Alessandro Del Piero
was born on November 9, 1974, at Conegliano, north of Italy. He has a brother,
called Stefano, who is nine years older. His mother, Bruna, is a housekeeper
and his father, Gino, who was an electrician, passed away in February,
2001. His family has always been very present in his life.
Alex
has always had football in his blood. As a kid, he lived at a rural property
with his family (they still own the place), and played at the backyard.
His two friends, Nelso and Pierpaolo (with whom he still keeps in touch)
used to play with him. The three of them wanted to become footballers,
but only Del Piero managed to do so.
Del Piero once said that
he used to play as a goalkeeper, at a time he was very ill, for reasons
that included also him playing a lot. His mother thought it would be better
for him if he played as a goalkeeper, since he wouldn't sweat and the posibilities
of him getting sick were smaller. But one day, Stefano told their mother:
"Don't you see that Alex is good in the attack?"
Alex
and Stefano are very close. Stefano, who is a married man, used to be a
footballer, having even played for Sampdoria. But due to injuries, he was
forced to leave the sport. Stefano helps Alex investing the money he gets,
from shares on the stock market to real properties.
Apparently, Alessandro also
has an adopted sister, called Beatrice. Little is known about her: she
has originally a Romanian background, and is still a little girl (around
six/seven years of age). This has never been a sure fact, though.
Del Piero left home at the
tender age of 13, when he went to Padova to play football. There, he shared
an apartment with ten other boys. He has been living away from his family
ever since, and he once said he gets to visit them two or three times a
year. Luckily they can all visit him at Turin, where Alex lives.
He
prefers the sea better than mountains, and he also likes rain. Dancing
is among the many things he likes to do. He has taken ballroom dancing
classes with his former team-mate Angelo Di Livio!
With his first wages at Juventus,
he bought a blue Lancia Delta Integrale, which he still drives.
Alex is very reserved about
his love life, preferring not to say anything about it. "I am very careful
with my private life", he once said. When he first arrived at Juventus,
it seems he dated a girl named Irene, who worked at the Delle Alpi staduim
bar at the time.
His reserve, however, was
not enough to keep the press from finding out about his fiancée,
Sonia Amoruso. They have been together for about four years, and she has
been by his side in difficult times, such as the Euro 2000 final and Alex's
father's death. Rumours that the couple is getting married are constant,
but nothing is ever confirmed. Sonia has once said that living in Turin
helps a lot when it comes to this aspect of their lives: "At Rome or Milan
we'd be in the spotlight, but here we can live in peace," she once said.
The
couple made their first public appearance on October 1st, 2001, at the
Football Oscars cerimony, in which Alex won the award for Italy's most
loved player. Sonia, who started working as a saleswoman, has now her own
shop. The boutique - named Satù - was opened in March 1st, 2002.
Present at the event were the Juventus players and other celebrities. Alex
was there for his girl, of course, but only as a spectator - it was time
for his beautiful brunette to shine.
When it comes to studies,
Alex has said that he likes to study to learn new things. He has a degree
in accountancy (he has graduated together with his brother), but he's done
it above all for his parents, as his love for football has always been
stronger. In 1999, he's signed a contract with CEPU, an Italian insitution
which helps the youngsters in their university exams. With this, Alex has
subscribed to Sociology, at the University of Urbino.
In May 30, 2000, his contract
with Cepu ended. But he soon announced a new sponsor: computer trademark
Compact.
The
first team he ever played for was San Vendemiano, from his home town. At
the age of 13, Alex joined Padova, where shared an apartment with ten other
boys. Since then, he lives apart from his family, getting to visit them
two or three times a year. Luckily they can all visit him at Turin, where
Alex lives.
At Padova, he played for
two seasons and scored one goal in 14 games in Serie B. In 1993, he had
offers from Juventus and Milan. Piero Aggradi, the sporting director of
Padova and the man who "discovered" Alex, decided that things should go
like Del Piero wanted. He was 18 years old when he moved to Juventus, the
team he's always supported.
With his new team, he played
for Primavera team (juniors team), and won the Viareggio tournament. He
had some problems with the previous season's injuries, but when he got
better, he returned to the main team. His first match on Serie A was against
Foggia, on September 12, 1993. The result: Juventus 1 - Foggia 1. In the
next game against Reggiana he scored his first Serie A goal. In his first
full season as a starter in Serie A he scored 8 goals in 29 games and brought
the Scudetto back to Turin after eight years.
When Alex was 22, he had
to serve the Italian Army, where he stood for ten months. But all he had
to do was to play football, which must not have been a hard task at all!
Alessandro
had lots of glory moments with Juve, scoring decisive goals. In the 96/97
season Toyota Cup, Juventus played the final against River Plate in Tokio.
He scored the goal that led Juventus to the world champions title. Another
remarkable occasion was the game against Fiorentina, in the 93/94 season.
The score? 2-2. Alex scored the third goal, that became part of the Italian
football history and began the ride that led La Vecchia Signora to its
23th Scudetto.
In the 97/98 season, he won
the award of Best Italian Player, conceived by the Players' Association.
He's been a Golden Ball contender, but never won the award.
Unfortunately,
his career's had some moments to forget: the European Championships - in
1996 he played only 45 minutes during the whole competition; in 2000, many
said he was to blame for Italy's defeat to France on the final -; the 1998
World Cup - he was not at his best shape -; and in November, 1998, the
knee injury which took him out of football until the end of the 98/99 season.
It happened one day before his 24th birthday, in the Serie A match against
Udinese.
In
June 29, 1999 he signed what many consider the most important of his life:
a five year contract with Juventus. It brought Alex a 10 billion lire salary
a year and, for a while, the title of best paid player in the world, staying
ahead of players such as Vieri, Ronaldo and teammate Filippo Inzaghi. This
also meant he would be with Juventus during, at least, 11 years.
The 1999/2000 season was
a very important one for Del Piero. After a long recovery, he would be
finally back to the fields, not only for the happiness of Juventus supporters,
but for football fans in general. But, there was always a question in some
people's minds: would he ever get back to his great form of two seasons
ago?
Del Piero answered with a
lot of work. He had a good season, being able to score 15 goals, and becoming
a specialist in penalty kicks. He scored nine out of nine - eight in Serie
A and one for Italy.
But he also impressed for
his attitude. Fans could notice a more mature player, who sometimes preferred
to pass the ball to a mate instead of shooting. This could be noticed in
the many assists Del Piero had this season, being the leading assistman
for the bianconeri. He also sacricifed himself many times for the good
of the team, playing more like a midfielder than an attacker.
Alex
got a marvellous reward for all the hard work: a goal from open play, as
many people (and Alex himself) admitted he missed, on the penultimate matchday,
against Parma. A header straight to the lower right corner the goal, making
it impossible for Buffon to keep the ball from entering. Juve won 1-0,
but lost with the same score on their final match at Perugia, when they
couldn't lose at any cost.
Lazio won the championship
that season, but the fans will fondly remember Alex for his great comeback
season and for his immense contribution to Juventus.
Alex had another chance to
finally shine when playing for his country during the Euro 2000. But the
hard critics, the competition with Totti, and especially his two missed
chances on the final against France didn't let his dream come true.
Finished the Euro 2000, Alex
got some deserved vacations at Polinesia. And they seemed to have done
Alex very good. He scored in the very first match of the 200/01 season,
against Napoli, a great goal from his zone! His passes for the team-mates
and brilliant plays are also still constant, for his many fans' happiness.
The week from February 11
to February 18, 2001 was quite an "eventful" one. On the 11th, Juve played
once again versus Napoli and Alex scored once again, a free kick once again
from his zone, with the help of Napoli goalkeeper Fontana. Two days after
that, his dad, Gino, passed away due to a long time disease. That was the
explanation behind Alessandro's unstable performances, since he is so attached
to his family.
Finally
on the 18th, when playing against Bari, Alex scored a truly wonderful goal,
that was surely dedicated to a special person. He let go all of his feelings
on the crazy celebration that followed. He had entered as a sub as the
score was 0-0. A great goal, in a great time, to give Juve a win and Alex
more support and confidence. On the following matches, he had very good
performances, showing that Godot had definitely arrived.
Alex had to wait some more
time to win a title, but it was worthwhile. On the last matchday of the
2001/2002 season, Juve beat Udinese 2-0 - with Del Piero scoring the second
goal - to clinch their 26th Scudetto. Three months later, the great number
10 scored the two goals that gave Juve the Italian SuperCup title, against
Parma. Between the two titles, Del Piero went to Korea-Japan with Italy
and scored his first goal in a World Cup.
Definitely not bad!
.
.
You are brave, rich,
famous. Do you miss anything?
"No. Especially now that
I have come back to football after a forced absence. I work on something
that I like and that allows me to live a good life. What else can I ask
for?"
Some
basic data... |
|
Full name |
Alessandro Del Piero |
Nicknames |
Alex, Ale, Pinturicchio,
Godot |
Date of birthday |
09/11/1974 |
Place |
Conegliano (Veneto) |
Playing position |
Forward |
Weight/Height |
73 kilos/1.73 meters |
.
Season
|
Team
|
Division
|
Appearances
|
Goals
|
1991/92
|
Padova
|
B
|
4
|
-
|
1992/93
|
Padova
|
B
|
10
|
1
|
1993/94
|
Juventus
|
A
|
11
|
5
|
1994/95
|
Juventus
|
A
|
29
|
8
|
1995/96
|
Juventus
|
A
|
29
|
6
|
1996/97
|
Juventus
|
A
|
22
|
8
|
1997/98
|
Juventus
|
A
|
32
|
21
|
1998/99
|
Juventus
|
A
|
8
|
2
|
1999/00
|
Juventus
|
A
|
34
|
9
|
2000/01
|
Juventus
|
A
|
25
|
8
|
2001/02
|
Juventus
|
A
|
33
|
16
|
.
Want
to write him?
|
Alessandro Del Piero
c/o Juventus F.C. S.p.A.
Corso Galileo Ferraris,
32
10128 Torino
ITALIA
|
.
Special thanks to Andrea
Vellano, Anna Fabiani, Annie, Cláudia, Elise Vishanita, Juliana,
Renata Castilho, Setareh and Silvia.
.