When looking for a current day European football legend to inspire us all, whilst setting a superb example to young players, what better place to start than with Italy's Alessandro Del Piero? Last weekend the Italian legend celebrated his 34th birthday in style by scoring a typically inspired goal against Chievo. He is most definitely Italy's and European football's man of the moment.
His record speaks for itself in that he has played over 550 matches for the Italian giants and has been capped by his country on 91 occasions.
It is a wonderful achievement by a player that has remained loyal to his team Juventus for fifteen years. His presence is such that it is hard to imagine seeing the Turin club without him being involved.
Alessandro was born on November 9th 1974 in Conegliano, Italy. He spent his teenage years learning his skills at local youth club AC San Vendemiano. In 1991 he joined Padova, then in Serie B (Italian second division), for whom he made 14 appearances, scoring 1 goal. He quickly attracted the attention of one of Italy’s most successful clubs, Juventus, and by September 1993 he was making his debut in the famous black and white striped shirt against Foggia.
His first goal for Juve came the following week when he came on as a substitute against Reggiana. His first full start came against Parma, with Del Piero showing the world exactly what he could do with a stunning hat-trick. His goals would go on to help Juventus claim their first Scudetto (Championship) in eight years.
In all he has won Scudetto’s in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2006, the latter was later stripped from the club following a scandal. In 1996 he helped Juventus win the European Champions League when they beat Ajax of Amsterdam on penalties after a 1-1 draw. In 1997-1998 he scored 21 goals and finished top scorer in the Champions League with 10. One of those goals was a spectacular free kick against French side AS Monaco in the semi-final.
The 1998-1999 season saw him suffer a serious knee injury whilst playing against Udinese in October. It ruled him out for the remainder of the season. Juventus clearly missed him finishing in a relatively low 6th position.
Article comments
1 - alessandro
It really is amazing how this guy is getting better with age.
All class and style as you aptly described.
2 - Bags
Pinturicchio is certainly domestically a great player, what with his goals for Italy and Juve, but can he really be considered one of the all-time greats? Perhaps his devotion to the bianconeri means his legacy will be confined to Turin - certainly here in the UK he is only rated highly by Italophiles, and would not feature in anyone here's European fantasy XIs. Or maybe it is perhaps that the 'trequartista' role is not appreciated outside of Italy?? Still, i suppose two consecutive capocannoniere titles can't be argued with, particularly for a 34 year-old.