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Filippo Inzaghi

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Filippo Inzaghi
Inzaghi at AC Milan.
Personal information
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 A.C. Milan
Number 9
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 9 2007 (UTC)

Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI[1][2] (born August 9, 1973, in Piacenza) is a World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for Italian Serie A club AC Milan and for Italy. He is the all-time leading scorer in official UEFA competition with 63 goals.[3]

Club Career

The older brother of fellow footballer Simone Inzaghi, "Pippo" got his start playing for hometown club Piacenza Calcio as a teenager in 1991, but made only two appearances before being loaned to Serie C1 side U.C. Albinoleffe, with whom he scored an impressive 13 goals in 21 matches. In 1993, Inzaghi moved to Serie B club Hellas Verona and scored 13 goals in 36 appearances. Upon his return to Piacenza, he netted 15 times in 37 games and proved himself as an exciting young prospect.

Inzaghi made his Serie A debut when he transferred to Parma F.C. in 1995, but scored only twice in 15 matches. He moved on to Atalanta B.C. the following season, finishing as the Capocannoniere (Serie A's top scorer) with 24 goals. However, he was soon on the move once again to his seventh team in seven seasons, this time to Juventus F.C. He formed a formidable attacking partnership along with Alessandro Del Piero and Zinedine Zidane, a tandem which would last for four seasons, marking Inzaghi's longest stint with one team at the time. Juventus won the Scudetto in the 1997-98 season, but lost 1-0 in the Champions League final to Real Madrid.

Despite a solid tally of 57 goals in 120 games for the Bianconeri, Inzaghi was soon benched in favor of David Trézéguet, and he moved to A.C. Milan for the 2001-02 campaign, but suffered a knee injury and missed the first half of the season. Upon his return, he was able to forge a strong goalscoring partnership with Andriy Shevchenko, and he soon racked up an impressive trophy count with the Rossoneri, among them the 2002-03 Champions League (in which Milan defeated his previous team, Juventus, in the final on penalties), along with the 2003 Coppa Italia and the 2003-04 Scudetto.

Inzaghi was finally able to fully recover from persisent knee injuries that had dogged him for two years, as he also regained his predatory goalscoring form by scoring 12 goals in 22 Serie A matches in 2005-06, along with four scores in five CL appearances. On May 23, 2007, in the 2007 Champions League final, he scored both of Milan's goals in their 2-1 defeat of Liverpool F.C. in a rematch of the 2005 final. He said after the match, "It's a dream since I was a child to score twice in the final, and the ones I scored yesterday evening were the most important in my life. It was an unforgettable game. It's something that will stay with me all my life and two goals in the final speaks for itself."

European Competition Records

Inzaghi became the first player to score two Champions League hat tricks (both with Juventus) when he netted a treble during a 4-4 group stage draw with Hamburger SV on September 13, 2000; his first was in a 4-1 defeat of Dynamo Kiev during the 1997-98 quarterfinals.

He scored his 62nd career European goal, and 33rd overall for Milan, in a 3-0 CL group stage win over FC Shakhtar Donetsk on 6 November 2007. This achievement put him level with Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller on the all-time scoring list in European competitions recognized by UEFA, subsequently overtaking Muller scoring the only goal in the last group stage game against Celtic FC on 4 December [[2007], making him the all-time top scorer in European competitions. [1][2]

International Career

Inzaghi earned his first cap for Italy against Brazil on June 8, 1997, and has since scored 25 goals in 57 appearances. He was called up for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000, and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Inzaghi was Italy's top goalscorer during the qualifying rounds of the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, but missed the latter due to injury.

His persistent knee and ankle injuries put a halt to his international play for almost two years before his resurgence at the club level, which resulted in his being called up by Italy coach Marcello Lippi for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. Inzaghi made his only appearance in a group stage match against the Czech Republic on June 22, 2006, scoring his one goal in the tournament against Petr Cech in a one-on-one encounter.

He is currently the sixth-highest goalscorer in team history with 25 goals, which ties him with Adolfo Baloncieri and Alessandro Altobelli.

Trivia

  • His supporters have affectionately nicknamed him Superpippo or Superpippo Inzagol during his best years; Superpippo is the Italian name of Disney character Super Goof.
  • He has a diploma in accounting.
  • Johann Cruyff remarked about Inzaghi, "Look, actually he can't play football at all. He's just always in the right position."
  • Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once quipped, "Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position."
  • Former AFC Ajax defender Jaap Stam accused the Inzaghi brothers of being "diving cheats" in his autobiography, which was published while he played for Manchester United. Ironically, Stam would be Pippo's teammate at Milan for two seasons, after having been teammates with Simone Inzaghi at Lazio from 2001-04.

Honours

Club

National

Individual

Career

  • Correct as of July 2007.
Season Team League Domestic League *1 European Tournament *2 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1991-92 Piacenza Serie B 2 0 - - 2 0
1992-93 Leffe Serie C1 21 13 - - 21 13
1993-94 Verona Serie B 36 13 - - 36 13
1994-95 Piacenza Serie B 37 15 - - 37 15
1995-96 Parma Serie A 15 2 6 2 21 4
1996-97 Atalanta Serie A 33 24 6 0 39 24
1997-98 Juventus Serie A 31 18 10 6 41 24
1998-99 Juventus Serie A 28 13 10 6 38 19
1999-00 Juventus Serie A 33 15 8 10 41 25
2000-01 Juventus Serie A 28 11 6 5 34 16
2001-02 A.C. Milan Serie A 20 10 7 4 27 14
2002-03 A.C. Milan Serie A 30 17 16 12 46 29
2003-04 A.C. Milan Serie A 14 3 8 2 22 5
2004-05 A.C. Milan Serie A 11 0 2 1 13 1
2005-06 A.C. Milan Serie A 23 12 6 4 29 16
2006-07 A.C. Milan Serie A 20 2 12 6 32 8
Total 382 168 97 58 479 226

References

  1. ^ FIFA.com
  2. ^ AscotSportal.com
  3. ^ "Inzagol matches Muller record". C4. 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2007-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Template:S-awards
Sporting positions
Preceded by Serie A top scorer
1996-97 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
 Serie A Young Footballer of the Year
1997 		Succeeded by


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