Alessandro Del Piero

An Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He is the captain of Juventus where he holds several club records

His footballing ability is highly regarded and he has won critical recognition. 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. He 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] As well as earning respect for his playing, Del Piero has won several accolades for his character. Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct[6][7] he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability.[8] Usually, Del Piero 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."[9] His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded.[10] 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.[11]This was perfectly demonstrated in the 2006 FIFA World Cup against the German national football team when he slotted the ball past Jens Lehmann to make the game 2-0. Italy went on to world cup the following game. In terms of goalscoring, Del Piero holds the all-time record at Juventus.[12] On April 6th, 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time top capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. He is in sixth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records.[13] Within the Italian national team, he is currently joint fourth with Roberto Baggio in the all-time scoring records.

Juventus
Nov 9, 1974
Source: Wikipedia