DEL PIERO

Few players have reshaped Italian football’s cultural identity the way Alessandro Del Piero did. Born in Conegliano, Veneto, on 9 November 1974, he grew up kicking a ball around with friends in the rural hamlet of Saccon, even starting out as a goalkeeper for local side San Vendemiano because his mother worried he would get injured. Spotted by scouts at 13, he joined Padova’s youth ranks and made his Serie B debut at 17, on 15 March 1992, before Juventus bought him in 1993 for five billion lire.

What followed defined an era. Del Piero became the elegant, creative second striker and free-kick specialist at the heart of Juventus’s dominance, helping the club reach three consecutive Champions League finals from 1996 to 1998 and winning the 1996 edition, while finishing as the competition’s top scorer in 1997–98 with 20 goals in 27 appearances. When Calciopoli forced Juventus into Serie B in 2006, he stayed, captained the club straight back to Serie A, and closed out 19 seasons in black and white — 11 as captain — with club records of 290 goals and 705 appearances and 16 trophies, including six Serie A titles.

His international career carried the same weight: 27 goals for Italy, a UEFA Euro 2000 final, and the 2006 World Cup. Named to the FIFA 100 in 2004 and the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, he won the Golden Foot award and six gentlemanly conduct awards in Italy. After stints with Sydney FC and Delhi Dynamos FC, he retired in 2014 and has worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia since 2015.