37-year-old forward Del Piero brought the curtain down on an illustrious career at Juventus this weekend in the loss to Naploli in the Coppa Italia final.
Like Paulo Maldini at AC Milan and Ryan Giggs at Manchester United, Del Piero is part of the furniture at Juventus and it will be strange to see him wearing another clubs jersey after playing in the black and white stripes of Juve for so long.
Unfortunately Del Piero’s final game for the club, 19 years after making his debut in 1993, wasn’t the most celebratory of occasions as Juventus lost 2-0 in the Coppa Italia Final to Napoli, but Del Piero will be remembered for so much more.
During his time at the Stadio Alpi Del Piero has won;
- 6 Serie A titles (not including the two which were withdrawn in 2005 and 2006)
- 1 Coppa Italia
- 4 Supercoppa Italiana
- 1 Uefa Champions League
- 1 Uefa Super Cup
- 1 Intercontinental Cup
- 1 Uefa Intertoto Cup
- 1 Serie B title
- 2 Uefa Under-21 European Championships
- 1 World Cup
He went on to make 705 appearances for the club, winning 19 trophies including the World Cup with Italy in 2006.
He scored the first of his 289 goals for the club in his second appearance before bagging a hat-trick on his first start back in 1993.
The Italian was also a regular for his country since 1995, making 91 appearances, scoring 27 goals.
His record isn’t too bad at all is it, and it is fair to say that he is one of the true legends of the game.
He isn’t hanging his boots up for good however, and their has been plenty of speculation on where he will be headed for next season.
You might be surprised to hear that Arsenal, Tottenham and QPR have all been linked but less so that LA Galaxy are also apparently tracking him, but the Italian says he is in no rush to make a decision:
“This year was simply amazing, and plenty of different emotions have characterised recent weeks,” Del Piero told the club’s official website.
“Obviously we’re disappointed for the missed chance to lift the Coppa Italia, but this team experienced an exceptional season.
“We haven’t had the icing on the cake, but we’ve tasted that cake in any case.
“I’d like to thank everybody for what we’ve achieved this year and what I’ve achieved in my career.
“When I left the pitch, I was disappointed because we were one goal down, but I also was very proud of the affection that the public showed.
“Now I go on holidays and then I’ll turn over a new leaf.”
It will be interesting to see where he ends up, and it might just be me but I think the MLS might be an attractive option for him at this stage of his career!
Check out his last home game in a Juventus shirt:
Via This Is Football – UK Football Info and Directory