Alberto Gilardino

Early life and Piacenza

Resident from birth to Cossato, in the province of Biella, Gilardino started playing with Cossatese, with whom he remained until the Under-15 category of Juniors. After another year in the youth of ASD Junior Biellese Libertas under the guidance of Luca Prina, Gilardino went to Piacenza. The coach Luigi Simoni gave him his debut in Serie A at age 17, on 6 January 2000, against AC Milan. The season ended with the Piacenza's relegation to Serie B, but Gilardino still managed to make an impact by scoring 3 goals in 17 matches.

Verona

In September 2000, "Gila", as he is often nicknamed and already considered a talent, was sold to Hellas Verona in co-ownership, for 7 billion Italian lire (€3,615,198). Despite his young age, he scored five goals in his two seasons at the club where he made 39 league appearances. Gilardino attracted Verona to sign him in full in June 2001, for 8.5 billion lire. (€4,389,884). Gilardino was bought by Parma in a co-ownership deal during the 2001–02 season for 9.5 billion lire (€4,906,341) and loaned back to Verona. At Verona, Gilardino played two seasons under the guidance of Attilio Perotti, and then Alberto Malesani. Gilardino was also involved in a car accident which ruled him out of the season on 28 April 2001: a truck crossed his car off the road and ended up in the river Sile, but he managed to abandon it before it sank. However, a fracture of the sternum ruled him out of the rest of the season.…

Youth career

Gilardino played for Italy at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, winning a bronze medal; he scored a decisive goal against Iraq in the match for third place. He also led Italy's under-21 team to victory in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, being named the best player and top scorer of the tournament with four goals. Gilardino is currently the all-time top scorer for the Italy national under-21 team, with 19 goals in 30 matches.

Debut and first Lippi era

After the 2004 Olympics, Gilardino was chosen by the senior national team coach Marcello Lippi. He made his debut on 4 September 2004, at the age of 22, in a 2–1 home win in a World Cup qualifier against Norway. On 13 October, he scored his first international goal in a 4–3 win in a World Cup qualifier against Belarus, in Parma. Lippi considered him a starter, often in tandem with Luca Toni. Gilardino was a member of the 23-man Italy squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He played in the first two matches, scoring a goal in his nation's second group match, a 1–1 draw against the United States, with a diving header off a free kick by Andrea Pirlo; He came on as a substitute in the semifinal match against hosts Germany, hitting the post in extra time; in the last minute of the second half of extra time, he provided the assist for Alessandro Del Piero's goal two minutes after the first goal, sealing the Azzurri's 2–0 victory, which earned them a place in the final; Italy subsequently…

Rezzato

In September 2018, Gilardino received his UEFA A and UEFA B coaching licences. On 7 October 2018, Gilardino was named assistant coach and technical director of Serie D club Rezzato alongside head coach Luca Prina. On 28 February 2019, Gilardino was promoted to head coach of Rezzato, with Prina demoted to the supervisory role.

Pro Vercelli

On 11 July 2019, Gilardino was appointed manager of Pro Vercelli.

Siena

On 8 September 2020 he was appointed new manager of Siena, which just underwent bankruptcy and change of name and was forced to restart from Serie D. He left his job by mutual consent on 12 January 2021, with Siena in second place in the league table. On 11 February 2021, he was re-hired as Siena head coach. He completed the season in third place and was confirmed in charge of the club following its readmission to Serie C for the 2021–22 season. On 24 October 2021, Siena announced to have dismissed Gilardino for a second time following a lackluster start in the club's Serie C campaign.

Genoa

On 1 July 2022, Gilardino was unveiled as the new head of Genoa Primavera, the Under-19 team of the Rossoblu. On 6 December 2022, Gilardino was temporarily promoted as head coach following the dismissal of Alexander Blessin from the Serie B side. Following a positive string of results and an improvement in performances, Gilardino was permanently appointed head coach. After guiding Genoa to direct promotion to Serie A, Gilardino signed a…

Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation. A quick, agile, hard-working, and prolific forward with an excellent positional sense, who is skilled in the air, both with his head and acrobatically, due to his height, Gilardino played mainly as a striker who prefers to be served in the penalty area. This position allows him to leverage his skills, timing, opportunism, and ability to score goals and finish off chances by getting on the end of his teammates' crosses. Possessing good technique and an eye for goal, he is capable of shooting first time, but is also known for his ability to use his skills and strength to protect the ball and to defend himself with his back to goal; he often uses this ability to provide depth to his team, holding up the ball and subsequently laying it off for teammates, providing them with assists. Gilardino is naturally right-footed, but in his early years at Parma, he was able to improve his ability with his left foot.