Alessandro Del Piero

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Alessandro Del Piero

Del Piero with Sydney FC in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Alessandro Del Piero
Date of birth	(1974-11-09) 9 November 1974 (age 52)
Place of birth	Conegliano, Italy
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	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)
International career
1991	Italy U17	3	(1)
1992–1993	Italy U18	14	(12)
1993–1996	Italy U21	12	(3)
1995–2008	Italy	91	(27)
Medal record  Italy FIFA World Cup Winner Germany 2006 UEFA European Championship Runner-up Belgium-Netherlands 2000
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:48, 9 December 2014 (UTC)

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 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.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Italy	1995	7	1
	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	27

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Del Piero goal.

List of international goals scored by Alessandro Del Piero

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	15 November 1995	Stadio Giglio, Reggio Emilia, Italy	Lithuania	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
2	24 January 1996	Stadio Libero Liberati, Terni, Italy	Wales	1–0	3–0	Friendly
3	29 May 1996	Stadio Giovanni Zini, Cremona, Italy	Belgium	1–2	2–2	Friendly
4	22 January 1997	Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy	Northern Ireland	2–0	2–0	Friendly
5	8 June 1997	Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France	Brazil	1–0	3–3	1997 Tournoi de France
6				3–1
7	11 June 1997	Parc des Princes, Paris, France	France	2–2	2–2	1997 Tournoi de France
8	28 January 1998	Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania, Italy	Slovakia	2–0	3–0	Friendly
9	10 October 1998	Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy	Switzerland	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying
10				2–0
11	23 February 2000	Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy	Sweden	1–0	1–0	Friendly
12	19 June 2000	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands	Sweden	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000
13	11 October 2000	Stadio del Conero, Ancona, Italy	Georgia	1–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
14				2–0
15	28 March 2001	Stadio Nereo Rocco, Trieste, Italy	Lithuania	2–0	4–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
16				4–0
17	6 October 2001	Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma, Italy	Hungary	1–0	1–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
18	13 February 2002	Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania, Italy	United States	1–0	1–0	Friendly
19	13 June 2002	Ōita Stadium, Ōita, Japan	Mexico	1–1	1–1	2002 FIFA World Cup
20	7 September 2002	Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan	Azerbaijan	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
21	12 October 2002	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	Yugoslavia	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
22	16 October 2002	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–1	1–2	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
23	11 June 2003	Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
24	6 September 2003	Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy	Wales	4–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
25	8 September 2004	Stadionul Republican, Chişinău, Moldova	Moldova	1– 0	1–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
26	1 March 2006	Stadio Artemio Franchi, Firenze, Italy	Germany	4–0	4–1	Friendly
27	4 July 2006	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany	Germany	2–0	2–0	2006 FIFA World Cup

References

Other websites

• National Football Teams
• Statistics from RSSSF