Alessandro Del Piero

Alessandro Del Piero (Photo from Wikipedia)

Alex or "Pinturicchio" is one of the greatest players that wore the Juventus jersey and is the one holding the record of most scored goals, passing another legendary player: Giampiero Boniperti. Ironically, it was Mr. Boniperti, who brought a very young Del Piero from Padova to Juventus, to be the substitute to Roberto Baggio. At that time Baggio was the undisputed captain of the team and Del Piero was supposed to sit on the bench and come in to fill in. History spoke very differently. As Alex started to get used to the professional level and the Juventus demands, he was always ready to enter in the middle of the match and stupefy. In a very short period of time he was not a replacement anymore, but indeed a unmovable asset of the front attack of the team, alongside Vialli and Baggio himself. He would touch the ball like a gentle stroke and for this, Giovanni Agnelli nicknamed Del Piero "Pinturicchio". But Alex's style was just too beautiful, he created a way of scoring from the far corner of the penalty box that everybody started to call the Del Piero Zone.

The embrace of the Minister Giovanna Melandri and Alessandro Del Piero in the delighted gaze of President Giorgio Napolitano at the end of the match

As the games went by, he convinced more and more and Baggio was sacrificed in his favor. The goals that made Del Piero's record are phenomenal for quantity and quality and every true fan remembers that one against Fiorentina in an amazing 3-2 comeback, or the one scored against Borussina Dortmund in a Champions league game, or the one that brought the Intercontinental Cup back to Juventus. A series of masterpieces that created a legend and a true icon in heart the of the Juventus supporters, but also in all of those that love soccer. In 2008, after an amazing victory in Madrid against Real, the Spanish supporters applauded Del Piero at the end of the game. Another great quality that Alex has is the precision and strength in free kicks, often turning them into spectacular goals. His free kicks are indeed a secret weapon and a real challenge to any goalkeeper.

DEL PIero Best .....

Besides his fantastic sport qualities, Del Piero is known to be a very loyal and fair player, very correct and always kin to a sportsmanship that seems to be lacking nowadays. He is a true gentleman, who never offends the adversaries or the referees. He might have had some conflicts with some of his coaches, but never went above the lines, and he never went public like many others do.  He is a captain, like in the old days, a man, who dedicated his entire life to one team and that is simply adored by his people, even now that his game is slower, the big fans cannot see Juventus playing without him. He won everything possibly winnable and his hunger for more is extraordinary, he seems to be wanting always more, and he fights to obtain it. He went to Serie B with Juventus after winning a World Cup and the year after, back in Serie A, he was the top scorer of the league.

In the national team he never performed as strong as he did for Juventus. Although, it must be said that even if he didn't perform well on the major tournaments he is the man that helped the national cause during qualifying scoring very important goals and he is indeed one of the top scorer of all time for Italy. Even in 2006, he scored the second goal against Germany in the semi-final and mostly he scored the 4^th most important penalty versus France in the final penalty shoot-out lottery.

DEL PIero Best .....

He is clearly one of the highest paid players in the world and he invests his money very wisely, proving to be a careful and disciplined businessman. Married with three kids, he has a very normal and respectful private life. He claims that he wants to keep on playing until his strengths allow him to, and we hope he can continue doing so, as the moment of his retirement will be a dark day for soccer, and he will be highly missed by all Juventus supporters.