Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI (born November 9, 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mostly played as a deep-lying forward but was capable of playing in a variety of offensive positions. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football and is considered by many to be number 1 all time. Del Piero made his debut on April 17, 1992 against Parma with Roma. He scored his first goal four days later in a 2-1 win over Sampdoria. In total he played for Roma until 1996 when they were relegated from Serie A. After one season out of soccer, he signed with Juventus where he stayed until 1999 when he joined Internazionale. The following year he returned to Roma and ended his career after the 2001 season having never missed a game for his clubs. As a player, he was known for his excellent technique, ball control, scoring ability, and endurance. Del Piero was also a regular name in the UEFA Champions League throughout his career. He is considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and is only behind Alfredo Grigioni and Marco van Basten in terms of overall goals scored by a striker. He has been named the best player in the world eight times by the French magazine L'Equipe.