alessandro del piero

Alessandro Del Piero, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI^[2][3] (born November 9, 1974 in Conegliano Veneto) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer, generally considered one of the best footballers of all times. He currently plays for Juventus in Italy.

Pelé named Del Piero in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations while Brazilian star Ronaldinho proclaimed that Del Piero is his idol.^[4] Del Piero was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000, Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue.^[5] Currently, Del Piero is still the highest earning Italian Player.^[6]

Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct^[7][8] he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability.^[9]

Del Piero usually plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position. Although he is not very tall, Del Piero's playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching."^[10] His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded.^[11] Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special " Del Piero Zone", approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.^[12]

In terms of goalscoring, Del Piero holds the all-time record at Juventus.^[13] On April 6th, 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time highest-capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. He is in sixth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records.^[14] Within the Italian national team, he is currently joint fourth with Roberto Baggio in the all-time scoring records.