Gianluca Pessotto

Infobox Football biography
playername = Gianluca Pessotto


fullname = Gianluca Pessotto
nickname = "Pessottino", "Pesso"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1970|8|11
cityofbirth = Latisana
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|m=1.75
currentclub =
position = Defender/Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1989-1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-2006
clubs = Varese Massese Bologna Verona Torino Juventus
caps(goals) = 064 (1) 022 (1) 021 (1) 034 (3) 032 (1) 243 (2)
nationalyears = 1996-2002
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 22 (1)

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 6 winners medals: 1996–97; 1997–98; 2001–02; 2002–03; 2004-05; 2005-06
* 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

Pessotto's fall from a building

Pessotto survived a 15-metre fall from a fourth story window at the headquarters of Juventus, on 27 June 2006. As he was holding a rosary, it is believed that he was attempting suicide. To date, there has been no proof supporting this speculation.cite news
url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/story.jsp?story=697571#top
publisher=Belfast Telegraph
title= Finally, joy for Italy
date=5 July 2006]

This incident coincided with widening investigations regarding possible match fixing amongst Italy's top clubs including Juventus, where Pessotto was Sports Director. Though not implicated in the scandal, Pessotto was said to be feeling depressed and unhappy with his role at the club. [ cite news
url=http://www.teamtalk.com/football/story/0,16368,3033_1304433,00.html
title=Pessotto was depressed - Wife
publisher=Teamtalk.com
date=28 June 2006 ] [ cite news
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/italy/5124260.stm
title= Italians see Pessotto in hospital
publisher=BBC
date=29 June 2006 ] He suffered multiple fractures and internal bleeding from the fall.On 17 July 2006, medical staff declared him out of danger and stated that he would not have long-term mental damage or physical paralysis. [ cite news
url=http://www.ansa.it/main/notizie/fdg/200607172010249958/200607172010249958.html
title= Pessotto meets his sons in hospital
publisher=ANSA
date=17 July 2006 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun27h.html] Report on Channel 4 Website.
* Jonathan O'Brien, "The Sunday Business Post", 16 July 2006, [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2006/07/16/story15710.asp "The Italian Job"]