David Trezeguet

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at the age of eight, progressing through their youth system to their first team, where he made his debut in the Primera División in 1994. After one season, he transferred to Division 1 side Monaco, where he would form a striking partnership with international teammate Thierry Henry, winning the league in the 1996–97 season. He left the club in 2000, having scored 52 goals in 93 Division 1 appearances and having claimed two Division 1 championships and the 1997 Trophée des champions. In 2000, Trezeguet signed for Serie A club Juventus for a transfer fee of £20 million. With 24 goals, he was the joint recipient of the Capocannoniere award for top scorer as his team won the 2001–02 Serie A title; Trezeguet also scored eight goals in 10 Champions League appearances as Juventus reached the second round of the tournament. Despite struggling with injuries the following season, he won another league title with the club, and also scored four goals in 10 Champions League appearances as Juventus reached the final of the tournament, eventually losing 2–3 on penalties to Milan, as Trezeguet missed his spot kick in the resulting shoot-out. Overall, Trezeguet scored 138 goals in 245 league appearances for Juventus, making him the fourth-highest goalscorer in the club's history. Later in his career he had brief spells in Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina and India.

In Their Own Story

The defining moment of his resilience came not in a trophy lift, but in the dust of a Serie B campaign. After being stripped of two Scudetti and facing a point deficit that started at 30 points (later reduced to nine), Trezeguet chose to stay. On 25 June 2007, he renewed his contract until 2011. His commitment was palpable on the pitch; in the final match of the 2006–07 Serie B season against Spezia, he scored a goal and made a gesture with his fingers showing the number 15 for his goals that season, followed by a hand signal meaning 'I'm out of here' to the club president, signaling his intent to leave only if the club succeeded. Yet, he stayed. Later, on 9 December 2009, in a 4–1 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, he scored his 168th goal for Juventus, surpassing Omar Sívori's total of 167 to become the club's highest-ever foreign goalscorer. By the end of the 2009–10 season, he had accumulated 171 goals before his release in August 2010.

Reader's Guide

Born in France where his Argentine father was playing football, Trezeguet grew up in Argentina. At international level, Trezeguet chose to represent the France national team. He scored 34 goals in 71 appearances for France between 1998 and 2008. He also played for France at under–18, under–20, and under–21 levels. Trezeguet represented France at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, the 1998 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2000, the 2002 World Cup, Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup (where he missed his penalty in the shoot-out against Italy in the final). Trezeguet is part of the FIFA 100 list of 125 Greatest living players. In 2015, he was named one of the Golden Foot Award Legends.

Did You Know?

• Trezeguet scored the golden goal in the UEFA Euro 2000 final.
• He was joint top scorer in Serie A in the 2001–02 season with 24 goals.
• Trezeguet missed a penalty in the 2003 Champions League final shootout against Milan.
• He scored 138 league goals for Juventus, making him the fourth-highest goalscorer in the club's history.