Alessandro Del Piero

Alessandro Del Piero (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro del ˈpjɛːro]) Ufficiale OMRI (born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a deep-lying forward. In 2015, he worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia.

A technically gifted, and creative supporting forward, who is 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, and behind only Silvio Piola, with 390 goals. After beginning his career with Padova, he played with Juventus F.C. 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 6 Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, 4 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.

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 4th highest scorer for the Italian national team, with 27 goals in 91 appearances, alongside Roberto Baggio, and behind Silvio Piola with 30 goals, Giuseppe Meazza with 33 goals, and Luigi Riva with 35 goals.