Gianluca Pessotto

Gianluca Pessotto (born August 11, 1970) is an Italian former footballer who played with Juventus for the majority of his career. A versatile player, Pessotto was able to play as a full back or midfielder, preferably on the left side.

Career

Born in Latisana, in the province of Udine, Pessotto started his career in the A.C. Milan youth system. As a player, Pessotto spent time with Varese (1989-1991), Massese (1991-92), Bologna (1992-93), Hellas Verona (1993-94), Torino (1994-95) and Juventus (1995-2006). He is one of many experienced players who have been at Juventus for a lengthy period of time. Injuries and other issues in the closing stages of his career limited his first-team opportunities to mainly being used a substitute to Jonathan Zebina.

Pessotto retired at the end of the 2005-06 Serie A season, and was successively appointed as the new Juventus team manager.

Among his achievements as a football player, Pessotto won the UEFA Champions League in 1996 (played in 4 CL Finals), the UEFA Super Cup in 1996, the Intercontinental Cup in 1996, 1 UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2000, 6 Scudetti (1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) and 4 Italian Super Cups (1997, 1998, 2002, 2003), 1 Coppa Italia in 1995, all with Juventus FC.

For Italy, Pessotto was capped 22 times. He played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000. In Euro 2000, Pessotto scored a penalty in the shootout win over Holland which sent Italy into the final. However, he only picked up a runners-up medal, as Italy lost after conceding a last minute equaliser, and then conceded a David Trézéguet golden goal.

Career Honours

* Serie A 4 winners medals: 1996–97; 1997–98; 2001–02; 2002–03;
* Serie A 2 runner-up medals: 1999-00, 2000-01
* Coppa Italia 1 winners medal: 1995
* Supercoppa Italiana 4 winners medals: 1997; 1998; 2002; 2003
* Supercoppa Italiana 2 runner-up medals: 1998; 2005
* UEFA Champions League 1 winners medal: 1996
* Intercontinental Cup 1 winners medal: 1996
* European Super Cup 1 winners medal: 1996
* UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 winners medal: 2000
* UEFA Cup 1 runner-up medal: 1995
* UEFA Champions League 3 runner-up medals: 1997; 1998; 2003
* Euro 2000 1 runner-up medal: 2000