Alessandro Del Piero Biography
Alessandro Del Piero is an Italian former professional footballer born on 9th November 1974.He mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He works as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia since 2015.
A technically gifted, and creative supporting forward, who was also a free-kick specialist,Del Piero is widely regarded by players, pundits, and managers as one of the greatest players of his generation, and as one of the best Italian players of all time, winning the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award in 1998 and 2008.
A prolific goal-scorer, he is currently the second highest all-time Italian top-scorer in all competitions, with 346 goals, behind only Silvio Piola, with 390 goals; he is also the joint ninth highest goalscorer in Serie A history, with 188 goals, alongside Giuseppe Signori and Alberto Gilardino.
After beginning his career with Italian club Padova in Serie B in 1991, he moved to Juventus in 1993, where he played for 19 seasons (11 as captain), and holds the club records for most goals (290) and appearances (705).
During his time at the club, he won six Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. After leaving the club in 2012, he also spent two seasons with Australian side Sydney FC; he retired after a season with Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Super League, in 2014.
Del Piero has scored in every competition in which he has participated. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA’s centenary celebrations. In the same year, he was also voted into the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, a list of the 50 best European players of the past 50 years. Along with six awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct, he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality as well as playing ability.
At international level, Del Piero has also represented the Italian national team at three FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships, most notably winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000 with Italy.
He is the joint fourth highest scorer for the Italian national team, with 27 goals, alongside Roberto Baggio, and behind only Silvio Piola with 30 goals, Giuseppe Meazza with 33 goals, and Luigi Riva with 35 goals; with 91 appearances for Italy between 1995 and 2008, he is also his nation’s tenth-most capped player of all-time.
Alessandro Del Piero Age
The former Juventus star was born on 9 November 1974 in Conegliano, Italy. He is 44 years old as of 2018.
Alessandro Del Piero Family
Del Piero was born in Conegliano, Veneto to Gino Del Piero (father), an electrician, and Bruna Del Piero (mother), a housekeeper. He has an older brother by the name Stefano who briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before an injury curtailed his career. Later, he became Alessandro’s agent
Alessandro Del Piero Dorotea Del Piero
alessandro del piero dorotea del piero
Alessandro Del Piero Figli
He has three children; Tobias Del Piero, Sasha Del Piero and Dorotea Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero Libro
Del Piero has done it all, from the 1996 Champion’s League cup, the Intercontinental Cup and eight Scudetti Serie A Championships with Juventus, to Italy’s controversial 2006 World Cup victory, with that penalty and that headbutt.
He has also suffered it all – the agony of several runners-up trophies, of debilitating injuries and Juventus’s relegation. An extremely versatile forward and a free kick specialist, he has played 796 matches and scored 316 goals with Juventus and the Italian national team. In Playing On, now translated for the first time into English, Del Piero offers the wisdom and insights of a man who’s been through everything.
In his introduction, specially written for this edition, he writes about why he chose to play in Sydney after his retirement from Juventus, even though he had many enticing offers from Italy and from many European and South American teams.
He says he re-signed for a second season at Sydney because he has been rejuvenated by his experience of playing in Australia: ‘I realised at once, after just a few days Down Under, that I had made the right choice. On and off the field.’
Alessandro Del Piero Juventus
In 1993, Del Piero transferred to Juventus and played for the Torinese club for 19 seasons until being released in the summer of 2012. Although manager Giovanni Trapattoni insisted that he trained with the senior team, he initially played with the Primavera squad, which was coached by Antonello Cuccureddu, helping the Juventus Youth team to win both the 1994 Torneo di Viareggio, and the 1994 U-20 Scudetto.
Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia on 12 September 1993 under Trapattoni, as a substitute, and he scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana on 19 September, after coming off the bench once again. On his full debut for Juventus, he netted a hat-trick against Parma.
After his promising performances, Del Piero began to be deployed with more continuity, and he managed 14 appearances for Juventus that season between youth matches, league matches, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Cup, scoring 5 goals, which all came in Serie A, as Juventus finished the season in second place in the league.
The next season saw Marcello Lippi take over as Juventus manager, as well as the introduction of a new team of directors, made up of Giraudo, Roberto Bettega, and Luciano Moggi; Del Piero played a more prominent role for the club that season following Roberto Baggio’s injury in November against Padova.
Del Piero temporarily took his place in the first team alongside Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli, flourishing at the opportunity given to him, and Juventus went on to claim their first Scudetto in nine years. Del Piero scored 8 goals in Serie A that season, including a match-winning chipped volley against Fiorentina.
Del Piero was also able to achieve a rare double, and he captured the 1994–95 Coppa Italia with Juventus, defeating their season rivals Parma in the final, although they were defeated by Parma in the 1995 UEFA Cup Final.
During this time, Del Piero earned the nickname “Pinturicchio”, due to the similarity between his own technical and tactical characteristics, and Baggio’s creative style of play. This nickname arose when former president Gianni Agnelli compared the emerging talent Del Piero to the renaissance artist Pinturicchio, who was the student of the great Italian renaissance artist “Rafaello”, a nickname he had used to describe Baggio, to emphasise his elegance on the ball.
Del Piero placed fourth in the 1995 Ballon d’Or for his performances throughout the season. With the Turin club, Del Piero won the Serie A eight times, although the 2005 and 2006 titles were revoked due to Juventus’s involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal.
For the 1995–96 season, Del Piero was awarded Baggio’s number 10 shirt (which had also previously belonged to Michel Platini), following his departure to A.C. Milan. Del Piero scored 6 goals and provided 10 assists in Serie A, although Juventus finished the season in second place behind Milan.
Del Piero did manage to capture the Supercoppa Italiana in 1995, over Parma, setting up Vialli’s only goal of the match. He also played a key role in helping Juventus to win the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League, scoring 6 goals in the competition, and finishing as the second highest scorer of the tournament.
The following season, Del Piero followed these victories up with the 1996 UEFA Super Cup and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup, scoring goals in both finals, also winning the Bravo Award (as the best u-23 player in European Competitions), and placing 4th in the 1996 Ballon d’Or for the second consecutive year.
Del Piero also captured his second Serie A title with Juventus that season, and helped lead Juventus to their second consecutive Champions League final, although he was unable to start the match due to injury.
During the group stage, en route to the final, he helped Juventus to qualify for the quarter-finals a match early, scoring a goal in Juventus’s 1–0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, on 20 November 1996; this was the first time that an Italian team had defeated Manchester United at their home ground.
In the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final, he came off the bench to score a goal with a back-heel, which was, however, unable to prevent Juventus from losing 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund. Del Piero received nominations for both the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year, finishing sixth and the 1997 Ballon d’Or, due to his performances throughout the calendar year.
Del Piero began the following campaign strongly by winning the Supercoppa Italiana once again in 1997, forming a strong offensive unit with Juventus teammates Zinedine Zidane in midfield, and newcomer Filippo Inzaghi upfront. The 1997–98 campaign was his best season yet, as he scored a joint career best of 21 goals in Serie A, and finished top scorer in the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League with 10 goals, one of which included a freekick and a hat-trick against Monaco in the semi-finals.
With these goals, he helped Juventus to reach their third consecutive Champions League final, although Del Piero was not fully fit for the match, and Juventus were once again defeated, falling 1–0 to Real Madrid from a strike by Predrag Mijatović on 20 May.
Domestic success, however, was achieved that season, after a tight battle with Inter, as Juventus celebrated its 25th Serie A title over their Italian rivals, with Del Piero scoring a memorable and decisive individual match-winning goal during the controversial Derby d’Italia match.
Del Piero also managed a goal in the 1997–98 Coppa Italia that season, helping Juventus to the semi-finals, and finishing the season with a career best of 32 goals in all competitions. Del Piero was awarded the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award for his performances, and he was also nominated for the 1998 Ballon d’Or.
During this time, he was nicknamed by the fans as “Il Fenomeno Vero” meaning “The Real Phenomenon”, in comparison with the Brazilian striker Ronaldo, who was nicknamed “Il Fenomeno” by supporters of rivals Internazionale.
Juventus confirmed on 18 October 2011 that the 2011–12 season would be Del Piero’s last with the club. The 2011–12 season under new manager Antonio Conte, his former Juventus teammate, saw Del Piero being used sparingly, and mainly as a substitute, because of the summer arrival of forward Mirko Vučinić from Roma.
Del Piero scored his first goal in the new Juventus Stadium on 24 January 2012, in a 3–0 win over Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.Later in the season, Del Piero stated that he was surprised at Juventus president Andrea Agnelli’s announcement regarding the club’s decision not to offer him a new contract.
In the second leg of Juventus’s clash with Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Del Piero finished off a brilliant move by Juventus as they secured a 2–2 draw to progress to the final with a 4–3 aggregate win. On 25 March, Del Piero helped Juventus defeat Inter by scoring the second goal of the match in a 2–0 victory, his first goal of the Serie A season.
In Juventus’ match against Lazio on 11 April, Del Piero replaced Vučinić in the second half, making his 700th appearance for Juventus, and then went on to score from a free kick to earn his side a 2–1 victory; the result also enabled Juventus to return to the top of the Serie A table.
On 13 May, Del Piero started Juventus’s final league game of the season against Atalanta, marking the occasion and the victory of their 28th Serie A title by scoring a goal. Twenty-seven minutes into the match, Del Piero picked the ball up at the edge of the penalty box and placed a shot past Giorgio Frezzolini to make the score 2–0, helping Juventus to go undefeated in Serie A that season.
He was substituted off after 59 minutes to an emotional response from both sets of players and supporters, as he made a lap of honour around the pitch. This was Alessandro Del Piero’s final Serie A appearance for Juventus.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Padova | 1991–92 | Serie B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 1 | ||||
| Juventus | 1993–94 | Serie A | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 14 | 5 | |
| 1994–95 | 29 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 11 | 2 | — | 50 | 11 | |||
| 1995–96 | 29 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 13 | ||
| 1996–97 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 35 | 15 | ||
| 1997–98 | 32 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 32 | ||
| 1998–99 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 3 | ||
| 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 | 1 | 2 | 38 | 23 | ||
| 2003–04 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 14 | ||
| 2004–05 | 30 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | — | 41 | 17 | |||
| 2005–06 | 33 | 12 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 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 | 23 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 29 | 11 | |||
| 2010–11 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 3 | — | 45 | 11 | |||
| 2011–12 | 23 | 3 | 5 | 2 | — | — | 28 | 5 | ||||
| Total | 513 | 208 | 56 | 25 | 127 | 51 | 9 | 6 | 705 | 290 | ||
| Sydney FC | 2012–13 | A-League | 24 | 14 | — | — | — | 24 | 14 | |||
| 2013–14 | 24 | 10 | — | — | — | 24 | 10 | |||||
| Total | 48 | 24 | — | — | — | 48 | 24 | |||||
| Delhi Dynamos | 2014 | Indian Super League | 10 | 1 | — | — | — | 10 | 1 | |||
| Total | 10 | 1 | — | — | — | 10 | 1 | |||||
| Career total | 585 | 234 | 56 | 25 | 127 | 51 | 9 | 6 | 777 | 316 | ||