Filippo Inzaghi

Football player infobox
playername = Filippo Inzaghi


nickname = "Pippo" "Superpippo" "Inzagol"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1973|8|9
cityofbirth = Piacenza
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|meter=1.81
currentclub = Milan
clubnumber = 9
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1991–1992
1992–1993
1993–1994
1994–1995
1995–1996
1996–1997
1997–2001
2001–
clubs = Piacenza Calcio
S.C. Leffe
Hellas Verona
Piacenza Calcio
Parma
Atalanta
Juventus
Milan
caps(goals) = 002 0(0)
021 (13)
036 (13)
037 (15)
015 0(2)
033 (24)
120 (57)
139 (55)
nationalyears = 1993–1996
1997–2007
nationalteam = Italy U-21
Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 014 0(3)
057 (25)
pcupdate = May 18, 2008
ntupdate = September 8, 2007

Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI [ [http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/president/index/0,4095,129202,00.html?articleid=129202 FIFA.com] ] [ [http://www.ascotsportal.com/news/newsdtl.aspx?PID=89262e2c-3beb-4080-bd5e-949f498ecbcc&CID=4ca0fc99-f8bf-4260-b379-ee5bca3085eb&NID=e47baa4d-fe98-4feb-a0ff-a007b8e62e87 AscotSportal.com] ] (born August 9, 1973 in Piacenza) is a World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for Italian Serie A club AC Milan. He is the all-time leading scorer in official UEFA competition with 63 goals. [cite web|title =Inzagol matches Muller record| date = 2007-11-10|accessdate= 2007-11-10|url = http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/nov6s.html|publisher = C4]

Club career

The 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 S.C. Leffe, 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.

AC Milan

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 by Fatih Terim, 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". He signed a contract extension in November 2004. [cite news|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=254938.html|title=Inzaghi extends Milan stay|date=2004-11-04|accessdate=2008-05-20|publisher=UEFA.com]

Inzaghi was able to fully recover from persistent 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 in Athens, he scored both of Milan's goals in their 2-1 victory over 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." He picked up in the 2007-08 season where he left off in Athens, scoring the equalizer in the Super Cup in Milan's 3-1 victory over Sevilla. Inzaghi capped off the year by scoring two goals in the final of the 2007 Club World Cup, helping Milan win 4-2 against Boca Juniors to take revenge for the defeat on penalties in 2003.

On February 24, 2008, Inzaghi scored the matchwinning goal in Milan's 2-1 win over Palermo with a diving header; it marked his first Serie A goal in over a year. This was followed by ten more goals in the league, the last against Udinese. This strike against Udinese was his goal number 100 for the club in official games.

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 November 6, 2007. This achievement put him level with Bayern Munich legend Gerd Müller on UEFA's all-time scoring list. [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15105/match=301222/report=rp.html] Inzaghi surpassed Müller after netting his 63rd career goal during Milan's final group stage match against Celtic FC on December 4, 2007. [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/fixturesresults/round=15105/match=301253/report=rp.html]

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, the 2002 FIFA World Cup and the 2006 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.

Inzaghi is noted for his ability to play off the shoulders of the last defender, leading Sir Alex Ferguson to quip: "Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position." [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alex_Ferguson]

Honours

Club

*Serie A: 2
** 1997-98, Juventus
** 2003-04, AC Milan

*Coppa Italia: 1
** 2002-03, AC Milan

* UEFA Champions League: 2
** 2002-03, AC Milan
** 2006-07, AC Milan

*UEFA Super Cup: 2
** 2003, AC Milan
** 2007, AC Milan

*FIFA Club World Cup: 1
** 2007, AC Milan

National

*FIFA World Cup: 1
** 2006, Italian national team

Individual

* Serie A Young Footballer of the Year: 1
** 1997, Atalanta BC/Juventus
* Serie A top scorer: 1
** 1996/97, Serie A top scorer of the Year, Atalanta BC

Career statistics

"Updated to games played May 18, 2008. [ [http://www.acmilan.com/LM_Actor.aspx?idSquadra=3&idStagione=14&idPersona=10&name=Inzaghi%20Filippo A.C. Milan - Filippo Inzaghi ] ]

Club

¹European competitions include the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, UEFA Intertoto Cup and UEFA Super Cup
²Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana and FIFA Club World Cup

International goals

References

External links

* [http://www.footballdatabase.com/site/players/index.php?dumpPlayer=22 Profile and career statistics] - Football Database
* [http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=378931&cc=5739 On a whinge and a prayer] - soccernet.com