Filippo Inzaghi

Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Italian orders of merit, (IPA: ; born August 9, 1973, in Piacenza) is an Italy footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club A.C. Milan. His positional sense near the goal has helped him score many of his career goals.

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 transfered 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 UEFA Champions League 1997-98 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 UEFA Champions League 2002-03 (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 Serie A 2005-06, along with four scores in five CL appearances. On May 23, 2007, in the 2007 UEFA 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 UEFA Champions League 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."

On August 31, 2007, he scored in Milan's 3-1 victory over Sevilla FC in the 2007 UEFA Super Cup.

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 is currently the highest-scoring Italian player in the history of European competition, and second overall behind Gerd Müller.[nzaghi scored his 60th career European goal and 31st overall for Milan in a 2-1 CL group stage win over S.L. Benfica on September 18, 2007.

International Career

Inzaghi earned his first cap for Italy national football team against Brazil national football team 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 national football team on June 22, 2006, scoring his one goal in the tournament against Petr Cech in a one-on-one encounter.

Trivia

- His supporters have affectionately nicknamed him Superpippo or Superpippo Inzagol during his best years; Superpippo is the Italian language name of The Walt Disney Company character Super Goof.
- He has a diploma in accounting.
- Dutch legend Johann Cruyff has said of 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."
- 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.

Honors

- Serie A: 1996-97, 1997-98, 2003-04
- Coppa Italia: 2002-03
- UEFA Champions League: 2002-03, 2006-07
- European Super Cup: 2003, 2007
- FIFA World Cup: 2006
- UEFA Super Cup: 2007

Career

- Correct as of July 2007.

- 1: Did not include Coppa Italia or Italian Super Cup
- 2: Did not include European Super Cup