia have been together since 1999 and eventually married in 2005. On July 31st 2007 the couple announced they are expecting their first baby.
• Urban legends told that Alex is Nicola Amoruso's (a Reggina Calcio's player who played with him in Juventus between the seasons 1996-1999 and 2001-2002) brother-in-law, but it is not true because Sonia Amoruso is not Nicola Amoruso's sister like her surname can make believe.
• Del Piero was once the world's best paid player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue.
• Del Piero is into other sports and also into music. He has even released some music CDs himself.
• Del Piero is regarded also for his character off and on the pitch. He has won several awards such as the "'Coppa d'Argento' Premio Speciale Gentleman" , the "San Siro Gentleman Serie A TIM". and the Associazione Soomaaliya Special Award for Fairness which is assigned to the persons who with their silence have not been arrogant, aggressive or violent
• Del Piero is known for his sense of humour. He once joked that if Lippi does not convoke him to the World Cup in Germany, he will "run him over with his car and sink his damn boat".
• Pelé named Del Piero in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. He was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll.
• Del Piero was rated 10/10 in 1996 after leading Juventus to the championship title UEFA Champions League and the Italian Championship title.
• Del Piero was a 2006 Winter Olympics Torchbearer in Turin.
• He is considered to have a strong bond with the fans; "I'm proud to be a Juventino, to be a "bandiera", like you define me to be often, in reality I'm just a small part of a big black & white "bandiera" (flag) that grows with the years and if you look closely your name is part of it... To continue making this "bandiera" grow we need everybody: let's stay united."
• Del Piero is an Oasis fan and has a good relationship with Noel Gallagher. In fact, Del Piero claimed Gallagher was Italy's lucky mascot in their 2006 World Cup success and invited him to the final and the team hotel after victory.
• He appeared in a Rolling Stones Concert in Milan in 2006 together with Marco Materazzi, following Italy's World Cup victory.
• Famous sport icons such as NBA star Steve Nash and cycling legend Eddy Merckx stated that they are fans of Del Piero.
• In November 2006 Del Piero received the Airc prize "Believe in Research" for having done a great deal to promote and support the research in the cure for cancer.
• In Italy's semi final game in the 2006 FIFA World Cup against Germany Del Piero scored a record latest goal in the tournement's history in 120 minutes plus stoppage time. The final whistle blew 8 seconds after he scored.

Honours and awards

• 7 Italian Championships: 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2002-03, (2004-05, 2005-06 : last two revoked due to Calciopoli scandal)
• 1 Italian Serie B Championship: 2006-07
• 4 Italian Super Cups: 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003
• 1 Coppa Italia: 1994-95
• 1 UEFA Champions League: 1995-96
• 3 UEFA Champions League Finalist medals: 1996-97, 1997-98, 2002-03
• 1 European Supercup: 1996
• 1 Intercontinental Cup: 1996
• 1 Intertoto Cup: 1999
• 1 Italian Youth Championship 1994
• 1 Torneo di Viareggio: 1994
• 1 UEFA Cup Finalist medal: 1995
• 2 European Under-21 Football Championships: 1992/94, 1994/96
• 1 UEFA Euro 2000 Finalist medal
• 1 FIFA World Cup: 2006

Awards

• U-21 European Footballer of the Year
• MVP of the Intercontinental Final Award 1996
• Best Italian Player Award 1998
• Best Overall Player Award 1998
• UEFA Champions League Top Scorer 1997
• UEFA Champions League Top Scorer 1998
• Most Popular Italian Player Award
• Most Charismatic Striker in Italy 2001
• UEFA Champions League 10 Years Jubilee Poll Best Attacker
• Pelé named Del Piero in his 125 Top Living Footballers
• All-time top scorer for Juventus F.C.
• Bravo Award (European Under 23 Footballer of the Year, 1996)
• 2007 Golden Foot award

Career stats

Here is a comprehensive collection of statistics that map Del Piero's entire career of official (non friendly) club games; Domestic Games includes league and cup. International cups covers club European games and other non Italian competitions.

• Correct as of 4 May 2007.

Season	Team	League	Domestic Games		Internat. Cups		Total
			Appearance	Goals	Appearance	Goals	Appearance	Goals
1991-92	Padova	Serie B	4	0	-	-	4	0
1992-93	Padova	Serie B	10	1	-	-	10	1
1993-94	Juventus	Serie A	11	5	2	0	13	5
1994-95	Juventus	Serie A	29	8	11	1	40	9
1995-96	Juventus	Serie A	29	6	11	6	40	12
1996-97	Juventus	Serie A	22	8	9	7	31	15
1997-98	Juventus	Serie A	32	21	10	10	42	31
1998-99	Juventus	Serie A	8	2	4	0	12	2
1999-00	Juventus	Serie A	34	9	9	2	43	11
2000-01	Juventus	Serie A	25	9	6	0	31	9
2001-02	Juventus	Serie A	34	16	10	4	44	20
2002-03	Juventus	Serie A	24	16	13	5	39	21
2003-04	Juventus	Serie A	23	8	4	3	27	11
2004-05	Juventus	Serie A	31	14	10	3	41	17
2005-06	Juventus	Serie A	33	12	7	3	40	15
2006-07	Juventus	Serie B	35	20	-	-	35	20
Total			427	174	106	44	533	218

***From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia