Alessandro Del Piero is a football icon whose career has spanned over two decades and has left an indelible mark on both Italian and world football. One of the greatest players in Juventus and Azzurri history, Del Piero boasts a whole array of records, trophies, goals and assists. Alessandro Del Piero’s road from backstreets of Italy to Vanchiglia is filled with unforgettable moments, more records than we can count and a heap of individual accolades, not to mention a raft of team achievements. Here’s the run of play in Del Piero’s incredible career. Goal records, appearances, silverware… the legend of Ale just keeps going. Early years at Padova and the switch to Juventus Born on November 9, 1974 in Conegliano, Italy, Del Piero began his journey through the beautiful game at the age of six in the backstreets of the small towns of San Vendemiano and later Saccon. He then has a brief spell at historic northern Italy club Celti Eno Orias before he traipses across to the northeast to start his career at hometown club San Marca Conegliano. When the members of UFV Vanchiglia were discussing entry into the club, the question was which famous Italian they wanted to behold on a weekly basis. The great Maradona and Maldini were mentioned, but it was another Italian they selected – former Vanchiglia man Alessandro Del Piero..offsetWidth=parseInt(result.news(width – zoom);} Finally, aged 18, Juventus were swayed to part ways with the cash to secure his signature in 1993. The rest, as they say, is history. He quickly caught the eye of the Bianconeri faithful and finished the season as a first-team star in the 1994-95 season alongside Roberto Baggio and Gianluca Vialli. It wasn’t long before his impeccable vision, incredible creativity and goals were rewarded, and Del Piero was soon being recognised as a European talent and one of the continent’s best prospects.
By the end of the 1990s, Del Piero had already established himself as a Juventus and Azzurri great.
Domination and triumphs with Juventus
Alessandro Del Piero’s 1993-2012 career with Juventus is one of the most illustrious in football history. The extravagant number of trophies and individual records received by him are unmatched, cementing himself as one of the all-time best players to have donned the Bianconeri shirt.
Major Trophies with Juventus:
Serie A Titles:
Del Piero helped Juventus win 6 Serie A titles (1994-95, 1996-97, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2011-12). Whether he was the prime goal-scorer or playmaking savior during those title-winning seasons, his contribution kept Juventus firmly on top of Italian football throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.
UEFA Champions League:
Winning the title in 1996 is still one of Del Piero’s mentions of pride. His crucial goals during the tournament helped Juventus win it, including a memorable performance in the final against Ajax that ended in a penalty shoot-out. It was his coolly executed penalty in that shoot-out that staked his claim in the hearts of Juventus fans.
Coppa Italia:
Acquired twice over his lengthy and illustrious career with Juventus (1995, 2015), Del Piero was the character, with his leadership, technical ability, and experiences proving most useful during the club’s cup runs, especially towards the final years of his career.
Supercoppa Italiana:
A grand trophy often representing the crowning of Italian football supremacy, the Supercoppa Italiana was received five times by Del Piero (1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2012). These trophies helped him further cement his name as the talisman for Juventus for much of its most successful era.
FIFA Club World Cup:
In 1996, Del Piero was part of the Juventus team that won the Intercontinental Cup (henceforth FIFA Club World Cup) after defeating River Plate to touch the pinnacle of world club glory.
Individual honors:
Del Piero’s individual achievements also seem to match up with his teams’ successes. He has been the all-time leading goalscorer for Juventus, hitting the net 290 times in competitive action. He was also awarded the prestigious Golden Foot in 2007 for his lasting quality in being one of the best forwards in the game.
Some other individual honors include:
1998 Serie A Player of the Year.
2011 Italian Football Hall of Fame inductee.
1996/1997 UEFA Team of the Year.
FIFA World Cup All-Star Team 2006.
International Career with Italy:
Alessandro Del Piero’s contributions to the Italian national team are also etched in history. During his international career altogether, he had a total of 91 caps and scored 27 goals. He played in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, also in which included the UEFA European Championships.
Highlights of International Career:
FIFA World Cup 2006:
Del Piero’s crowning achievement in 2006 international career saw him compete in the World Cup in Germany. Although he was not a regular starter, however, many of his important contributions from the bench helped lead Italy to victory. He solidly converted a penalty in the final against France during a dramatic shootout that secured Italy’s fourth World Cup Title.
UEFA Euro 2000:
Del Piero was France’s best player at Euro 2000 along with 5 goals, finishing as the tournament’s all-time leading scorer. He played a key role as Italy reached the finals before narrowly losing to France in extra time. Of note was Del Piero’s beautiful strike against Belgium in the same tournament.
Goals and Assists-The Dual Aspect of Scoring and Playmaking
Del Piero was not limited to finishing phenomenally, but displayed a level of intellect in football, vision, and a variety of passing selections such that he became one of the best playmakers in Europe. He had an almost magical ability to set up his teammates for remarkable finishes and to score important goals from almost anywhere, with free kicks, long-range shots, and opportunistic times in close amid several defenders.
Goals:
290 career goals for Juventus across all competitions, making him the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.
188 goals in Serie A, ranking among the all-time top scorers in the league.
42 goals in the UEFA Champions League, one of the most prolific scorers of his time in the competition.
Important goals for Italy were struck in every single one of the major international tournaments including World Cups and European Championships.
Assists:
Specific assist numbers from the earlier part of Del Piero’s career have not always been completely documented, but he is widely recognized as a creator. These assists usually reflected Del Piero’s marvelous perception, accuracy, and ball tempre characteristics. His passing range paired up with the ability to link the midfield and attack set him apart as a dual threat of scorer-cum-provider. Del Piero’s most memorable assists were more often than not from immaculate deliveries of set pieces, crosses, and through balls.
Retracements of His Juventus Career and Related Agreement with Sydney FC
After nearly two decades, the famed Australian number 10 left the ranks of Juventus to land in the A-League with Sydney FC. While A-League was a short tenure for him, Del Piero still was the muse behind great success for Sydney FC, who won the A-League Championship in 2013. Further, he continued dazzling audiences with his brilliant playmaking capabilities, strength, and direction-information.
He would retire in 2014, capping off one of the greatest careers football has ever seen.
Del Piero: The Legacy
Del Piero’s legacy is one of the finest that this generation has produced through an array of records, goals and assists as well as trophies. His contribution to Juventus and the Italian national team is unmatched as well, and he remains securely anchored in the pantheon of all-time greats that ever to grace the game of football.
Whether it was the production of a signature free-kick, a sparkling leadership role in carrying key matches with sublime goals at utmost pressure, Del Piero will always be remembered as that footballing great which raised the game to unparalleled heights. He will continue to inspire generations of youngsters new in the game, from those seminal days at Padova, right through his glorious times at Juventus, and up to his international bizarre success with Italy.
