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Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi
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.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
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.
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 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 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.
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. Inzaghi surpassed Müller after netting
his 63rd career goal during Milan's final group stage match against
Celtic FC on December 4, 2007.
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.
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