Friday, May 10, 2019

Juventus All-Time Greatest Team for Italian Players

This blogger Artur Yanturin of Russia copied many of my blog teams.  This blog was one of them.  It was my Russia All-Time Team here.  His team was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.   His Spartak Moscow All-Time team entry of was published in October 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2017.  His entry of the Dutch-German rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona was written in 2020, but mine was uploaded in 2014.  He also copied many many of my blog entries.

His Facebook and Instagram


Zoff and Gentile
Please also see my All-Time World Cup Team Index.

Italy All-Time Team
Juventus All-Time Team
Juventus All-Time Team for Foreign Players

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for Juventus' Italian players.  The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.

Juventus has won more Serie A titles than any other Italian clubs, but they are known as the unlucky team at the European Cup/Champions League.  They won two European Cup/Champions' league titles.  They also have the misfortune of losing in the Final 6 times.  And their very first title came in 1985, a team consisted of Michel Platini and the backbone of the 1982 Italian World Cup winning team.  A decade later, they won their second title in 1996.
Roberto Baggio and Gianluca Vialli 

Team 
GK: Gianluigi Buffon 
Gianluigi Buffon is considered to be one of the greatest keeper ever.  He made his Serie A debut at the age of 17 in 1995 with Parma.  He earned his first cap when he was only 19.  He had a total of 175 caps. His biggest achievement must be winning the World Cup in 2006.  He has been named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record eight time. He became the most expensive goalkeeper of all time following his transfer from Parma to Juventus in 2001.  He moved to PSG in 2019.


GK: Dino Zoff 
Dino Zoff captained the World Cup winning side in 1982 at the age of 40.  He held the Serie A appearance record until 2006. He was also a part of the team that won the European Championship in 1968. He achieved great club success with Juventus, winning 6 Serie A titles, 2 Coppa Italias, and an UEFA Cup, also reaching two European Champions' Cup finals in 1972-73 and 1982-83 seasons. He also played for Udinese, Mantova and Napoli.

GK: Giampiero Combi 
Combi won the 1934 WC with Italy.  He was considered one of the best in the world during his time.  He spent his entire career with Juventus.  He played 351 games in Serie A, winning five titles – in 1926 (having conceded only 18 goals during the season), 1931, 1932, 1933 and 1934 as part of the first golden age of the club with a record of five championship victories in a row, a feat known as Il Quinquennio d'Oro (The Golden Quinquennium).
Giampiero Combi 
CB/RB: Virginio Rosetta 
Virginio Rosetta was a star defender before the Second World War. He was on the 1934 World Cup winning team, but only played one match where he was the captain.  That was also his last international match.  At the club level, he won five consecutive scudetti during the 1930s with Juventus. Only three other Juventus players won more titles than him.

CB/RB: Claudio Gentile 
He was considered one of the Azzurri's greatest defender.  He went to both 1978 and 1982 World Cup Finals.  He was best remembered for stopping Diego Maradona and Zico at the WC Finals in 1982 as Italy won their third World Cup.  His playing style was very hard. He was capped 71 times.  Gentile played over a decade with Juventus. He also played for Fiorentina and other clubs.

SW: Gaetano Scirea  
Scirea was the starting libero for Italy's World Cup winning team in Spain 1982 and Juventus throughout the 1980's.  He is considered one of the greatest defenders ever played the game.  He is one of only five players in history to have won all international trophies for football clubs recognized by UEFA and FIFA.  He had 78 caps for Italy. He also played in 1978 and 1986 World Cup Finals as well as the European Championship of 1980.
Gaetano Scirea
SW: Ciro Ferrara 
Ciro Ferrara was considered one of the best defenders in the world during his prime.  However, his career with the Azzurri was limited by the same period with some of the greatest defenders in history. For club football, he played nearly a decade for Napoli during Duego Maradona's years before moving to Juvnetus.  At Juventus, he won 6 scudettis and a single Champions' League.

CB/LB: Giorgio Chiellini
Giorgio Chiellini played with Livorno, Roma and Fiorentina before moving to Juventus in 2005. With Juventus, he has won eight consecutive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2019. For the national team, ge earned over 90 caps. He was selected for the 2004 Olympics, winning a bronze medal, as well as for three European Championships, two World Cups and two Confederations Cups, helping them to reach the final of Euro 2012.  He captained Italy's Euro 2020 winning team.
Giorgio Chiellini 
CB/LB: Pietro Rava 
Pietro Rava was a member of the Italian national team that won the World Cup in 1938.  He was selected to the All-tournament team.  He also won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1936.  At the club level, he played for U.S. Alessandria (1928–35, 1946–47), Juventus F.C. (1935–46 and 1947–50) and Novara Calcio (1950–51). 

LB: Antonio Cabrini 
Antonio Cabrini was one of the best leftbacks in the world during his time.  He was remembered for being a part of the great defensive unit at Spain 1982.  He spent the best part of his career with Juventus, winning the European Cup in 1985. He started his career with  U.S. Cremonese. He also played for Atalanta and Bologna. He picked up 73 caps, and went to the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cup Finals.

RB/LB: Gianluca Zambrotta  
Gianluca Zambrotta was one of the best fullbacks in his prime.  He could play both rightback and leftback. He earned 98 caps or Italy   He was a member of the 2006 World Cup winning team.  He was selected to the Team of the Tournament. He also played in 2002 and 2010 World Cup Finals.  He played mainly with Juventus. He also played with Como, Barcelona, AC Milan and Bari.

DM: Giuseppe Furino
Furino was a youth product of Juventus, but he played for Savona Calcio and U.S. Città di Palermo. He made his Serie A debut for Palermo in 1968, and he then transferred to Juventus after a single season. From 1969 tom1984, he won 8 league titles with Juventus, a record he shares with Giovanni Ferrari, Gianluigi Buffon and Virginio Rosetta. From 1970 to 1974, he played three times for Italy, including a match in the 1970 World Cup Finals. 

CM/DM: Antonio Conte
From 1985 to 1991, Antonio Conte played for Lecce.  From 1991 to 2004, he played for Juventus.  He is one of Juventus' most decorated players.  He captained the team and won the 1996 Champions League, as well as five Serie A titles, among other honours.  From 1994 to 2000, he was capped 20 times for Italy.  he scored a bicycle against Turkey at the Euro 2000.  He also participated at the World Cup in 1994.
Antonio Conte
DM/CM: Marco Tardelli 
Marco Tardelli played at the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina and the 1980 European Football Championship at home.  He was the unsung hero of Italy's 1982 WC winning team.  He was capped 81 times.  He also won all the three major European competitions with Juventus. He also played for Pisa, Como, Inter Milan and St.Gallen of Switzerland.

CM: Giovanni Ferrari 
Ferrari was a key player as Italy won back-to-back World Cups in 1934 and 1938. Along with Giuseppe Meazza and Eraldo Monzeglio, he is one of only three Italian players to have won two World Cups.  He was also a part of the great Juventus of the early 1930's.  He won the Serie A a record 8 times, winning 5 titles with Juventus, two with Inter Milan and one with Bologna.

CM:  Andrea Pirlo
Andrea Pirlo started as an attack midfielder with Inter Milan without success before becoming a regista.  He redefined the regista role in the modern game.  He had 116 caps.  He won the World Cup in 2006 and took Italy to the Final of Euro 2012.  For his club career, he was known for his career with AC Milan.  He played over 280 matches for them, winning two Champions' League titles.  He switched to Juventus late in his career.  
Andrea Pirlo
AM/FW: Roberto Baggio 
Baggio was the World Player of the Year, the Ballon d'Or winner and the World Soccer Player of the Year in 1993.  He led Italy to reach the semifinal at Italia 1990 and then, to a second place four years later.  For club football, he started his career with Fiorentina.  He became the most expensive player in the world when he joined Juventus, right before the World Cup Finals in 1990.  He also played for AC Milan, Bologna, Inter Milan and Brescia.

AM: Alessandro Del Piero 
Alessandro Del Piero is considered to be one of Juventus' greatest players. He played with them for 19 years (11 years as captain), and holds the club records for most goals (289) and appearances (705). For Italy, he played 91 times, despite the fact that Italy had many players fighting for his position.  He was on the 2006 World Cup winning team. He also went to the World Cup Finals of 1998 and 2002, and the European Championship of 1996, 2000 and 2004.
Alessandro Del Piero 
RW/LW:  Franco Causio 
Franco Causio capped 63 times.  He was a part of the Azzurri at Euro 1980 and then, the World Cup in 1982.  He played 11 years for Juventus between 1970 and 1981.   During a highly successful period with the club, he won the scudetto six times, as well as winning a Coppa Italia, and an UEFA Cup. He also reached the European Cup final with Juventus during the 1972–73 season.

RW/FW: Giampiero Boniperti 
Giampiero Boniperti played his entire career with Juventus where he played from 1946 to 1961.  He was known for playing alongside John Charles and Omar Sivori. He was the highest goalscorer in Juventus' history for more than 40 years, until his record was broken by Alessandro Del Piero. He went to the World Cup Finals in 1950 and 1954.  He was capped 38 times and served as captain 24 times.  

FW: Roberto Bettega 
Nicknamed "White Feather", Roberto Bettega spent most of his career with Juventus. He won 7 Serie A titles there.  He was Serie A topscorer in the 1978-1979 season. From 1975 to 1983, he playd 42 times for Italy. He went to the 1978 World Cup Finals in Argentina, where he was voted into the Team of the tournament.  He missed the following World Cup Finals held in Spain because of an injury, where Italy won their third title. 
Roberto Bettega 
FW: Gianluca Vialli 
He first made his name with Sampdoria, helping them to win the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990.  In 1992, he made a world record breaking transfer to Juventus.  In 1996, he helped Juventus to win their first ever Champions' League.  He went to Euro 1988, where he was named in the team of tournament.  However, at Italia 1990, he lost his starting spot. After the WC Finals, he forced him out of the national team. 

ST: Felice Borel
Borel was born in Nice, France. During his career, he played for Juventus and cross-city rivals Torino in Serie A and, in Serie B, for Alessandria, and finally for S.S.C. Napoli. He scored 157 goals for Juventus, winning three Serie A titles. He is currently Juventus's sixth highest goal score.  At the international level, he was capped 3 times.  He was a part of the 1934 World Cup winning team.

ST:  Silvio Piola 
Silvio Piola is one of Italy's greatest footballers.  He is the the all-time leading scorer in the Italian league.  He was third all-time leading scorer for the Azzurri even through his career was cut short by the World War II.  Piola won the 1938 World Cup with Italy, scoring two goals in the final, ending the tournament as the second best player and the second highest scorer. In 2011, he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

ST: Paolo Rossi 
Rossi was the hero of Italy's WC winning team in 1982, notably for scoring a hattrick against Brazil in Spain, and went on to win the Golden boot. He was also the European player of the Year in 1982 because of his performance at the WC Finals. His club career was associated with Juventus.  He was a part of the great Juventus team of the 1980's.  He won the 1985 European Cup as Juventus' second top scorer.  He also went to the 1978 World Cup Finals.
Paulo Rossi
Honorable Mention
Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, Fabio Capello, Sergio Brio, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Pessotto, Sandro Salvadore, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Antonello Cuccureddu, Angelo Peruzzi, Stefano Tacconi, Mauro Camoranesi, Filippo Inzaghi, Carlo Parola, Umberto Caligaris.

Squad Explanation
-- I have 17 Italian players on my Juventus All-Time team.  So I have 8 Italian players on this team who did not make that all-time team.  They are Giovanni Ferrari, Felice Borel, Andreas Pirlo, Franco Causio,Virginio Rosetta, Giorgio Chiellini, Pietro Rava and Giuseppe Furino. 
-- Raimundo Orsi, Luis Monti and Omar Sivori were considered to be Argentine for this blog. They played for Argentina before becoming Italian citizens.  Mauro Camoranesi never played for Argentina.  In the modern world, he was cap-tied to Italy. So he was considered as an Italian and he made honourable mention.
-- Nazio-Juve was a group of Juventus' players who formed the backbone of Italy's World Cup winning team in 1934.  Giampiero Combi, Virginio Rosetta, Giovanni Ferrari and Felice Borel II made this team. Umberto Caligaris is on my honorable mention.
-- Blocco-Juve (Juve Block), also known as Blocco Juventus was the nickname of the group of Juventus players who were the backbone Italy's World Cup winning team in 1982.  Under Giovanni Trapattoni, this group also helped Juventus to  dominate the Italian football.  I selected the following players from this group: Dino Zoff, Claudio Gentile, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Marco Tardelli, Roberto Bettega and Paolo Rossi.  
-- The current team is under represented.  They won 8 straight Serie A titles and reached the Champions' League Final twice.  Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini were members of that team.
-- I nearly reunited Giorgio Chiellini with Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci.  The trio dominated Serie A defensively.  Unfortunately, I have Claudio Gentile, Gaetano Scirea and Ciro Ferrara ahead of them.  Only Chiellini made the team.
-- Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d'or, but he won it through his performance at the 2006 World Cup Finals.  Giorgio Chiellini has served the Old Lady much longer. I awarded him with a spot over Cannavaro for the last defender spot.  
-- Virginio Rosetta edged out Gianluca Pessotto for the rightback position. 
-- Gianluca Pessotto spent 12 seasons with Juventus.  While he was respected by fans from around the world, his international reputation was hurt by playing at the same time as Pablo Maldini. Pessotto did not have the same exposure outside of club football.  He only earned 22 caps for Italy.  Along with Fabrizio Ravanelli he is the biggest name missing.
-- Rava edged out Brio, Salvadore, Barzagli and Cannavaro. He was a legend at his time. His era was also underrepresented.
-- Defensive midfielder Giuseppe Furino is 3rd in all-time appearance behind Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon and Gaetano Scirea.  
-- Antonio Conte captained Juventus at the 1996 Champions' League.
-- Andreas Pirlo came to Turin at the end of his career.  His career is associated with AC Milan, but he actually played 4 seasons here. He was named Serie A Player of the Year three straight times while with Juventus.
 -- Silvio Piola only played two seasons with Juventus, but I still selected him.  I have ruled out other players who had played more for the club.
-- Roberto Baggio established himself as one of the best players in the world while playing here.  He helped the club to win an UEFA Cup.  He scored 115 goals in 200 appearances during his five seasons at Juventus. His stint, however, was short.  He was replaced by Alessandro Del Piero.  Alessandro Del Piero is probably the club's greatest player.  
-- Gianluca Vialli did not stay long, but he brought home the 1996 Champions' League, but his offensive partner Fabrizio Ravanelli missed the cut.
-- Born in France, Felice Borel was capped by Italy.  He never played for France, making him eligible.  He was the Serie A Top-scorer: 1932–33 (29 goals), 1933–34 (31 goals). 

Formation
Baggio and Del Piero seldom played together. 




1 comment:

  1. Zoff
    Bonucci Barzagli Chiellini
    Camoranesi Pirlo Cabrini
    Ferrari
    Boniperti Inzaghi Del Piero

    Buffon's numbers in the Serie A are uncontested, But I've never been impressed by his international performances. I blame the BBC for walling off the goal.
    Inzaghi's international record of 27 goals in 34 matches makes him the best #9 for facing other alltime teams.

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