Flippo Inzaghi

Team: AC Milan
Date of Birth: 8/9/1973
Place of Birth: Piacenza
Country: Italy
Position: Forward

Instinct and determination. To really understand the meaning of a goal, you have to have seen Filippo Inzaghi play. To describe those players who score goals, even without charm, even after spending a whole match in the shadows, one usually says, "they live for their goal". Inzaghi is a striking example. For nearly ten years, he has been one of the most prolific forwards in Italy and in Europe.

He was born in Piacenza, where he grew up and trained as a soccer player. His desire to play was inexhaustible and shared by his youngest brother Simone. They become a fixed pair, in all kinds of matches, and when it was too dark and too late to play on the streets they kept on playing in the attic at home.

A long trail of goals:
He took his first steps on the Piacenza youth teams up to his debut in B series with his city team. He played three times in the cadet series at age 18; the following year he went on to C1 series to gain experience. With Leffe he played 21 matches and scored 13 goals. His natural inclination for goals was evident immediately and the following year he returned to B series under the Verona colors. He hit the jackpot that season too. He scored many goals on the banks of the Adige (one also in the Italian Cup) and Piacenza called him right back home. In a flash Filippo improved again and with Piacenza scored 15 goals in the Championships and 4 in the Italy Cup.

Filippo takes on A series:
Having worked his way up, all he needed was the one last big step: debut in Serie A. In 1995, he signed with Parma and played his first match against Atalanta. A few months later his career took off with Inter's black-blue shirt. With Parma he made no more than two goals in fifteen championship games, but in the Cup of Cups he found a way to stand out by making two goals in six matches.

The next year, in Bergamo, Filippo found ideal conditions for exploiting all his talent. He immediately became team leader, scoring with disarming regularity. In 33 playing days, Filippo made 24 goals, earning the title of top goal-scorer and the nickname "Superpippo" that stuck with him ever since. In only one championship season he scored goals against fifteen different teams; only Michel Platini was able to do this before him...

The black-white consecration:
His career was at a crucial turning point and strangely enough followed in the footsteps of his friend Christian Vieri. Filippo too ended his brilliant season with Bergamo, signed with Juventus: just as Vieri had done twelve months earlier. In Turin, he entered big-time soccer straight away and never stopped scoring. The first year, Juventus ended up with the shield and 27 goals between championship and cups. With Juventus, Filippo played four championships, becoming the forward stop point. In Europe, few players can boast his goal average: in 2000 he scored ten goals in the Champions League.

Milan and the Champions League:
In 2001, he signed with Milan. Here too his contribution was immediately decisive, but an accident half way through the championship interrupted his activity. His return to the field just a few months before the end of the tournament was determinant. Filippo literally dragged Milan into the Champions League and earned a position on the national team for the World Cup in Korea and Japan.

The following season was the most memorable. At the peak of his career and the height of his competitive maturity, Filippo began an unending series of goals that launched Milan into the Champions League. In the championship, the red-black team moved ahead of time to the top of the classification; in Europe the way was intermittently triumphant and Filippo was the one who made it that way. In the quarter finals against Ajax, he made it 3-2 for Milan to qualify; his performance one of rare competitive fury. After winning against Inter in the semi-finals, Milan's conquest over Juventus earned them the Champion's Cup: Filippo raised it high for the first time at Manchester.

Filippo and the national team:
Filippo made his Azzurro debut in June 1997, in a splendid friendly match between Italy and Brazil ending 3-3; the following year he played the World Cup in France. In 2000 he was one of the protagonists of the European Championships in Holland and Belgium. Teamed up with Totti, he guided Italy to the unfortunate finale with France. Wearing the Azzurri shirt he scored 21 goals in 48 matches played.