Alessandro Nesta

Not to be confused with Alessandro Nista.
Alessandro Nesta
OMRI
Nesta with Miami FC in 2016
Personal information
Full name Alessandro Nesta[1]
Date of birth (1976-03-19) 19 March 1976 (age 48)[2]
Place of birth Rome, Italy[2]
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back[2]
Team information
Current team
 Monza (head coach)
Youth career
1985–1993 Lazio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–2002 Lazio 193 (1)
2002–2012 AC Milan 224 (7)
2012–2014 Montreal Impact 31 (0)
2014 Chennaiyin 3 (0)
Total 451 (8)
International career
1995–1996 Italy U21[3] 9 (1)
1996–2006 Italy[3] 78 (0)
Managerial career
2015–2017 Miami FC
2018–2019 Perugia
2019–2021 Frosinone
2023–2024 Reggiana
2024– Monza
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2006 Germany
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up 2000 Belgium–Netherlands
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 1996 Spain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alessandro Nesta Ufficiale OMRI[4][5] (Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro ˈnɛsta]; born 19 March 1976) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Serie A club Monza. Usually deployed as a centre-back, he is widely considered as one of the best defenders of all time. He was best known for his pace, artistic tackles, elegance on the ball, distribution and tight marking of opponents.[6][7][8][9][10]

He made over 400 Serie A appearances in a 20-year career spread between Lazio and AC Milan, winning domestic and European honours with both clubs. Later in his career, he played in Major League Soccer (MLS) for the Montreal Impact, and for Chennaiyin of the Indian Super League. Nesta is a four-time Serie A Defender of the Year and a four-time member of the annual UEFA Team of the Year.[11] In 2004, he was named as one of the Top 100 greatest living footballers as part of FIFA's 100th anniversary celebration.[12] In 2021, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.[13]

Nesta was a member of the Italy national team for a decade from his debut in 1996, earning 78 caps in total. At international level, he competed at the 1996 Olympics, three UEFA European Championships, and three FIFA World Cups. Nesta was a member of the Italian team that won the 2006 World Cup, and he also represented the Italian side that reached the final of Euro 2000.

  1. ^ "2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Italy" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "NESTA, ALESSANDRO". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Figc.it 2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ FIFA.com[dead link]
  5. ^ AscotSportal.com Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Nesta retires from Italian national soccer team". CBC News. 1 August 2007.
  7. ^ "AC Milan Defender Alessandro Nesta Rules Out Italy Return". Goal India. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  8. ^ Rob Paton (11 May 2012). "Nesta – thanks and goodbye". Football Italia. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  9. ^ "Ranked! The 101 greatest football players of the last 25 years: full list". FourFourTwo (253 ed.). 13 February 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  10. ^ "The 50 best defenders in football history ranked by fans". GiveMeSport. 9 April 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  11. ^ "– Team of the Year". UEFA. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  12. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio 2022 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).