Alessandro Del Piero: biography

Alessandro Del Piero, first name sometimes shortened to Alex, is one of the greatest Italian footballers of the modern era. A FIFA World Cup winner with his country in 2006, he plays for and captains Turin-based club Juventus and is best known for taking a withdrawn forward role on the pitch, supporting a striker, also known as the trequartista.

Beginnings

Born on 9 November 1974 in Conegliano, Veneto, Italy, Del Piero is the son of an electrician. Aged seven he began playing for the youth team of San Vendemiano, starting out as a goalkeeper before making the switch to attack. In 1988 he was spotted by scouts of Padova who offered him a spot in the club’s academy. At the tender age of thirteen Del Piero left home to pursue his dream as a professional footballer.

Career

In the summer of 1993 Juventus signed him from Padova and Alex was an immediate hit, scoring a hat-trick against Parma on his first start for the club. After fine form for the Turin outfit, Del Piero made his international debut for Italy and represented his country for thirteen years between 1995 and 2008. A mainstay of the Serie A giants for nearly twenty years, Alex took over the role as captain in 2001. He is regarded as one of the finest dead ball specialists in the modern game, particularly proficient with penalties and free kicks on the edge of the area which suit the left foot. Del Piero showed his loyalty to Juventus when they were relegated to Serie B as part of the fallout from a match-fixing scandal and fired them back into Italy’s top flight. He continues to feature regularly to this day.

Achievements

Alex’s major club honors are the 1994-95 Coppa Italia; seven Serie A titles, though the 2004-05 and 2005-06 honors were stripped from Juventus; the 1995-96 UEFA Champions' League; the 1996 UEFA Super Cup and Intercontinental Cup as well as the 2006-07 Serie B crown. These accompany a whole host of lesser trophies.
At international level Del Piero went to seven major tournaments and won the World Cup under Marcello Lippi in 2006. The entire squad was awarded the Ufficiale OMRI order of merit by the Italian government after their triumph in Germany. Individually he has been top scorer in the Coppa Italia, UEFA Champions' League and in back-to-back seasons Serie B and Serie A’s leading marksman. Alex holds the distinction of being Juventus' all-time highest appearance maker and leading scorer, netting nearly 300 goals. His career at the top spanning three decades was recognized when he won the prestigious Golden Foot award in 2007.