Alessandro Del Piero

"Del Piero is known for his sense of humour. He once joked that if Lippi does not convoke him to the World Cup in Germany, he would "run him over with his car and sink his damn boat"."

"He is considered to have a strong bond with the Juventus fans, once stating; "I'm proud to be a Juventino, to be a "bandiera", like you define me to be often, in reality I'm just a small part of a big black & white "bandiera" (flag) that grows with the years and if you look closely your name is part of it... To continue making this "bandiera" grow we need everybody: let's stay united.""

"During the Calciopoli scandal: "A true gentleman never leaves his lady.""

"He is a world-class player who needs no introductions."

"Del Piero is the best player in the history of Italian football. He is a person for who I do not only have a lot of respect, but a lot of affection as well."

"He is an exceptional person and really doesn’t need to prove himself to anyone. Del Piero is a wonderful man and player."

"He's the greatest player I've ever played against. He dribbled in an incredible way."

"In my view he’s the best person I’ve met in this sport."

"I believe in champions and Alex is a champion". "Del Piero is a player of very high quality and deserves his record". Because of having many strikers in the squad: "Sometimes I feel embarrassed at putting him on the bench."

"Del Piero is a true genius"

"I've met Ale at the Primavera. And he was already a phenomenon. He was so brave that we forced the coach to make him debut at the main team". "He has those abilities that only great stars have. And everyone, as soon as they saw him, said “This one will surely make it"

"Even though Del Piero may be well into his 30s now, he remains one of the great players."

"With his charm and charisma he has won us all, his creativity and magnificent talent have given us nothing more to ask for, and his free kicks, no comment"

"Del Piero is the best Italian footballer."

""Del Piero is a champion with extraordinary technical ability and wonderful characteristics. When he is selected he never disappoints. He is an example to us all." "He has great skills and intuitions that few other players have". "He is a captain in the real sense of the word"."

"Talking about the best 100 world footballers ever he says "Here he is, he is different from Zidane, he likes to play, he feels it in his soul; between he and the French (Zinedine Zidane), I stay with him.""

"Alex is an example for all of us. He works hard in training without ever speaking out."

"Del Piero is my idol. When I arrived at Juventus and I was introduced to Alex, it was like touching the heavens with my finger"

"Del Piero is able to do certain things, that could seem extraordinary, but he does them like they were simple"

"He (Del Piero) always comes to the training field with a smile for everyone, a comforting word for everyone. This is his greatness: humbleness... he’s a golden person."

"Let’s say he scored a goal a la Baggio, a la Maradona. He took the ball in midfield, dribbled 3-4 teammates of mine. He’s good, what can I say?"

"It’s still surprising to me that Alessandro Del Piero has gone through his career without winning this trophy (the Ballon d'Or)."

"After that, Alessandro Del Piero became my hero, I really admired him."