Alessandro Del Piero

Padova

1991–1993: Early career and debut

Del Piero began his rise to professional football in 1981, in the ranks of San Vendemiano. In 1988, Del Piero was first spotted by scouts, and he left home at the young age of 13 to play with the youth side of Padova. He joined the senior side during the 1991–92 season, at the age of 16, and at the age of 17, he made his debut in Serie B against Messina, under manager Mauro Sandreani, on 15 March 1992, coming on as a substitute for Roberto Putelli. The following season, on 22 November 1992, he scored his first professional goal in a 5–0 victory over Ternana. In 1993, thanks to Giampiero Boniperti, Del Piero was bought by Juventus for five billion lire, with an overlap of 150 million lire per season.

Juventus

1993–1998: Early domestic and European success

In 1993, Del Piero transferred to Juventus and played for the Torinese club for 19 seasons until being released in the summer of 2012. Although manager Giovanni Trapattoni insisted that he trained with the senior team, he initially played with the Primavera squad, which was coached by Antonello Cuccureddu, helping the Juventus Youth team to win both the 1994 Torneo di Viareggio, and the 1994 U-20 championship. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia on 12 September 1993 under Trapattoni, as a substitute, and he scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana on 19 September, after coming off the bench once again. On his full…

1995–1998: Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup

Del Piero is currently Italy's joint fourth all-time leading scorer, along with Roberto Baggio, with 27 goals in 91 appearances, with two goals for Italy coming in twelve World Cup matches and one goal in thirteen European Championship matches; alongside Enrico Chiesa, he also holds the unique record for the most goals scored by an Italian international as a substitute (5). Del Piero initially played for the Italian U-21 team twelve times, scoring three goals, and was a member of the team that qualified for and later won the 1996 European Under-21 Championship, appearing in the quarter-finals. On 25 March 1995, Del Piero debuted under Arrigo Sacchi at the age of 20 in a 4–1 victory against Estonia in a Euro 1996 qualifying match. Del Piero scored his first goal for Italy on 15 November 1995 in a 4–0 victory against Lithuania in the same tournament. His major tournament debut was at UEFA Euro 1996, where he made his only appearance in the first half of the team's 2–1 win in the opening group match against Russia, playing as a left-winger in midfield, wearing the number 14 shirt, before being substituted at half-time by Roberto Donadoni. The next year, Del Piero was part of the Italy team that took part in the friendly "Tournoi de France" tournament from 3 to 11 June 1997 under Cesare Maldini. Del Piero scored two goals in a 3–3 draw against Brazil, and scored from a penalty against France in the 90th minute, finishing the…

Club

International

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Del Piero goal.

Records

All-time appearances for Juventus in all competitions (705 appearances) Second most appearances for Juventus in Serie A (478 appearances) Second most appearances for Juventus in Italian League matches (includes Serie A and Serie B) (513 appearances) Most appearances for Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana (8 appearances as of 13 August 2017) All-time leading scorer for Juventus (290 goals: 186 goals in open play, 62 goals from penalties, 42 goals from free-kicks) All-time decisive goals holder for Juventus (135) Second most minutes played holder for Juventus (48,363) Second most appearances for Juventus in the Supercoppa Italiana (6 appearances) Second most appearances for Juventus in the UEFA Champions League (92 appearances) Second most appearances for Juventus in UEFA club competitions (124 appearances) Most appearances for Juventus in international club competitions (130 appearances) Second most goals scored in the Supercoppa Italiana, alongside Samuel Eto'o, Andriy Shevchenko, and Carlos Tevez (3) Most goals scored in a single season by a Sydney FC player (14) Third highest goalscorer from penalties in Serie A (50) Third highest goalscorer from free kicks in Serie A (22) Italian all-time top scorer from free kicks in all competitions (52 goals: 46 goals at club level, 6 goals with the Italy national…

Del Piero was born in Conegliano, Veneto, the son of Gino, an electrician, and Bruna, a housekeeper. He regularly played football in the backyard with two friends, Nelso and Pierpaolo, as a child. All three dreamed of becoming footballers but only Del Piero would eventually manage to do so. His older brother, Stefano, briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before an injury curtailed his career; he later worked as his younger brother's agent. The family lived in the hamlet of Saccon, a rural home in San Vendemiano. While growing up, Del Piero's family did not have much money for travelling abroad, so he considered being a lorry driver in order to see the world. While playing for the local youth team of San Vendemiano, Del Piero used to feature as a goalkeeper in order to gain more playing time. His mother thought it would be better for him to play in this role, as he would not sweat, and the possibility of him getting injured was less likely. His brother Stefano commented to their mother that, due to his skill, the younger Del Piero was more suited to playing in a more offensive position, and he switched to a forward role.