Filippo Inzaghi

Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI, (IPA: [fiˈlippo in'dzaːgi]; born August 9, 1973, in Piacenza) is an Italian footballer who plays as a striker for European Champions AC Milan. His positional sense near the goal has helped him score many of his career goals as he is considered one of the greatest goal poachers to ever play the game.

Club

The older brother of fellow footballer Simone Inzaghi, he got his start playing for hometown club Piacenza Calcio as a teenager, in the 1991-92 he appeared twice before going on loan to Leffe; while on loan he scored an impressive 13 goals in 21 games for the Serie C1 club.

In 1993, Inzaghi moved to Hellas Verona and scored 13 goals in 36 games in Serie B. He soon returned to his first club Piacenza Calcio, however, to collect 15 goals in 37 games and proved himself as an exciting young prospect.

Inzaghi stepped up to the top league the following year, with a move to Parma A.C.. He played only 15 matches, getting 2 goals. In 1997, he fully burst onto the Serie A scene with Atalanta as the season's top scorer in the Italian Serie A with 24 goals, and was named the young player of the year.

A big move was on the cards for the Italian, as he moved to Juventus under Marcelo Lippi. Along with Alessandro Del Piero and Zinedine Zidane, the three formed a formidable attacking partnership which would last for four seasons. The team won the Scudetto in the 1997-98 season and narrowly lost in the UEFA Champions League final the same year.

Inzaghi scored a total of 57 goals in 120 games for the Old Lady, but moved to A.C. Milan after falling out of favour to David Trézéguet. He suffered a knee injury and was out for half of his first season at the new club. Upon return, however, Inzaghi forged a strong goalscoring partnership with the Ukraine legend Andriy Shevchenko.

At Milan, Inzaghi became the all-time top Italian goalscorer in the European competition history, beating the previous record of 39 goals held by Alessandro Altobelli. With him, the club won the European Cup (2002-03) and (2006-07),the Scudetto (2003-04), Italian Super Cup (2004), the European Super Cup (2003) and the Coppa Italia (2002-03) and (2006-07). They also lost to Liverpool in the European Cup final in 2004-05, a match Inzaghi missed due to injury. In 2006-07 Inzaghi scored twice to win 2-1 against Liverpool, settling the score from two years previous.

The 2005-2006 campaign was a particularly emotional time for Inzaghi. Not only did he recover from persisent knee injuries to play in the second half of the season, but he also regained his predatory goal-scoring form that made him a prolific player. Inzaghi was able to help AC Milan finish strongly in Serie A (third place) by netting 12 goals in 22 domestic league matches and adding 4 goals in 5 matches in Milan's UEFA Champions League campaign. Milan was eventually eliminated by FC Barcelona in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the 2006-2007 season, Inzaghi looks to forge a strong striking partnership with current national squad teammate, Alberto Gilardino and recently-signed Brazilian superstar Ronaldo.

On May 23, 2007, he scored both of Milan's goals in a man-of-the-match performance during Milan's 2-1 defeat of Liverpool in a rematch of the 2005 final. The first was an Andrea Pirlo free kick in the 45th minute that appeared to have come off his shoulder. The second goal was assisted by Kaka as Inzaghi slipped the ball underneath Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina's outstretched body and into the net in the 82nd minute. Inzaghi's selection for this match was vindicated by this performance. Inzaghi had this to say about his two goals in Athens: "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 31st, 2007, he went on to score the equalizer against Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup, with Marek Jankulovski and Kaká adding one each as the match ended 3-1 for Milan, which won the UEFA Super Cup for Milan.

International

Inzaghi made his debut for Italy against Brazil on June 8, 1997, and has since scored 25 goals in 57 appearances. He is currently the joint sixth all-time top scorer for Italy. He played in the following competitions: 1998 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2000 (scoring against Turkey and Romania), and the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Inzaghi was Italy's top goal scorer during the qualifying rounds of 2002 FIFA World Cup as well as Euro 2004. However, he was left out of the Italian squad for Euro 2004 in favour of Bernardo Corradi, Alessandro Del Piero, Marco Di Vaio, Francesco Totti, and Christian Vieri because of a severe injury.

The persistent knee and ankle injuries kept him out of football altogether for almost two years before his resurgence at the club level. Marcello Lippi finally recalled him to the Italy national team in preparation for the 2006 World Cup. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Inzaghi scored once in his lone appearance in the tournament. This remarkable goal, which he scored against Czech Republic as a substitute, saw him beat an offside trap with a well-timed run to receive a through ball and dribble a lengthy part of the field to score on Petr Cech in a one-on-one encounter, rounded Cech, leaving him scrambling on the ground before tapping in.

Trivia

* His supporters have affectionately nicknamed him Superpippo or Superpippo Inzagol during his best years; Superpippo is the Italian name of Disney character Super Goof.
* Inzaghi became the first player to score two Champions League hat-tricks with his treble against Hamburg in a 4-4 draw on 13th September 2000. His first came in Juventus' 4-1 drubbing of Dynamo Kiev in a 1998 quarterfinal.
* 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."
* Former Dutch international 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, also sharing the same team with Inzaghi's brother Simone (at Lazio) from 2001-04.

Honors
With Juventus
Seria A- 1996/1997, 1997/1998

With AC Milan
Seria A- 2003/2004
Coppa Italia-2002/2003
European Champions League- 2002/2003, 2006/2007
European Super Cup- 2003, 2007
Intercontinental Cup runnersup- 2004

With Italy
FIFA World Cup- 2006