About Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro del ˈpjɛːro]; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia. A technically gifted and creative supporting forward who was also a free-kick specialist, he is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and one of the greatest players in Juventus's history. He is currently the second highest all-time Italian top-scorer in all competitions, with 346 goals, behind only Silvio Piola, with 390 goals. In his career Del Piero scored 462 goals. Del Piero began his career at Padova in Serie B before being signed by Italian giants Juventus in 1993. He quickly established himself as a key player, particularly in the UEFA Champions League, helping the club reach three consecutive finals from 1996 to 1998, winning the 1996 edition. During this period, he scored 20 goals in 27 Champions League appearances, finishing as the competition's top scorer in 1997–98. Del Piero later helped Juventus win back-to-back Serie A titles in 2001–02 and 2002–03, while also reaching his fourth Champions League final in the latter season. After Juventus were forcibly relegated to Serie B in 2006 due to the Calciopoli scandal, Del Piero chose to remain at the club despite the departures of several key players, and captained them back to Serie A after a single season in the second division. Del Piero played at Juventus for 19 seasons (11 as captain) and holds the club records for most goals (290) and appearances (705). In total, he won 16 trophies at the club, including six Serie A titles, and won the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award in 1998 and 2008. After leaving the club in 2012, he also spent two seasons with Australian side Sydney FC; he retired in 2014, after a season with Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Super League. At international level, Del Piero has also represented the Italy national team at three FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships, most notably winning the 2006 World Cup, and reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000 with Italy. He is the joint fourth highest scorer for Italy, with 27 goals. In 2004, Del Piero was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. In the same year, he was also voted into the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, a list of the 50 best European players of the past 50 years. Along with six awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct, he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality as well as playing ability. 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. During his time at the club, he won six Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup. A technically gifted and creative supporting forward who was also a free-kick specialist, Del Piero won the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award in 1998 and 2008 and received multiple nominations for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.