Gianluca Pessotto Career Biography and Statistics

Bio:
Gianluca Pessotto was a well-traveled, versatile, Italian soccer player. Able to line up at either fullback or midfield, Pessotto played for five different teams during his first six years. He finally found a home with Juventus in 1995, and he stayed with the club until the end of his career in 2006.

Pessotto was born on August 11, 1970 in Latisana, Italy. He began his career with A.C. Milan but never progressed past the organization’s youth club. Once he turned pro in 1989, Pessotto moved through five separate teams until 1995: Varese (1989-91), Massese (1991-92), Bologna (1992-93), Hellas Verona (1993-94), and Torino (1994-95). Pessotto’s traveling finally came to an end in 1995 when he moved to Juventus.

Pessotto played the best soccer of his career during his eleven seasons with Juventus. He brought toughness and experience to Juventus, but saw limited action towards the end of his career due to injury. He won numerous trophies, championships, and cup titles with Juventus, including six Serie A Championships (1997-98, 2002-03, 2005-06), four Italian Super Cups (1997-98 and 2002-03), and the UEFA Champions League in 1996. In the international scene Pessotto was capped (appeared) 22 times, playing in the 1998 World Cup and the Euro 2000. Pessotto decided to retire from soccer after the 2005-06 season. He played professional soccer for 16 years, spending the last 11 years of his career at Juventus.

However, Pessotto still made news in 2006 when he fell from the fourth story window of Juventus’ club headquarters. He somehow survived the fall despite suffering internal bleeding and several fractures. Some believe that Pessotto was attempting to commit suicide due to investigations into to legal matters at Juventus, and also because Pessotto was discovered to be holding a rosary. However, no substantial proof has been discovered to support the suicide theory and, in fact, no theory has been proven.