Personal life Del Piero

Personal life Del Piero

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Del Piero is married to Sonia Amoruso, the two have been together since 1999 and married in 2005. The couple announced in July 2007 that they are expecting their first baby. On October 22, 2007, Amoruso gave birth to baby boy Tobias Del Piero at 0:20 at Sant'Anna hospital in Turin.

Del Piero has used his fame and money to promote and support cancer research; in recognition of this he has received from the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro a prize of "Believe in Research" during November 2006.

When the Olympic Flame for the 2006 Winter Olympics passed through Turin, Del Piero was a torchbearer. He has an interest in sports outside of football and in turn has gained fans outside of just football, sport icons such as NBA star Steve Nash and cycling legend Eddy Merckx have stated that they are fans of Del Piero.

As well as an interest in other sports, Del Piero also has a keen interest in music. He has even recorded some albums of his own. Del Piero is an Oasis fan and is a friend of Noel Gallagher and appeared in the video for the group's single Lord Don't Slow Me Down; Del Piero claimed Gallagher was Italy's lucky mascot in their 2006 World Cup success and invited him to the final and the team hotel after victory. Along with Marco Materazzi, Del Piero appeared on stage at a Rolling Stones show in Milan shortly after Italy's World Cup win.

Peterpan

Peterpan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peterpan is a multi-award winning Indonesian pop rock band currently consisting of Ariel, Andika, Loekman and Reza. They are well known for their simple lyrics and catchy beats and also Ariel's voice.
History
The group started in 1997 when Andika (Andika Naliputra Wirahardja) formed a school band in Bandung, called Topi, together with Uki (Mohammad Kautsar Hikmat), who plays guitar, Ariel (Nazril Irham) as a vocalist, Abel as a bassist and Ari as a drummer. They mainly played Brit Alternative until Ari withdrew from the group and marked the end of Topi.
Andika started to regroup Topi's former members in 2000. The drummer position was replaced by Reza (Ilsyah Ryan Reza), a college student from Palu. Loekman (Loekman Hakim), Indra's elder brother's friend, also joined them as their lead guitarist, which added a sense of matureness and enriched the melody in their songs to complete the band.
Andika then suggested Peterpan as the name for the band, Peter referring to a dreamer who wanted to fly, a Disney cartoon character name which according to Andika comes in front of other character names such as Mickey Mouse, Spiderman, X-Men etc. After the name was chosen, Peterpan was formally founded on September 1st 2000.
On 2001, Peterpan played their music on Bandung streets, one cafe to the others with a realistic vision of being a home band in one of Bandung famous cafes. Peterpan often played top 40 songs, rocks songs (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, U2, Creed, etc) at O'Hara and Sapu Lidi (Indonesian for broomstick) cafe. It was in Sapu Lidi Cafe the band was spotted by Noey, a producer who planned to release a compilation album.
Subsequently, Peterpan sent 3 demo songs: Sahabat (Best Friend), Mimpi yang Sempurna (A Perfect Dream), and Taman Langit (Garden of Sky). Mimpi yang Sempurna was chosen as one of the songs to be included in a compilation album titled Kisah 2002 Malam (The Story of 2002 Nights). The album was commercially successful and surprisingly it was Mimpi yang Sempurna that came as the best song in this album boosting the sales up too 150,000 copies. It is considerably a good achievement for a compilation album sales in Indonesia. Mimpi yang Sempurna was automatically charted in Indonesian Radios top air play and popularly known, making the song frequently performed by street musicians.
Musica, Indonesian top major label proposed a contract to Peterpan and in June 2003 their Debut album titled 'Taman Langit' was released. Peterpan members' different tastes of music varies with the songs' lyrics and music. Ariel's vocal strength and Peterpan's simple lyrics were noted as Peterpan's main musical strength.
Afterwards, Peterpan released their 2nd album titled 'Bintang Di Surga' (A Star in Heaven) in August 2004. In its 2nd week of release, Bintang di Surga reached 350,000 sales. From this point, Peterpan reached the same level as other Indonesian big bands in the terms of commercial album sales.
In Bintang di Surga Peterpan made big improvements in their music which can be felt in each of the songs. Ariel's vocal character was stronger, Loekman and Uki synchronized to each other in playing guitar better, Reza gave more color to each songs, Andika grew his creativity in arranging the album tracks, and Indra bass groove added flavor to the album. By end of 2005, the 2nd album sales had reached the number of 2.7 million copies, a fantastic number in Indonesian recently slow economy and music sales.
Recognizing their success in the music industry, Peterpan received 3 SCTV awards, 1 in 2004 and 2 in 2005. They also received MTV Asia Awards for Indonesian Favourite Artist at Bangkok on May 9th 2005. In the Indonesian AMI awards 2005, Peterpan received the award of "Best Pop Alternative Band" with the song Kukatakan Dengan Indah.
After the 2nd album, on September 18th, 2005 Peterpan released an album as the original soundtrack for the Rexinema movie, Alexandria. The album was titled Menunggu Pagi (Waiting for Dawn) and the formal release was covered simultaneously by Indonesia's 6 top National TV stations. The soundtrack album includes five new songs for the film and renditions of five of their old songs in Bintang Di Surga.
Peterpan also colaborated with Chrisye in the song Menunggumu. The song was then used as the theme song for the Indonesian Soap Opera "Liontin", series 1 and 2.
Amidst their tight schedule in 2003-2004, which climaxed on July 18, 2004, Peterpan planned a seemingly impossible mission of performing in 6 different cities in Indonesia just a period of 24 hours. The concerts were titled Konser Breaking Record and listed in Museum Rekor Indonesia (MURI, Indonesian Museum of Record), includes concerts in 2 Indonesian major islands: Sumatra and Java. The concerts started on July 18th in Medan of North Sumatra Province, Padang, Pekanbaru, Lampung, Semarang of Central Java Province, and finally ended at Surabaya of Eastern Java Province.

Saosin

Saosin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Saosin is a five-piece band from Newport Beach, California. They formed during the summer of 2003, and are characterised by their powerful high-pitched vocals and melodic guitars. Their musical style has variously been described as post-hardcore, emo, and screamo.
Origin of name
Anthony Green, the former vocalist, had initially suggested the name Saosin for the band. The name is derived from the Chinese phrase xiao xin, meaning careful, which could also be literally translated in English to small heart. Green explained the meaning behind this as being in reference to the fact that nothing is eternal, and that it is a mistake to become overly attached to any one thing, because that thing will eventually be lost. Whilst Green's interpretation of the word xiao xin is obscure, xiao xin is generally used in Chinese as a means to express caution. Anthony had previously used Saosin as a track name in his high school band, Audience of One's first and only CD, I Remember When This All Meant Something.
History
The original lineup for Saosin, consisting of Burchell, Shekoski and former vocalist Anthony Green, was formed in the summer of 2003. On June 17, the band released their first commercial production, the EP Translating the Name. It was an immediate success and was immensely popular on online forums and music sites. Saosin first became popular through promotion and exposure through the Internet. They became known for their distinct musical styles long before their first studio-length album was released, and were popularised on social networking and music sites such as MySpace.
Drummer Pat Magrath and Bassist Zach Kennedy left the band early on. Kennedy left for personal reasons, and he wanted to pursue a career in art. He was later replaced by Chris Sorenson. Magrath, who was a former drum technician for American thrash metal band Slayer, was never properly with the band; according to Burchell, he was hired only for the recording for the EP, and he was replaced by Alex Rodriguez after the release of Translating the Name.
Shortly after the EP's release, Saosin went on a U.S. tour with bands Boys Night Out and Anatomy of a Ghost. In February 2004, the band's vocalist Anthony Green left Saosin and later formed the band Circa Survive. Anthony was very homesick and said he was missing his family. He says he felt bad for leaving his friends in a tough situation without a singer, but he "would have gone crazy had he stayed any longer." The other bandmembers did however finish their Warped Tour obligation with Story of the Year's Philip Sneed taking the mic. A public, nationwide audition then took place.
After the audition process and several guest vocalists on demos, the 19-year-old Cove Reber, previously the vocalist of the unsigned local bands Mormon in the Middle and Stamp Out Detroit, was announced as their new permanent lead singer. Cove had sent in his demo tape which was an acoustic demo with "Mookie's Last Christmas". The demo has since leaked onto the internet. It is widely speculated to have included a few songs from Translating the Name. When Beau first heard the demo, he thought it was Anthony pulling a trick on them.
However, the inexperienced Cove Reber replacing the charismatic frontman Anthony Green was hard for the band, especially for Cove himself, receiving a great deal of criticism. Many fans consider the time with Anthony to be something entirely different from what the band is today, and comparisons between the both singers are still widely being done, not least at YouTube.
After the Taste of Chaos tour the following winter, the band got signed to Capitol Records in March and toured the United States with the Warped Tour for the second time. Here, they released the Saosin EP. At first it was intended to be a free sampler, but Capitol Records did not allow this and released it as an EP. It contained Demo versions of songs later recorded on their first full length album. A video to their new single "Bury Your Head" was recorded during the tour. They kept on touring for the rest of 2005, mostly opening for Avenged Sevenfold and Coheed and Cambria.

Ungu

UnguFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ungu is also a name of a very successful Indonesian band. Its members are Pasha (singer), Enda (guitarist), Onci (guitarist), Makki (bass), and Rowman (drummer). On December 19, 2006, there was a riot in their concert "Popcoholic with Ungu" in Widya Mandala Krida Stadium, Kedungwuni, Pekalongan that resulted in the death of ten people. 'Demi Waktu' has launched them into mainstream success in Malaysia around 2006. Ungu is arguably an important aspect of Indonesian teen culture. In 2005, Ungu made a collaborations with one of Indonesian's best singer, Chrisye.

Discography
LAGUKU - Bar Productions/Hemaswara (Musica Group), 2002
Songtrack:

1. Bayang Semu

2. Jika Itu Yang Terbaik

3. Bebas

4. Embun Hati

5. Terang

6. Sepi Gelisah

7. Jangan Siakan

8. Maafkanlah

9. Sirna

10. Tiada Kata

11. Kisah

12. Laguku

TEMPAT TERINDAH - Bar Productions/Hemaswara (Musica Group), 2003
Songtrack:

1. Antara Kita

2. Karena Dia Kamu

3. Hanya Cinta

4. Rasa Sayang

5. Suara Hati

6. Dia dan Dirimu

7. Semoga

8. Coba 'Tuk Temukan

9. Mengertilah

10. Dunia Menangis

11. Cinta: Cintaku

12. Tempat Terindah

13. Suara Hati (Acoustic Version - only on CD format)

MELAYANG - Trinity Optima Prodcution/Suria Records, 2005
Songtrack:

1. Melayang

2. Seperti Yang Dulu

3. Demi Waktu

4. Berikan Aku Cinta

5. Berjanjilah

6. Dari Satu Hati

7. Aku Bukan Pilihan Hatimu

8. Tak Perlu

9. Ungu (Tak Terulang)

10. Tercipta Untukku

11. Ciuman Pertama

12. Sejauh Mungkin

UNTUKMU SELAMANYA - Trinity Optima Prodcution/Suria Records, 2007
Songtrack:

1. Aku Datang Untuk Mencintaimu

2. Untukmu Selamanya

3. Kekasih Gelapku

4. Bukan Aku

5. Ijinkan Aku

6. Cerita Bersamamu

7. Apalah Arti Cinta

8. Saat Indah Bersamamu

9. Waktu Yang Dinanti

10. Lagu Cinta

11. Penyanyi Jalanan
12. Cinta Dalam Hati
Religious
SurgaMu (2006)
Para PencariMu (2007)

Sheila on 7

Sheila on 7

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sheila on 7 is the name of a popular Indonesian music band from Yogyakarta. They had changed their formation several times since their formation on the 6th May 1996. Their first formation consisted of Akhdiyat Duta Modjo (Vocals), Saktia Ari Seno (Guitar), Eross Candra (Guitar), Adam Muhammad Subarkah (Bass) and Anton Widiastanto (Drum). Their current formation (2006) consists of Akhdiyat Duta Modjo (Vocal), Adam Muhammad Subarkah (Bass), Eross Candra (Guitar) and Brian Kresno Putro (Drums). Eross Candra is currently working on his solo/side-project band called Jagostu, the upcoming album is scheduled to be released on June 2007 via Sony BMG Indonesia.

Discography
Album
Sheila on 7, 1999, Sony Music (Indonesia)
Anugerah Terindah Yang Pernah Kumiliki, 2000, Sony Music (Malaysia, Singapore)
Kisah Klasik Untuk Masa Depan, 2000, Sony Music (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore)
07 Des, 2002, Sony Music (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore)
30 Hari Mencari Cinta, 2003, Sony Music (Indonesia, Malaysia)
Pejantan Tangguh, 2004, Sony Music (Indonesia)
Pria Terhebat, 2004, Sony Music (Malaysia, Singapore)
The Very Best Of Sheila On 7: Jalan Terus, 2005, Sony Music (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore)
507, 2006, Sony BMG (Indonesia, Malaysia)
Sheila on 7 Karaoke Hits Vol. 1 (VCD), 2007, Sony BMG (Indonesia)
(All albums available on CD & cassettes, except The Very Best Of Sheila On 7: Jalan Terus have also been packaged in limited edition DVD sets, joint-released with Sony Indonesia/Electronic)

Compilation
MTV Ampuh: feat. Anugerah Terindah Yang Pernah Kumiliki
Indo Hits 2: feat. Dan…
No. 1 Hits: feat. Sephia
Love Soundtrack: feat Sephia
Electronic City: feat Sephia
No. 1 Hits Vol. 2: feat. Seberapa Pantas
Dasarese Hits: feat. Bapak-Bapak
Tusuk Jelangkung: feat. Buat Aku Tersenyum
Nescafe Musik Asik: feat. Tunggu Aku Di Jakarta
A Mild Live Soundrenaline 2003: feat. Saat Aku Lanjut Usia
Tribute To Ian Antono : Remake of Panggung Sandiwara
Tasya feat Duta & Eross Jangan Takut Gelap
Kita Untuk Mereka album for Tsunami Aid song Uluran Tangan
Voices A World Cup 2006 official (Indonesian Version) feat. Pemenang

Maroon 5

Maroon 5

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maroon 5 is a Grammy Award-winning American pop rock band. Formed with only two members at the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts and expanded in Los Angeles, the group comprises five members: Adam Levine (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Valentine (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Mickey Madden (bass guitar), and Matt Flynn (drums, percussion).
Maroon 5 has won several awards for its debut album Songs About Jane. Released in June 2002, the album enjoyed major chart success, going gold, platinum, and triple platinum in many countries around the world. In support of Songs About Jane, Maroon 5 toured extensively throughout 2003 – 2005, in which a live album was released, entitled Live - Friday the 13th. Original member Ryan Dusick left the band in September 2006, due to injuries sustained by the constant touring, and was replaced by Matt Flynn.
After a hiatus from the music scene, Maroon 5 released their second studio album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long in May 2007, five years after Songs About Jane. The second set debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of nearly half a million. The album has since gone on to become platinum with 1.8 million albums sold in the United States alone and over 3.5 million world wide. The band performed throughout the summer and fall of 2007, including a North American tour with The Hives. They followed that with a world tour with New Found Glory. Beginning March 28, 2008, they will tour with Counting Crows and Sara Bareilles.
History
4 members of Maroon 5 have known each other since attending junior high school together in Los Angeles. While attending Brentwood School, Adam Levine and Jesse Carmichael joined up with Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick to form Kara's Flowers, a garage/grunge band that played its first gig at the Whisky a Go Go on September 16, 1995. When Valentine joined Kara's Flowers in 2001, the band adopted the name Maroon 5. The band played showcase gigs in New York City and Los Angeles. With their new found attitude, a new sound and a new name, Maroon 5 quickly attracted attention from labels. These labels, in contrast of their actual attitude, looked upon their music too concerned with sex and sex-related topics. Therefore, the band had a struggle creating their next releases. Octone Records, a new independent record label based in New York, signed the group, and in 2001 Maroon 5 entered the studio with producer Matt Wallace. The first single "Harder to Breathe" slowly started to pick up airplay which helped spur sales of the album. By March 2004, the album had reached the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and "Harder to Breathe" had made the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. The album peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 in August 2004, 26 months after its release; this was the longest period between an album's release and its initial Top 10 appearance since SoundScan results were included in the Billboard 200 in 1991.
Songs About Jane eventually reached #2 on the Australian albums chartswhile "Harder to Breathe" made the Top 20 singles charts in the U.S. and UK, and Top 40 in Australia and New Zealand. The album also eventually climbed to #1 in the UK and #2 in Australia. The second single, " This Love," reached #5 in the U.S., #3 in the UK, and #8 in Australia. The third single, "She Will Be Loved," reached the Top 5 in both the U.S. and the UK, and went to #1 in Australia. The fourth single, "Sunday Morning," reached the Top 40 in the U.S., UK, and Australia.

Keane

KEANE

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Keane are an English piano rock band, first established in Battle, East Sussex in 1995, and taking their current name in 1997. The group comprises composer, bassist, and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, lead vocalist Tom Chaplin and drummer Richard Hughes. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001. Keane are known for using a piano as their lead instrument instead of guitars, significantly differentiating them from most rock bands. The inclusion of a distorted piano effect since 2006 and various synthesizers are now a common feature in their music that nowadays combines the pure piano rock sound used during their first album and the alternative rock sound which developed during 2005. Acoustic and power ballads are also a highlight in the group's music and have evolved into many fan favourite songs such as "On a Day Like Today" and "We Might as Well Be Strangers".
Their first two studio albums, Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea achieved great success in the United Kingdom upon release and very high sales worldwide: their multi-award-winning debut was the best-selling British album of 2004, and their sophomore sold up to 222,000 copies during its first week on sale in June 2006. In May 2008, both Hopes and Fears (#13) and Under the Iron Sea (#8) were voted by readers of Q magazine within the best British albums ever; Keane, The Beatles, Oasis and Radiohead were the only musical acts having two albums in the top 20.
In late October 2006, Rice-Oxley collaborated with Gwen Stefani as a co-writer of the song "Early Winter", released later in 2007 as a single, from her album, The Sweet Escape, as well as two more tracks. Stefani had been wishing to work with the band since 2005 and Rice-Oxley responded by saying "we might give it a go".
Tim Rice-Oxley and Dominic Scott were the main writers of the band's songs during their early years. When Scott left in 2002, Rice-Oxley became the main composer. However, Rice-Oxley credits the rest of the band on all compositions, so that royalties for song credits are shared.
Keane have cited bands such as The Beatles, U2, Oasis, R.E.M., The Smiths, Radiohead, Queen, a-ha, Marty Wilde, Pet Shop Boys and Paul Simon as influences. The band has been known as "the band with no guitars", due to its heavily piano-based sound. By using delay and distortion effects on their piano sound, they often create sounds that aren't immediately recognisable as piano. Rice-Oxley said during an interview in Los Angeles that they tend to think piano-related music is boring and what they really wanted to do was try something different. He referred to the piano as an odd instrument to form part of a rock band instrumentation, comparing it to The Beatles' set of instruments. Rice-Oxley's aforementioned distortion piano has set most of Keane's multifaceted style, varying from hip-hop on "Dirtylicious" to house on "Tyderian".
During their early years most songs were about love or broken relationships (most notably "She Has No Time" and "On a Day Like Today"). However, other themes — including the relationship between Rice-Oxley and Chaplin — have emerged in more recent compositions. Other themes have been explored; for example, "Is It Any Wonder?" and "A Bad Dream" are both about war.

Stadio delle Alpi

Stadio delle Alpi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Stadio delle Alpi is a football and athletics stadium in Turin, Italy, and was the home of both Juventus and Torino between 1990 and 2006. In English the name means "Stadium of the Alps", a reference to the nearby mountain range. Currently, the stadium is disused, with both football clubs playing their home fixtures at the rebuilt Stadio Olimpico until the fate of the delle Alpi is decided.
Designed by architect Studio Hutter, the delle Alpi was originally built in 1990 to host matches for the 1990 World Cup, as a replacement for the ageing Stadio Olimpico. The stadium's original capacity was 69,041 fans, however due to FIFA rules regarding the segregation of home and away supporters, the actual capacity is reduced to 67,229.
Construction on the stadium began in June 1988, and due to the use of prefabricated concrete, was complete within two years. The delle Alpi was built by the council of Turin, with both of the city's football clubs using it as their home ground following the closure of the Stadio Olimpico. It was originally intended to be used for not only football, but also athletics, therefore an athletics track was constructed around the outside of the pitch. However, due to the lack of a warm up track, the stadium has never been used for a major athletics event.The stadium was inaugurated on 31 May 1990 when a joint Juventus-Torino team defeated an F.C. Porto side 4-3. Due to escalating rental costs, disputes arose between the clubs and the city council. In 1994, the Juventus board investigated building a new stadium, which would be owned by the club. The UEFA Cup semi-final and final matches in 1994-1995 were moved by Juventus to the San Siro, Milan, attracting audiences of 85,000. The Stadio delle Alpi has very rarely been sold out in its history.Finally, in the summer of 2003, Juventus bought the delle Alpi from the council of Turin for a fee of around €25million.

Juventus F.C.

Juventus F.C.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Juventus Football Club (BIT: JUVE) (from Latin iuventus: youth, pronounced [juˈvɛntus]), commonly referred to as simply Juventus or Juve, is a football club based in Turin, Italy. With the exception of one season, the club has spent its entire history in the top flight of Italian football, where it plays in the Serie A today.
Juventus is the most successful team in the history of Italian football. Overall, the club have won 51 official trophies, more than any other Italian team; 40 in Italy, which is also a record, and 11 in European and world competitions. The Old Lady is the third most successful club in Europe and the sixth in the world with the most international titles officially recognised by one of the six continental football confederationsand FIFA.
The club was the first Italian and Southern European side to have won the UEFA Cup. In 1985, Juventus, the only team in the world to have won all official international cups and championships (which includes all official European competitionsand the Intercontinental Champions Clubs' Cup), became the first club in the history of European football to have won all three major UEFA competitions.
In Italy, Juventus is the club which has the biggest fan base, having also one of the largest numbers of supporters in the world, with a total of 170 million Juventus's tifosi worldwide. The club is a founding member of the European Club Association which was formed after the dissolution of the G-14, a collection of Europe's most elite clubs.
At present, the bianconeri play their home games at the Stadio Olimpico di Torino while the stadium which the club actually owns, Stadio delle Alpi is undergoing long-term structural changes and will not be completed for use until 2011.
History
Juventus were founded as Sport Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo D'Azeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Football Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900, wearing their original pink and black kit. Juventus first won the league championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodromo Umberto I ground and wearing their famous black and white stripes.
There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin.President Alfredo Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole. Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, surviving the First World War

Michel Platini

Michel Platini

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michel François Platini (born June 21, 1955) is a French former football player, manager and current president of the UEFA.
Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was voted the best player and top goalscorer. He participated in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 World Cups, reaching the semi-finals in the latter two. Platini, Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana together made up the "carré magique" (French for "magic square"), the group of midfield players that formed the heart of the French national team throughout the 1980s. He is also widely regarded as one the best passers in football history as well as one of history's greatest free kick specialists and finishers. He holds the record for most goals (9) scored in European Championship final tournaments despite only appearing in one such tournament (1984).
Platini was named Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour on April 29, 1985 and became Officier (Officer) in 1988. He was the French national team coach for four years, and was the co-organizer of the 1998 World Cup in France. He has also been the chairman of the FIFA Technical and Development Committee, and vice-president of the French Football Federation.
Platini's club career
Platini at Juventus (1982-1987)

Michel Platini holding aloft the Ballon d'Or in Juventus colours.
At Juventus, in a team featuring numerous members of Italy's victorious World Cup squad, Platini had a difficult introduction to Italian football. He was a target in the demanding Italian sports media, and even came close to leaving Italy in the winter of his first season. Platini and team-mate Zbigniew Boniek successfully called for a change in tactics, and in the second half of the season Juventus saw an upturn in their fortunes. They reached the European Cup final, losing to Hamburg, and won the Italian Cup, the first of many club honours to follow for Platini in the coming seasons. He won the Italian championship with Juventus in 1984 and 1986, the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, the 1984 European Super Cup, the European Cup in 1985 (in a controversial game against Liverpool), and the 1985 World Club Championship. He finished top scorer in Serie A for three consecutive seasons (1982-83, 1983-84 and 1984-85), and won a hat-trick of European Footballer of the Year awards (1983 through 1985). Platini was also voted Player of the Year by World Soccer magazine in 1984 and 1985.
The 1985 European Cup final against Liverpool at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels should have been the crowning moment of Platini's Juventus career. The stadium was not fit to stage a match of such importance, and before the teams had kicked off, a wall collapsed under the weight of Juventus fans rushing to avoid a group of Liverpool fans who had made their way into section Z of the ground. 39 people died, and 600 more were injured. It was decided to proceed with the match in order to avoid inciting any further trouble, and after both captains had appealed for calm, the match began just under an hour and a half beyond schedule, with riot police still engaged in a pitched battle with Juventus fans enraged by the lack of organization that had led to the bloodshed in the stadium. (See Heysel Stadium disaster.) Platini scored the only goal of the match from a penalty kick awarded for a foul on Zbigniew Boniek. In the days following the final, Platini was criticised in some quarters for his lack of restraint in celebrating Juventus' win. In his own defence, Platini maintained that like every other player on the field, he had not been made fully aware of the scale of the disaster.
Following the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Platini spent another season at Juventus before retiring from football in June 1987.

International career Del Piero

International career Del Piero

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Despite huge success on the club level, he has been somewhat disappointing playing for Italy, although he is currently the team's fourth all-time leading scorer. His tournament debut was Euro 96, but made his only appearance in the first half of a match against Russia before being substituted at halftime. Del Piero competed with fan favorite Baggio for a spot on the 1998 FIFA World Cup final roster while struggling to recover from injury suffered during the 1998 Champions League final with Juventus. He also missed two chances in Italy's 2-1 loss to France in the Euro 2000 final.
He returned to the international scene in the 2002 FIFA World Cup on the back of an impressive season in Serie A, in which he led Juventus to the Scudetto. Del Piero scored the decisive goal against Hungary, which sealed the Azzurri's qualification for the finals. He instantly scored against Mexico after coming on as a substitute to send Italy through to the second round, where they were eliminated. After Euro 2004, Marcello Lippi was replaced by Fabio Capello as Juventus coach. Capello was not convinced of Del Piero's abilities and frequently benched him in favor of new signing Zlatan Ibrahimović, but Del Piero still managed to score 14 goals as Juventus won their 28th league title.
Del Piero began the 2006 World Cup on the bench, appearing in two out of three group stage matches, and made his first start of the competition in a 1-0 round-of-16 win over Australia on June 26. On July 4, Del Piero entered as a substitute near the end of regulation and scored Italy's second goal in a 2-0 semifinal win over host Germany. The final whistle blew 8 seconds after he scored. In the final against France, which ended 1-1 after extra time, Del Piero scored a penalty in the shootout as Italy won the tournament for the fourth time. He admitted afterwards that winning the World Cup was his childhood dream.
As of 2006, Del Piero has captained Italy five times (including the world cup in 2006) . He also regularly wore the number 10, but later gave it to Francesco Totti and switched to the number 7, as it was the first number he wore at the start of his career. Even though the number 10 was vacated after Totti retired from the national team in July 2007, Del Piero denied any interest in taking back the number, saying he was satisfied with the number 7.
Del Piero was called up to Italy's squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 Championship in Austria and Switzerland. Italy qualified through the group stage in second-place behind Holland, eliminating Romania and France. In the quarter-final against Spain, Del Piero made a substitute appearance during extra-time, and with the game ending in a 0-0 draw, it was decided by a penalty shootout. Spain won 4-2.

Del Piero in Juventus

Del Piero in Juventus

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In 1993, he transferred to Juventus F.C., and has been there ever since. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia in September 1993, scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana after appearing as a substitute, and then grabbed a hat-trick against Parma on his first start. Juventus claimed their first Scudetto in eight years in his first season and success continued to follow. With the Turin club, he won the Serie A championship seven times (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006), the Champions League (1996), and the Intercontinental Cup (1996). His best season was in 1997-98, when he scored 21 goals in Serie A and finished top scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals, which included a peach of a freekick against Monaco in the semi finals.
Del Piero struggled for form at the beginning of the 1998-99 season, whilst doping allegations were aimed at Juventus (they were later found innocent). In October he picked up a serious knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Udinese Calcio. This kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Juventus struggled without him and limped home to a lowly 6th place in the league.
His nickname is Pinturicchio, in reference to a joke by Gianni Agnelli when he compared the emerging Del Piero to Baggio in a parallel between the student Pinturicchio from Perugia and the teacher Perugino. He's also been nicknamed by the fans "Il Fenomeno Vero" meaning "The Real Phenomenon". One of Del Piero's greatest strengths as a footballer is his versatility, which allows him to play in a variety of attacking positions. While he started his club career playing as a full-fledged striker, he settled into a deeper role as a support-striker. Because of his great technical ability, accurate passing skills and impressive vision, he has also been positioned as a playmaker in the central slot behind the forwards. In any zone surrounding the penalty area, his prowess as a creator of goals came to the fore. Under Marcello Lippi's reign as Juventus coach, Del Piero's creative abilities were on display whatever the coach's formation was. Del Piero showed his class in the lethal "trident-attack" formation along with veterans Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli. After that, he took a leading role in a creative combination with Zinedine Zidane behind Filippo Inzaghi. As Juve's playing style changed in Lippi's second stint with Juventus starting 2001, Del Piero was still vital as his partnerships with Pavel Nedvěd in midfield and David Trezeguet upfront has contributed enormously to Juve's continued success in Italy and Europe.
Del Piero is currently the all-time top scorer for Juventus scoring 241 goals, in all competitions he has also made over 557 appearances in official matches for the club breaking the record of Gaetano Scirea who has 552 appearances for Juventus. Alessandro is still Juventus' main strike force with Trezeguet and newly bought from Udinese in the summer Vincenzo Iaquinta.On May 17th, 2008, against Sampdoria in the final round of the season, Del Piero at last clinched his first Serie A golden boot by scoring his 20th and 21st.

Del Piero

Alessandro Del Piero’s Profile

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Alessandro Del Piero, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI (born November 9, 1974 in Conegliano Veneto) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer. He is the captain of Juventus where he holds several club records and he is a member of the Italian national team.
His footballing ability is highly regarded and he has won critical recognition. Pelé named Del Piero in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations. He was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000 Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue. Currently, Del Piero is still the highest earning Italian Player
As well as earning respect for his playing, Del Piero has won several accolades for his character. Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conducthe has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability.
Usually, Del Piero plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the "Trequartista" position. Although he is not very tall, Del Piero's playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just "goal poaching." His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded. Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special " Del Piero Zone", approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.
In terms of goalscoring, Del Piero holds the all-time record at Juventus. On April 6th, 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time highest-capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. He is in sixth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records. Within the Italian national team, he is currently joint fourth with Roberto Baggio in the all-time scoring records.

History juventus

History
Colors, badge and nicknames Juventus

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Juventus have played in black and white striped shirts, with white shorts, sometimes black shorts since 1903. Originally, they played in pink shirts with a black tie, which only occurred due to the wrong shirts being sent to them, the father of one of the players made the earliest shirts, but continual washing faded the color so much that in 1903 the club sought to replace them.
Juventus asked one of their team members, Englishman John Savage, if he had any contacts in England who could supply new shirts in a color that would better withstand the elements. He had a friend who lived in Nottingham, who being a Notts County supporter, shipped out the black and white striped shirts to Turin.

Juventus Football Club's official emblem has undergone different and small modifications since the second decade of twentieth century. The last modification of the Old Lady's badge took place before 2004–05 season. At the present time, the emblem of the team is conformed to a black-and-white oval shield; a type of Italian shield specially used by ecclesiastics, it is divided in five vertical stripes: two white stripes and three black stripes, inside of this are the following elements; in its superior section, the name of the society superimposed a white convex section, over golden curvature (gold for honour). The white silhouette of a charging bull is in the inferior section of the oval shield, superimposed a black old French shield; the charging bull is a symbol of the Comune di Torino. There is also a black silhouette of a mural crown above the black spherical triangle's base is a reminiscence to "Augusta Tourinorum", the old city of the Roman era which the present capital of Piedmont region is its cultural heiress.
In the past, the convex section of the emblem had a blue color (another symbol of Turin) and, furthermore, its shape was concave. The old French shield and the mural crown, also in the inferior section of the emblem had, considerably, a greater size with respect to the present. The two Golden Stars for Sport Excellence were located above the convex & concave section of Juventus' emblem. During the 1980s, the club emblem was the silhouette of a zebra, to both sides of the equide's head, the two golden stars and, above this badge, forming an arc, the clubs name.
During its history, the club has acquired a number of nicknames, la Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady) being the best example. The "old" part of the nickname is a pun on Juventus which means "youth" in Latin. It was derived from the age of the Juventus' star players towards the middle of 1930s. The "lady" part of the nickname is what fans of the club referred to it as affectionately prior to the 1930s. The club is also nicknamed la Fidanzata d'Italia (the Girlfriend of Italy), because over the years they have received a high level of support from Southern Italian immigrant workers (particularly from Naples and Palermo), who arrived in Turin to work for Fiat since the 1930s. Other nicknames include; i bianconeri (the black-and-whites) and le zebre (the zebras) in reference to Juventus' colors.