Christian Vieri

Christian Vieri
Vieri at Fiorentina in the 2007–08 season
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-07-12) 12 July 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Bologna, Italy
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Centre forward
Youth career
1987–1988 Marconi Stallions
1989–1990 Santa Lucia
1990–1991 Prato
1991–1992 Torino
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1992 Torino 7 (1)
1992–1993 Pisa 18 (2)
1993–1994 Ravenna 32 (12)
1994–1995 Venezia 29 (11)
1995–1996 Atalanta 21 (9)
1996–1997 Juventus 23 (8)
1997–1998 Atlético Madrid 24 (24)
1998–1999 Lazio 22 (12)
1999–2005 Inter Milan 143 (103)
2005–2006 AC Milan 8 (1)
2006 Monaco 7 (3)
2006 Sampdoria 0 (0)
2006–2007 Atalanta 7 (2)
2007–2008 Fiorentina 26 (6)
2008–2009 Atalanta 9 (2)
Total 374 (194)
International career
1992–1996 Italy U21 22 (11)
1997–2005 Italy 49 (23)
Medal record
Representing  Italy
Men's football
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Winner 1994 France
Winner 1996 Spain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christian Vieri (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjam ˈvjɛːri]; born 12 July 1973), commonly known as Bobo Vieri, is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Having been born in Italy, Vieri moved with his family to Australia as a child, before returning to Italy to pursue his professional career at a young age. He then spent the bulk of his career playing in the Serie A. In March 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centenary celebrations.[2]

A prolific goalscorer, for a number of years, he was regarded as one of the best strikers of this generation,[3] leading to him becoming the world's most expensive player in 1999 when Inter Milan paid Lazio £32 million (€43 million) for his services.[4][5] Something of a footballing nomad, Vieri played for no fewer than 12 clubs throughout his career, mainly in Italy, but also in Spain and France. He started his career with Torino in 1991, but his most notable and successful spells were those at Juventus, Atlético Madrid, Lazio and Inter, clubs with which he won several honours.

As well as picking up several winners medals during his career, Vieri also claimed many individual awards including the Pichichi Trophy and Capocannoniere awards for the league's top scorer in Spain and Italy respectively, and the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year twice. At international level, Vieri scored 23 goals in 49 appearances for Italy between 1997 and 2005, and is the joint ninth-highest goalscorer for his national team, alongside Francesco Graziani. He is also Italy's highest ever goalscorer in the FIFA World Cup, along with Roberto Baggio and Paolo Rossi, with a combined nine goals from nine matches at the 1998 and 2002 editions of the tournament; he also took part at Euro 2004.

  1. ^ Christian Vieri at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ "Fifa names greatest list". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  3. ^ "Ranked! The 101 greatest football players of the last 25 years: full list". FourFourTwo (253 ed.). 13 February 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Top 50 most expensive footballers". The Times. London. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  5. ^ "Christian Vieri". BBC Sport. 10 April 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2016.