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Writer's pictureDag Jenkins

Alessandro Del Piero

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Alessandro Del Piero was born in Conegliano (Treviso), on November 9, 1974.

 

As a kid his first club was local San Vendemiano from 1981-88. In 1988 he joined the Padova youth sector and in 1991 made his debut for the first team.

 

Padova were in Serie B and had two managers over the season, Bruno Mazzia (1-31) and Mauro Sandreani (32-38). The Patavini finished 11th and Del Piero played 4 league games. His teammates included, future Juventus, Angelo Di Livio and, former Lazio, Giuseppe Galderisi (1987-88).

 

In 1992-93 Sandreani stayed on and the Biancoscudati finished 5th. Del Piero made 10 league appearances with 1 goal (Ternana).

 

In 1993 he joined Juventus where he would stay for almost 20 years. He became one of the best players of his generation and in Italian football history.

 

In his first year in Turin, he played 11 league games under Giovanni Trapattoni but won the Primavera Scudetto with the U19's. From the following season with the arrival of Marcello Lippi he became a regular first choice.

 

Over the next 18 years he was an absolute protagonist for the "Old Lady". In the late 90's he put on a lot of muscle, like the majority of that squad, as well as suffering a serious injury and lost some speed but remained technically superb.

 

In his time at Juventus, he played 705 games and scored 290 goals (188 in A). He won 6 league titles, a Coppa Italia, 4 Italian Supercups, a Champions League (95-96), an Intercontinental Cup, a UEFA Super Cup plus a Serie B championship. Following the Bianconeri down to Serie B in 2006-07 gained him a lot of respect.

 

His managers at Juventus were Trapattoni (93-94), Lippi (94-99 and 2001-04), Carlo Ancelotti (1999-01), Fabio Capello (2004-06), Didier Deschamps (2006-07), Claudio Ranieri (2007-09), Ciro Ferrara (May 2009- January 2010), Alberto Zaccheroni (January 2010-June 2010), Luigi Del Neri (2010-11) and Antonio Conte (2011-12).


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When he finished at Juventus in 2012 he went for an Australian experience and played for Sydney FC for two seasons (47 league games and 24 goals).

 

His last club was Delhi Dynamos in India where he had a brief stay in 2014 (10 games and 1 goal)


He played for Italy at all age levels (U17, U18, U21). With Italy he earned 91 caps and scored 27 goals. He took part in 3 World Cups (1998, 2002 and 2006) and 4 European Championships (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008). He triumphed in the 2006 World cup helping Italy to lift the trophy for the fourth time. He scored a great goal in the 2-0 win against hosts Germany and scored his penalty in the winning shootout against France in the final. He also won a runners-up medal in the 2000 Euros after the unlucky defeat to France's golden goal in extra time (after France had equalised in the injury time of the 90 minutes). He is 4th all-time goal scorer for Italy.

 

At individual level he was Serie A top scorer in 2007-08 and top scorer in Champions League in 1997-98.

 

Del Piero was a forward but he could also play behind the strikers. At 1.73 and 73 kilos he was agile and quick. He was a huge talent, classy but also a hard worker. He had sublime dribbling skills and was a superb assist provider. He scored goals too, often of great aesthetic quality. The term "gol alla Del Piero" has been coined to describe a curling shot from the vertex of the area into the corner on the far post. He could use both feet and was also a freekick specialist. All in all, one of the greatest ever Italian players. The late Gianni Agnelli gave him the nickname "Pinturicchio'', after the great Umbrian artist from the 15th century.

 

Off the field he was a popular and likable personality. He was well spoken and came across as an intelligent character. He was the sort of player even the opposing fans respected and had nothing really against apart from hoping he didn't curl in one of his house specialties against them.

 

Since retiring he has worked as a TV pundit for SKY and ESPN. He has continued to play football in charity games and founded a motorsports team with actor Patrick Dempsey, Dempsey/Del Piero Racing, which took part in the 24 hour Le Mans race. He has now settled in Los Angeles where he has a restaurant (N10), a Juventus Academy and also owns his own amateur football club, LA 10.


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