David Trezeguet

David Sergio Trezeguet, born 15 October 1977, is a French former striker. He played for clubs including Monaco, Juventus, and River Plate, and was a member of the France squad that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, netting the golden goal in the latter final.

Trezeguet started his career at age eight with Club Atlético Platense in Argentina, moving through their youth system to make his first-team debut in the Argentine top flight in 1994. After one season, he joined Monaco in France, where he formed a strong attacking partnership with fellow French international Thierry Henry. With Monaco, he won the league in 1996–97, and by the time he left in 2000, he had scored 52 goals in 93 league appearances, claiming two league titles and the 1997 Trophée des champions.

In 2000, Juventus paid £20 million for Trezeguet. He shared the Serie A top scorer award with 24 goals in 2001–02, helping the club win the league title that season, and also scored eight times in ten Champions League matches as Juventus reached the second round. Despite injuries the following year, he won another Serie A title and scored four goals in ten Champions League games as Juventus reached the final, where they lost on penalties to Milan—Trezeguet missed his spot kick. Across his Juventus career, he scored 138 goals in 245 league appearances, making him the club’s fourth-highest all-time scorer. Later, he had short spells in Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, and India.

Born in France while his Argentine father played there, Trezeguet grew up in Argentina but chose to represent France internationally. He scored 34 goals in 71 senior appearances between 1998 and 2008, and also played for France at under-18, under-20, and under-21 levels. He featured in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004, and the 2006 World Cup—where he missed a penalty in the shoot-out against Italy in the final. Trezeguet is included in the FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living players, and in 2015 he was named a Golden Foot Award Legend.

Trezeguet was born in Rouen, France, on 15 October 1977, but grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after his father Jorge, then playing for FC Rouen, returned to Argentina in 1979. He was married to Beatriz Villalba for 13 years; they have two sons, Aarón (born 2000) and Noraan (born 2008), and divorced in 2012.

He began his professional career at Platense, making his debut on 12 June 1994 at age 16 in a 1–1 draw with Gimnasia. After just five matches, he moved to Monaco. A proposed transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in 1995 fell through, and he joined Monaco instead, where coach Jean Tigana was impressed by his five goals in a trial. He signed for 15,000 francs per month. Trezeguet spent two seasons with Monaco’s B team, making only nine first-team appearances in his first two years. In 1998, he scored the fastest goal by velocity in Champions League history—a 97.6 mph shot against Manchester United in a quarter-final. He won Ligue 1 twice and was named Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year in 1998, scoring 60 goals in 113 appearances for Monaco.

At Juventus, under Carlo Ancelotti in his first season, Trezeguet scored 14 Serie A goals, mostly as a substitute behind Filippo Inzaghi and Alessandro Del Piero, as the team finished second. The next season, under Marcello Lippi, he scored 24 league goals in 34 matches, sharing the Capocannoniere award and winning the Serie A title. He was named Serie A Footballer of the Year and Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year, and reached the Coppa Italia final, scoring eight goals in ten Champions League games as Juventus exited in the second round. In January 2002, a car carrying Trezeguet and teammates Mark Iuliano, Gianluca Zambrotta, and Enzo Maresca after a win over Hellas Verona collided with two other vehicles; none were injured.

In his third season, injuries limited his appearances, but he helped Juventus defend the Serie A title, won the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana, and scored four goals in ten Champions League matches as the club reached the 2003 final. In the final, his penalty was saved by Milan’s Dida, and Juventus lost 3–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw—the closest he came to winning the Champions League. In 2003–04, he helped win another Supercoppa Italiana, scoring in the match, and reached another Coppa Italia final, though the league and European campaigns were less successful, despite his 16 goals.