Christian Vieri Biography
Christian Vieri is an Italian football player, who was once labeled as the most expensive player in the world in 1999. “Bobo” Vieri used to play as a center forward. He played in Serie A for the most part of his long career.
Vieri’s resume portrays a rather picture. Having scored over 230 goals in about 480 games, Vieri has won numerous honours which include the Serie A, the Coppa Italia, European Cup Winners’ Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. He is the joint leading scorer for the Azzurri in the World Cup finals at individual level, where he has nine goals in as many matches in two editions of the competition.
Vieri was part of FIFA 14 Ultimate Team Legends. Christian Vieri was unlucky to be born with some of the best strikers in Italy, such as Alessandro Del Piero, Roberto Baggio, and Filipo Inzaghi. Below, we will read about
Christian Vieri biography
.
Everything You Need to Know About Christian Vieri Bio
Christian Vieri date of birth
is in 12 July 1973. 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 honors. 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 league top scorer in Spain and Italy and Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year twice. He is 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 tournaments.
Christian Vieri nationality
is Italian. He is a former professional footballer who played as a center forward. It is usually believed that Italians are either faithful Christians, or a non-religious people. Christian Vieri has never spoken about his religious beliefs in public, hence we don’t exactly know what is
Christian Vieri religion
.
Christian Vieri Information
Christian Vieri Bio
Real Name:
Christian Vieri
Nickname:
Bobo
Profession:
Professional Footballer
Christian Vieri Physical Stats
Weight:
85
Height:
1.85 m
Eye color:
Light Brown
Hair color:
Brown
Christian Vieri Football Information
Position:
Center forward, striker
Jersey number:
32
Professional debut:
1991
Christian Vieri Date of Birth and Personal Info
Date of Birth:
15 July 1973
Birth Place:
Bologna, Italy
Zodiac Sign:
Cancer
Nationality:
Italian
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Luis Suarez BiographyChristian Vieri Early Life
When we explore
Christian Vieri childhood
, we figure out that he was born in Bologna, Italy. In the 1970s, his family moved to Australia, settling in the South-Western Sydney suburb of Wetherill Park and attending Prairiewood High School. His father, Roberto Vieri, played for the Marconi Stallions, a Sydney based club. He inherited his nickname, Bobo, from his father, which he brought with him throughout his career.
Having been born in Australia, Vieri began loving both football and cricket, a sport he still follows and is fond of to this day. In an interview, he said that he would love to be a professional cricketer. His brother is also a professional footballer, Massimiliano Vieri (more commonly known as Max Vieri), and was a member of Australia national team in 2004. When he was a boy, Vieri played for Marconi Juniors, but his family later moved back to Italy. It’s time to look into Christian Vieri biography in a more detailed manner.
Christian Vieri Profile
At Marconi Stallions, Vieri began his playing career. His first club, on his return to Italy in 1988, was A.C. Santa Lucia, a team from Prato, where Luciano Diamanti, the father of Alessandro Diamanti, was his first coach. He became associated with Prato the next year and scored several Campionato Nazionale Dante Berretti goals. He was transferred to Torino the following year after being noticed by Serino Rampanti, who recommended him to Sergio Vatta, the coach. The Prato CEO, Andrea Toccafondi, did not want the promising striker to be sold. The Granata also had to buy Toccafondi's son, Paolo, who was a goalkeeper, in order to convince him to sell Vieri to Torino.
Vieri was given his first team debut at the age of 18, on 30 October 1991 in the 1991-92 Coppa Italia under Emiliano Mondonico, after a year in the Torino youth ranks; scoring the second goal in a 2-0 win for Torino against Lazio. On 15 December of the same year, during the final minutes of the home game against Fiorentina (2-0), he made his official debut in Serie A. He would later score his first league goal in a 4-0 match against Genoa. Vieri would pick up a runners-up medal at the end of the 1991-92 season as an unused sub in the 1992 UEFA Cup Final, losing to Ajax on away goals.
He was sold to Serie B club Pisa in November 1992, scoring two goals in 18 appearances. He would only remain for one season in Pisa, leaving for the 1993-94 season to fellow Serie B team, Ravenna, where he scored 12 goals in 32 appearances. For the 1994-95 season, he was subsequently transferred to another Serie B team, Venezia, where he scored 11 goals in 29 appearances.
Vieri returned to Serie A for the 1995–96 season after three seasons in Serie B, when he joined Atalanta, scoring nine goals in 21 appearances. His first major move came when
Juventus, who signed him for a fee of EUR 2.5 million from Atalanta for the 1996-97 season, spotted him. He made 23 appearances and scored eight Serie A goals and six goals in ten matches in Europe, making him, along with Alen Bokšić, joint top scorer for Juventus that season. By winning the 'Scudetto and starting in the 3-1 UEFA Champions League final loss to Borussia Dortmund, he ended his season at Juve.
The Juventus form of Vieri captured the eye of the Spanish team,
Atlético Madrid, who paid 10 million euros to sign the striker. In 24 league appearances for Atlético, he scored a total of 24 goals and concluded the season with 29 goals from 32 appearances, which saw him win the Pichichi Trophy awarded to the top scorer of the league. Shortly after arriving at Calderón, in an interview with Marca magazine, he named his all-time sporting hero as the Australian cricketer Allan Border.
He returned to Serie A with Lazio for a fee of EUR 25 million after his successes for Atlético Madrid and in the 1998 World Cup. He had a good season and won the Cup Winners' Cup, scoring 14 goals in 28 appearances. However, the following season, after attracting the attention of chairman Massimo Moratti and manager Marcello Lippi, who had asked for the player after their solid season together at Juventus, he was the subject of a (then) world record transfer of EUR 49 million (£ 32 million) to Internazionale. Inter will be Vieri's ninth club to be a professional footballer in his ninth season, and the only one where he would play for more than one season, for a total of six.
At
Inter, Vieri formed a lethal partnership with Ronaldo up front, but they were not able to play together regularly because of injuries to both players. In his first few seasons, he was impressive, but frequent managerial changes meant that Inter could not challenge the Scudetto. It was under Argentine disciplined coach Héctor Cúper, Vieri and Inter really started to prosper and to compete for honors.
In the 2001-02 season, Vieri became the focus of the attack and scored 22 goals in 25 games as Inter narrowly missed out on the title after their last-day loss to Lazio. After scoring 24 goals in 23 games, he was the Serie A Capocannoniere the following season. In addition, in Inter's Champions League campaign, he scored three goals and formed a strong partnership with Hernán Crespo. In the quarter-final win over Valencia, he scored both of Inter's goals. During the second leg of this game, Vieri was injured and thus played no part in the semi-final loss to city rivals Milan.
Cúper was sacked just a few games into the season the following year and was replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni. After his dip in form, Vieri did not get along with his new boss and also had many of the Inter fans turn on him. Moreover, he had indicated his disappointment with the selling to Chelsea of strike partner Crespo. In the summer of 2004, when Roberto Mancini replaced Zaccheroni, With Adriano, Vieri played most of the games upfront. However, it was obvious to everyone that the injury he had suffered against Valencia had taken its toll on Vieri and, despite his decent goal performance, he was no longer as sharp in front of goal.
Vieri and Inter reached a mutual agreement in July 2005 to end his contract with the club.
He was then signed by Milan's cross-town rivals, but left the Rossoneri after only six months, joining French side Monaco to play regularly and secure a place in Italy's squad for the 2006 World Cup, where he was not a regular starter. However, while playing for Monaco in 2006, he suffered a serious knee injury which needed extensive surgery and ruled out the possibility of playing in his third consecutive FIFA World Cup.
On 6 July 2006, Vieri agreed to a one-year contract with Sampdoria. However, on 29 August, Vieri returned to Atalanta and signed a one-year minimum wage contract worth EUR 1,500 a month. Although he earned a small salary, for every goal he scored, Vieri was to gain another € 100,000, leaving chairman Ivan Ruggeri to comment, "If things go well, Vieri will cost me €2 million." In seven substitute appearances, Vieri scored two goals, including one spectacular long-range effort.
Atalanta announced in June 2007 that they would not offer a contract extension to Vieri. Consequently, his contract ended on 30 June. In the summer of 2007, Vieri reached a one-year agreement with Fiorentina and it was formally sent to the press on 21 July 2007. On 30 June 2008, he signed a one-year contract with Atalanta. In early April, however, both Atalanta and Vieri unanimously agreed that, after just nine games for the club, the deal was to be rescinded. On 20 October 2009, he announced his retirement. Buckle up to read more about
Christian Vieri biography
.
Christian Vieri International Career
Vieri scored 23 goals in 49 matches for Italy and played for his country in the 1998 World Cup, scoring five times, and the 2002 World Cup, scoring four times, while he suffered a less good Euro 2004 tournament while missing the Euro 2000 and 2006 World Cup due to injury. Facing heavy competition, Vieri is widely considered to be the greatest pure striker of recent times in Italy, And he is one of the most prolific World Cup goal scorers in Italy. Appearing in a total of nine World Cup matches in 1998 and 2002, he found the net nine times, making him, along with Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose, one of the most feared strikers in those tournaments. In March 2004, he was named as one of the 125 greatest living footballers by Pelé. He is Italy's ninth highest goalscorer of all time, alongside Francesco Graziani.
After some impressive displays for Juventus, Vieri earned his first international cap during the 1996-97 season. During qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, he scored a crucial goal for Italy in the playoff against Russia. He formed a close partnership with Roberto Baggio at the end of the tournament in France. After an assist from his strike partner, Vieri opened the scoring against Chile. During the group stage, he went on to score three more goals against Cameroon and Austria. In the round of 16 match against Norway, Vieri scored Italy's only goal. In the quarterfinal shoot-out against France, he scored Italy's fourth penalty, but Luigi Di Biagio missed the fifth and Italy was eliminated. The quarter-final showdown against France was the only tournament game that Vieri was unable to score in.
After sustaining a recurrence of an old thigh injury, Vieri missed out on Euro 2000 during the fourth-place playoff with Parma at the end of the 1999–2000 season following a collision with Gianluigi Buffon, who would also miss out on the competition.
In the 2002 World Cup, Italy played Vieri as a target man, scoring an impressive four goals in four matches. In the opening match against Ecuador, he managed a brace and scored Italy's only goal in the 2-1 loss to Croatia despite having a previous goal mistakenly called out for offside. He opened the scoring in the 18th minute in the round-of-16 match against South Korea, scoring a powerful header from a Francesco Totti corner. Italy led the game until the Koreans equalised two minutes before the end. Just one minute after the Korean equaliser, Vieri missed an open goal which would have put Italy in front. Italy were eventually eliminated by South Korea by a golden goal. The only game in which he failed to find the net was against Mexico in a 1–1 draw.
Vieri was once again the main striker in Italy's ill-fated Euro 2004 campaign. However, this time he did not fare so well, scoring no goals as Italy were eliminated in the first round. It was during this tournament that his now infamous "more of a man" press conference took place, where he hit back at his critics in the Italian press by stating that he was more of a man than any of them. It is worth noting that Euro 2004 occurred at a particularly painful period of Vieri's life, when he was being spied upon by his own club Internazionale and Telecom Italia at the request of club owner Massimo Moratti. In September 2012, Inter and Telecom Italia were ordered by a Milan court to pay Vieri damages amounting to €1 million for this case of phone tapping.
More disappointment arose when, after sustaining a knee meniscus injury in a Ligue 1 match against Paris Saint-Germain on 26 March 2006, he missed the 2006 World Cup. While Vieri would not necessarily have been a starter for the side of Marcelo Lippi, Lippi acknowledged that if he had been fit, he would have selected him. He played in three tournaments, but each of them failed to win a trophy, Missing out on the Euro 2000 award for runners and the superb 2006 World Cup medal for winners.
Style of Play
Vieri, with a keen eye for goal, was a full, swift, prolific and opportunistic striker. Vieri is considered by pundits as one of the greatest Italian strikers of all time and one of the best strikers of his generation because of his notable goal-scoring prowess. His unusual style of play, which combined strength with pace and solid technique, led him to be compared to Luigi Riva in his prime, and earned him the nickname Il Toro (The Bull). However, despite his goal-scoring abilities, he was also vulnerable to injury during his career, which in later years significantly impaired his speed, health and mobility. Vieri was mostly left-footed, but with both feet, as well as with his head and volleys, he was able to score. Due to his powerful physical presence and outstanding aerial ability, he has also been described as a big, old-fashioned centre forward; he is the all-time highest scorer of headed goals in the history of the Italian league. He was also able to provide assistance to team mates on occasion, despite being mainly a goal-scoring striker, which was also assisted at times by his ability to use his power to pick up the ball and play with his back to goal in order to engage in attacking build-up plays. Although he was primarily a target-area threat, Vieri had a precise and powerful shot both from a distance and within the area; he was also a precise penalty taker.
Reception
Vieri was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA's centennial celebrations. For a couple of years he was regarded as one of the finest strikers in Europe, leading to him becoming the world's most expensive player in 1999 when Inter paid Lazio £32 million (€43 million) for him.
Goal Celebration
Christian Vieri did not have a particular goal celebration. However, in Inter Milan, he used to make a fist with his right hand and go over to the seats of die hard Inter fans and run towards the bench. His other famous goal celebration, which he often used in Italy national games, was to open his arms wide and run towards the fans.
Christian Vieri Outside Football
Vieri is featured in the FIFA video game series from EA Sports; he was on the cover of the Italian version of FIFA 99 and was named in FIFA 14 in the Ultimate Team Legends. He also appeared in the film Picasso's Face in 2000. He has also been working with Bein Sports as a pundit since 2015.
Christian Vieri Personal Life
An important part of Christian Vieri biography
is his personal life. The personal life of Christian Vieri has been the focus of a lot of media coverage in Italy. Many high-profile and controversial relationships have his name involved. As his mother, Nathalie, was born and raised in Paris, Vieri is of Italian and French descent. His father, Roberto, who played both in Italy and Australia, was also a footballer.
He has his own fashion company, Nice Years, which he runs with Paolo Maldini, a friend and former Italian and Milan team mate. In the city of Milan, the pair also own a variety of restaurants.
Another close friend of his is current Milan forward Alessandro Matri, with whom he has been seen holidaying in Spain, along with other friends. He also started another clothing brand (Baci & Abbracci) with close friend and footballer Cristian Brocchi and model Alena Šeredová.
His brother played for Australia, Massimiliano "Max" Vieri.
Family, Children and Relationships
Christian Vieri life story
is rather interesting to read. Models such as Elisabetta Canalis, Elena Santarelli, Debora Salvalaggio, Fernanda Lessa, Melissa Satta, and, among others, Jazzma Kendrick have been involved with Christian Vieri.
Vieri started a relationship with Costanza Caracciolo, an Italian showgirl, in 2017. Vieri and his wife, Caracciolo, announced the birth of their daughter, Stella, on Instagram on 18 November 2018. The pair were married in a small civil ceremony at Villa Litta Modignani, Milan's Affori ward, on 18 March 2019. The couple revealed toward the end of October of that year that they were expecting a second child.
Philanthropy
Vieri has not participated in many charity events so far, but, In 2013, Vieri made a Charity trip to Ghana along with Mara Santangelo, former professional tennis player.
Legal Issues
Christian Vieri has never been involved in any issues that had legal controversies.
Christian Vieri Career Statistics
It can offer a sense of unfulfilled potential to a review of Vieri’s career or a look at his records, and for the best part, maybe it was.
Club
Vieri has played a total number of 476 caps in club level, scoring 236 goals. He scored most of his goals for Internazionale.
International
Vieri has played 49 caps for Italy, scoring 23 goals. Vieri has scored 9 of his national goals in 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups.
Christian Vieri Honors
In his long career, Christian Vieri has had many honors. Including awards for individuals and clubs. There are several honors on the list, but they are not limited to a title in Serie A, one UEFA Super Cup, two Coppa Italias, one Intercontinental Cup, and one Italian Super Cup. He also received many individual awards, including but not limited to the Pichichi award, Serie A Footballer of the Year, two Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year awards.
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