ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO
1993- 2012 GAMES 705 CLUB JUVENTUS
BEFORE By 1993, Juventus had gone seven years without winning the league – despite a squad boasting the gifts of Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli, Antonio Conte, Paolo Di Canio & Co. Victory in that season’s UEFA Cup had given fans cause for optimism, but there was no denying that the Old Lady were in need of some Serie A success.
LEGACY At first, Bianconeri coach Giovanni Trapattoni mulled loaning out a 19- year old Del Piero – snapped up from Serie B Padova in January 1993 for € 2.5 million. But it was impossible: his displays were so promising – as the youth team scooped a league and cup double – that first- team opportunities quickly beckoned. The attacker scored a hat- trick on his full debut for the senior side, a 4- 0 home trouncing of Parma in 1994, and Trapattoni eventually caved that summer.
Del Piero played in 50 games the following season as Juve celebrated their first Scudetto since 1986, and also bagged the Coppa Italia after victory over Parma. The trophies kept coming as well: Champions League glory on penalties against Ajax in 1996, with Del Piero wearing Baggio’s vacated No. 10 jersey after the latter’s move to rivals Milan. The Old Lady were downed by Dortmund in 1997 – despite Del Piero’s goalscoring introduction off the bench – but by then, domestic success had become more common than not.
His most important trophy may have been the least spectacular of all – the Serie B title in 2006- 07. Juventus had been relegated in disgrace following the Calciopoli scandal, but Del Piero’s decision to stay put – the ultimate symbol of his status in Turin – would never be forgotten. Capturing a sixth Serie A crown in 2012 was a fitting way to bow out.
“After his penultimate appearance in a Juve shirt, he was finally overwhelmed by all the emotions,” said ex- team- mate Andrea Pirlo. “He flooded the dressing room with tears and we then did the same.” And to think his mum wanted him to be a goalkeeper.
BEST MOMENT With Juve having recovered from 2- 0 down to level against Fiorentina in December 1994, Del Piero sealed the points thanks to a crazy outside- of- the- boot volley. “It was a definitive moment in winning the Scudetto, our first after a nine- year drought,” he beamed to FFT in 2014.