Alessandro Birindelli
Encyclopedia
Alessandro Birindelli is a retired Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 footballer. Equally at ease as right or left defender, he is best known for his 11-year spell with Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

, winning several accolades and appearing in nearly 300 official games.

Early years

Born to Paolo and Erminia Birindelli in Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

, the second of two children (sister Tiziana), Birindelli started playing football at the age of eight for the local team of San Frediano (an area of Pisa not far from his boyhood home and the church
San Frediano, Pisa
San Frediano is a church in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy.Its existence is mentioned as early as 1061. Founded by the family Buzzaccherini-Sismondi and originally dedicated to Saint Martin, it had once an hospital annexed to it....

 of the same name).

A longtime Juventus FC
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

 fan, being an admirer of Michel Platini
Michel Platini
Michel François Platini is a former French football player, manager and current president of UEFA. Platini was a member of the French national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top goalscorer and voted the best player. He participated in the 1978, 1982...

, he was also influenced by Paolo Maldini
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club...

's professionalism and sportsmanship, and entered into Empoli FC
Empoli F.C.
Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions...

's youth academy, beginning his career as a right winger before moving into defense. In 1996 he won the Coppa Italia Serie C, as the team finished second in its group in Serie C1, thus earning Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

 promotion; Empoli followed this with another climb, to Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

, after collecting 64 points which trailed only Brescia Calcio
Brescia Calcio
Brescia Calcio , known simply as Brescia, is the largest football club in the Lombard city of Brescia, where it was founded in 1911.In the 2009–10 season, in the return leg of the Serie B playoff final, they defeated Torino 2-1 at home , returning to Serie A after a 5-year absence...

's 66.

Juventus

After nearly 150 official matches, Birindelli ended his career with Empoli and moved to beloved Juventus in 1997, managed at the time by Marcello Lippi
Marcello Lippi
Marcello Lippi, Commendatore OMRI is a former Italian World Cup-winning football manager and former player. He served as Italian national team head coach from 16 July 2004 to 12 July 2006 and led Italy to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was re-appointed as Italian head coach in the summer of 2008...

, joining an already strong squad - which featured young prodigies Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero
Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain....

 and Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane is a retired French footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Zidane was a leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship...

 - and arriving alongside Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi
Filippo Inzaghi, Ufficiale OMRI commonly known as Pippo, is a World Cup and UEFA Champions League-winning Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Milan....

 and Edgar Davids
Edgar Davids
Edgar Steven Davids is a retired Dutch footballer and current member of the supervisory board of Ajax. After beginning his career with the Amsterdam club, he subsequently played in Italy for Milan and Juventus before a loan spell with Barcelona. He went on to play for Internazionale and Tottenham...

.

He made his league debut in a 2–0 victory over U.S. Lecce
U.S. Lecce
Unione Sportiva Lecce or simply U.S. Lecce is an Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia who play in the Italian Serie A. After being crowned Serie B champions in 2009–10, the team successfully managed to avoid relegation in 2010-11....

 on 31 August 1997. His official debut, however, was in the Italian Super Cup
Supercoppa Italiana
The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...

 victory over Vicenza Calcio
Vicenza Calcio
Vicenza Calcio is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. The club was formed in 1902 and currently plays in Italy's Serie B, having spent the entire 1960s and a large part of the 1990s in Serie A...

. In his first season with Juve he won the Scudetto over F.C. Internazionale Milano
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Football Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...

, by five points. The season ended on a negative note, though, with the second consecutive loss in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, now to Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

.

Birindelli won two more leagues with Juventus, in 2001–02 and 2002–03, adding two Supercups. Again, he was a part of the Juventus side which lost in a Champions League final, this time in the 2002–03 edition against A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

, which was the first all-Italian final in the history of the competition. He was, however, one of Juventus' few successful players in the penalty shootout, the other being Del Piero. In the summer of 2005, while playing a friendly against S.L. Benfica, he injured his ankle and missed the entire 2005–06.

Juve finished the season with 91 points and another league, but the club's involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal led to them being stripped of their title and relegated to the second division.

Birindelli and Juventus initially started the 2006–07 season with a 30 point deduction as a further punishment for their role in the match-fixing scandal, but it was ultimately reduced to nine, which allowed Birindelli to win the Cadetti and another promotion. The player contributed with 37 league appearances, while also becoming vice-captain.

Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri
Claudio Ranieri, is an Italian football manager, currently in charge as head coach of Internazionale.He has also managed many other well-known clubs in Europe, including Cagliari, Napoli, Fiorentina, Valencia, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Parma, Juventus and Roma.-Early life:Ranieri attended St...

 took over Juventus for the 2007–08 season, and Birindelli only played seven times in the league. On May 17, 2008, he said farewell to Juventus, after 11 years in the black and white, claiming that he wished to continue playing for another season or two.

Later years

On 22 July 2008, Birindelli was announced as Pisa Calcio
Pisa Calcio
Associazione Calcio Pisa 1909 is an Italian association football club, based in Pisa, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as A.C. Pisa , after the cancellation of the old one because of economical troubles...

's new signing, thus finally giving him the opportunity to play for his hometown club, in the upcoming 2008–09. However, Pisa were relegated from division two at the end of the season, and then excluded from Italian football due to financial issues, leaving Birindelli without a team.

In August 2009, he signed a two-year contract with lowly A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco
A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco
A.S. Pescina Valle del Giovenco, commonly referred to as simply Valle del Giovenco, was an Italian association football club based in Pescina, Abruzzo, that was founded in 2005...

. He found himself without a club again on June 2010 after the club was excluded from the football panorama due to heavy debts.

On 19 September 2011, Birindelli was appointed head coach at U.S. Pistoiese 1921 in Serie D
Serie D
Serie D is the top level of the Italian non-professional football association called Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. The association represents over a million football players and thousands of football teams across Italy. Serie D ranks just below Lega Pro Seconda Divisione , and is thus considered the...

, leaving his post the following month.

International career

Birindelli represented Italy's U-17
Italy national under-21 football team
The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...

 squad at the 1991
1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship
The 1991 FIFA U-17 World Championship was held in the cities of Florence, Montecatini, Viareggio, Massa, Carrara, and Livorno in Italy between 16 August and 31 August 1991...

 FIFA U-17 World Championship, but did not start in any of Italy's three games. His first start in a national jersey was as part of the Marco Tardelli-led under-23 squad that competed in the 1997 Mediterranean Games
Mediterranean Games
The Mediterranean Games are a multi-sport games held every four years, mainly for nations bordering the Mediterranean Sea, where Europe, Africa and Asia meet. The idea was proposed at the 1948 Summer Olympics by Muhammed Taher Pasha, chairman of the Egyptian Olympic Committee, and they were first...

, held in Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...

. Italy went on to win the gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

, with the player featuring in three of the four games including the final against Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...

.

Birindelli's full
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 debut came with Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni
Giovanni Trapattoni , sometimes known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football coach and former player, considered the most successful club coach in the history of Serie A. As a player he was part of Italy's squad at the 1962 FIFA World Cup....

, on 20 November 2002, a 1–1 friendly draw with Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...

. In total, he featured in six internationals, the last being the 2–0 loss against Iceland
Iceland national football team
The Iceland national football team is the national football team of Iceland and is controlled by the Football Association of Iceland. It has never advanced to the finals of any major international competition....

 on 18 August 2004, and was not summoned for UEFA Euro 2004.

In July 2010 Birindelli retired from active football, immediately being named assistant coach in the Zambian national team
Zambia national football team
The Zambia national football team represents the country of Zambia in the sport of association football and is governed by the Football Association of Zambia. Before independence they were known as the Northern Rhodesia national football team. The side is nicknamed Chipolopolo as copper is one of...

, led by countryman Dario Bonetti
Dario Bonetti
Dario Bonetti is an Italian football manager and former defender. He is the elder brother of Ivano Bonetti.-Playing career:Bonetti made his professional debut in the 1978-79 season with Brescia...

. He resigned from his position in February 2011, due to misunderstandings.

Club

  • Empoli
    Empoli F.C.
    Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions...

    :
    • Italian Cup Serie C: 1995–96
    • Second Division
      Serie B
      Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

      : Runner-up 1996–97

  • Juventus
    Juventus F.C.
    Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

    :
    • Italian League
      Serie A
      Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

      : 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03
    • Italian Supercup
      Supercoppa Italiana
      The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...

      : 1997
      1997 Supercoppa Italiana
      The 1997 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 1996-97 winner, and Vicenza, the Coppa Italia 1996-97 winner.It was the third appearance for Juventus, after the victory in 1995 and the defeat in 1990, whereas it was Vicenza's first appearance.-Match details:-References:...

      , 2002
      2002 Supercoppa Italiana
      The 2002 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 2001-02 winner, and Parma, the Coppa Italia 2001-02 winner.It was the fifth appearance for Juventus and the fourth for Parma...

      , 2003
      2003 Supercoppa Italiana
      The 2003 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the Serie A 2002-03 winner, and Milan, the Coppa Italia 2002-03 winner.It was the sixth appearance for Juventus and the seventh for Milan .The match was played in New York, U.S.A..-Match details:-References:...

      ; Runner-up 1998, 2005
      2005 Supercoppa Italiana
      The 2005 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by 2004-05 Serie A champions Juventus and 2004-05 Coppa Italia winners Internazionale. The match took place on 20 August 2005, and resulted in a 1-0 win for Internazionale after extra time.-Match details:...

    • Italian Cup
      Coppa Italia
      The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

      : Runner-up 2001–02, 2003–04
    • UEFA Champions League
      UEFA Champions League
      The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

      : Runner-up 1997–98, 2002–03
    • UEFA Intertoto Cup
      UEFA Intertoto Cup
      The UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition was discontinued...

      : 1999
    • Second Division
      Serie B
      Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

      : 2006–07

Club statistics

|-
|1992–93||rowspan="5"|Empoli
Empoli F.C.
Empoli Football Club is an Italian association football club located in Empoli, Tuscany, founded in 1920 and played its first official match in 1921.In recent years, the club has all too often been bouncing between Italy's two top divisions...

||rowspan="4"|Serie C1||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||1||0
|-
|1993–94||22||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||23||0
|-
|1994–95||30||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||30||0
|-
|1995–96||30||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||30||0
|-
|1996–97||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||35||1||3||0||colspan="2"|-||38||1
|-
|colspan="3"|Total||118||1||4||0||colspan="2"|-||122||1
|-
|1997–98||rowspan="11"|Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

||rowspan="9"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||29||0||7||1||10||1||46||2
|-
|1998–99||24||1||2||0||8||1||34||2
|-
|1999–00||22||0||4||0||8||0||34||0
|-
|2000–01||19||0||1||0||5||0||25||0
|-
|2001–02||10||0||8||1||8||0||26||1
|-
|2002–03||17||0||4||0||13||1||34||1
|-
|2003–04||19||0||3||0||5||0||27||0
|-
|2004–05||12||0||2||0||4||0||18||0
|-
|2005–06||colspan="6"|Season-long injury|0||0
|-
|2006–07||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||37||1||3||0||colspan="2"|-||40||1
|-
|2007–08||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||7||0||4||0||colspan="2"|-||11||0
|-
|colspan="3"|Total||196||2||38||2||61||3||295||7
|-
|2008–09||Pisa
Pisa Calcio
Associazione Calcio Pisa 1909 is an Italian association football club, based in Pisa, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as A.C. Pisa , after the cancellation of the old one because of economical troubles...

||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||1||0||0||0||0||0||1||0
315||3||42||2||61||3||418||8
315||3||42||2||61||3||418||8

Personal

Birindelli married childhood sweetheart Silvia, with whom he had two children, Samuele and Matteo.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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