In his time at the club he has partnered such strike legends as Gianluca Vialli, Zinedine Zidane, Filippo Inzagahi, Fabrizio Ravenelli, David Trezeguet, and Pavel Nedved.
Del Piero is the leading Juventus goal scorer of all time with a career total approaching 250. He has also made the most appearances for the club and is surely setting his sights on passing the 600 mark before retiring. His career for his country has been equally successful and he was part of the team that won the 2006 World Cup, when Italy beat France.
In addition Del Piero has further winners medals including 1 Coppa Italia, 4 Supercoppa Italiana, 1 UEFA Supercup, 1 UEFA Intertoto Cup, and 1 Intercontinental Cup. In 1998 he was named Italian footballer of the year.
His loyalty to Juventus was confirmed in 2006 when following an allegation of match fixing Juventus was stripped of its title and relegated to Serie B. Despite many of their ‘star’ players leaving, Del Piero stayed and helped them win the Serie B title. They had to start the season with a minus-nine point penalty. However promotion was clinched with three games remaining after a 5-1 away win at Arezzo.
In recognition of the example he sets to young footballers he has won three awards for gentlemanly conduct in Italy. His style is best described as a creative, support striker. His number of assists are countless and his free kick and penalty taking extraordinarily effective. In April 2008 he became the all time highest capped player in the history of Juventus and the 4th highest goal scorer ever for the national team.
Alessandro Del Piero has just turned 34 years of age. He continues to notch up milestones, awards, honours, records, and achievements. When he scored his goal at Chievo last weekend he received a standing ovation from both sets of supporters, such is the esteem in which he is held. Clearly he still has a lot to offer.
As role models go, young footballers are well advised to look no further than the legend that is Alessandro Del Piero. One man, one club, one hell of a player.
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.