Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero (born 9 November 1974 in Conegliano) is an Italian former football player. He has played for Juventus from 1993 to 2012, Sydney FC from 2012 to 2014 and Delhi Dynamos in 2014 as a striker. He was the captain of the Juventus team since 2001. He stopped playing for the national team in 2006.
 Del Piero with Sydney FC in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alessandro Del Piero | ||
| Date of birth | 9 November 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Conegliano, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 81⁄2 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1982–1988 | San Vendemiano | ||
| 1988–1993 | Padova | ||
| 1993–1994 | Juventus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1993 | Padova | 14 | (1) |
| 1993–2012 | Juventus | 513 | (500) |
| 2012–2014 | Sydney FC | 48 | (24) |
| 2014 | Delhi Dynamos | 10 | (1) |
| Total | 585 | (234) | |
| National team | |||
| 1991 | Italy U17 | 3 | (1) |
| 1992–1993 | Italy U18 | 14 | (12) |
| 1993–1996 | Italy U21 | 12 | (3) |
| 1995–2008 | Italy | 91 | (27) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:48, 9 December 2014 (UTC) | |||
Del Piero is considered among the best talents that Italian football has ever witnessed. In 2004, he was included in the FIFA 100, a list of 125 greatest living players. In 1999, he was listed 77th in the list of the best players of the 20th century published by World Soccer magazine. He is one of five Italian players to score over 300 goals (312 as pf 6 November 2010) along with Filippo Inzaghi (315), Roberto Baggio (318), Giuseppe Meazza (338) and Silvio Piola (364).
Childhood and early career
Del Piero is the son of Gino, an electrician, and Bruna, a housekeeper. He regularly played football in the backyard with two friends, Nelso and Pierpaolo as a child. All three dreamed of becoming footballers, but only Del Piero would eventually manage to do so. Alessandro's older brother, Stefano, briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before injury struck him. The family lived in the hamlet of Saccon near San Vendemiano. While growing up, Del Piero's family did not have much money for travelling abroad, so he was considering being a truck driver in order to see the world.
Del Piero played for the local youth team of San Vendemiano since the age of 7. 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 would not have to run and the possibility of him getting injured was less likely. His brother told their mother that Alex was better at attacking and Del Piero switched position.
It was while playing with his local side of San Vendemiano in 1988 that Del Piero was first spotted by scouts. He left home at the age of 13 to play in the youth side of Padova Calcio.
Club career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Italy | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Total | ||||||
| 1991/92 | Padova | Serie B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 4 | 0 | |
| 1992/93 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 10 | 1 | |||
| 1993/94 | Juventus | Serie A | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 5 |
| 1994/95 | 29 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 50 | 10 | ||
| 1995/96 | 29 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 42 | 13 | ||
| 1996/97 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 32 | 12 | ||
| 1997/98 | 32 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 46 | 32 | ||
| 1998/99 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 2 | ||
| 1999/00 | 34 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 45 | 12 | ||
| 2000/01 | 25 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 9 | ||
| 2001/02 | 32 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 46 | 21 | ||
| 2002/03 | 24 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 37 | 21 | ||
| 2003/04 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 30 | 14 | ||
| 2004/05 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 41 | 17 | ||
| 2005/06 | 33 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 44 | 20 | ||
| 2006/07 | Serie B | 35 | 20 | 2 | 3 | - | 37 | 23 | ||
| 2007/08 | Serie A | 37 | 21 | 4 | 3 | - | 41 | 24 | ||
| 2008/09 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 43 | 21 | ||
| 2009/10 | ||||||||||
| Country | Italy | 448 | 189 | 48 | 21 | 112 | 47 | 608 | 257 | |
| Total | 448 | 189 | 48 | 21 | 112 | 47 | 608 | 257 | ||
International career statistics
| Italy national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1995 | 7 | 0 |
| 1996 | 4 | 2 |
| 1997 | 6 | 4 |
| 1998 | 8 | 3 |
| 1999 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | 13 | 4 |
| 2001 | 6 | 3 |
| 2002 | 11 | 5 |
| 2003 | 4 | 2 |
| 2004 | 6 | 1 |
| 2005 | 4 | 0 |
| 2006 | 9 | 2 |
| 2007 | 5 | 0 |
| 2008 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 91 | 26 |
Alessandro Del Piero Media
Del Piero (right) playing for Juventus in September 1999 against Lecce
Del Piero playing for Juventus in September 2006 against Rimini during the 2006–07 Serie B season
Del Piero during the 2007–08 season against Fiorentina
Del Piero with Juventus in the 2008–09 preseason
Del Piero before a match in April 2012
A commemorative shirt, celebrating Del Piero's 500th Juventus appearance
Del Piero playing for Sydney FC in 2013
Del Piero training with Sydney FC in 2014
Del Piero with Francesco Totti celebrating a goal for Italy during Euro 2000
Del Piero after Italy's victorious 2006 World Cup semi-final against hosts Germany
_(cropped).jpg)
References
- ↑ "Alessandro Del Piero, passaporto". Alessandrodelpiero.com.