Alessandro Del Piero
The Italian was truly a one-club man, playing almost his entire career for Juventus, having joined from Padova in 1993. Nicknamed as “Il Pinturicchio”, the Italian International was in the hearts of every Juventus fan for as long as 19 years. He holds the record for the most goals (290) and the most appearances (705) in a Juve shirt. Having been named in the FIFA 100 as well as the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, he is also among the UEFA Champions League’s all-time top scorers at tenth spot.
After Juventus were demoted to Serie B and their last two Scudetti were revoked due to the infamous Calciopoli scandal, Del Piero stayed to captain the team in Serie B and helped the club gain promotion, showing his dedication and loyalty. He has won one World Cup, one Champions League and six Serie A titles among many others.
After his 19-year spell with Juventus, Del Piero left the club to become a free agent and signed a two-year deal with Sydney FC, becoming the highest-paid footballer to ever play in the A-League. Even in the twilight of his career, the 39-year old has been lighting up the faces of fans in Australia with his performances, and has won several awards during his short time Down Under.
References from Wikipedia – Alessandro Del Piero, Thierry Henry, Raul