Today is the 41st birthday of David Trezeguet, Juventus’ all-time leading foreign goalscorer.
Born in Rouen, France while his father Jorge was playing for FC Rouen, Trezeguet grew up in his parents’ native Argentina.
His father was a defender during his playing career, but would take the young David to watch River Plate matches and tell him to keep his eye on the strikers.
Today is the 41st birthday of David Trezeguet, Juventus’ all-time leading foreign goalscorer.
Born in Rouen, France while his father Jorge was playing for FC Rouen, Trezeguet grew up in his parents’ native Argentina.
His father was a defender during his playing career, but would take the young David to watch River Plate matches and tell him to keep his eye on the strikers.
Perhaps that’s why Trezeguet junior became a natural goalscorer, playing five games for Platense before joining Monaco in 1995 after scoring five times during a trial match.
After initially struggling to break into the first team the striker became a regular in the 1997-98 season, scoring 24 goals in 41 games and earning a place in the France squad for the 1998 World Cup.
While he and Monaco teammate Thierry Henry saw limited game time, Trezeguet did score against Saudi Arabia in a group stage match.
He returned to the principality to win Ligue 1 in the following season, and retained his place in the French squad for Euro 2000.
It was in that tournament that Trezeguet really came of age, scoring a ‘golden goal’ winner against Italy in the final.
Though he broke Azzurri hearts, the striker caught the attention of Juventus who paid 45 billion lire to sign the 22-year-old from Monaco.
Initially seen as a backup to Filippo Inzaghi, Trezeguet broke into Carlo Ancelotti’s team toward the end of the season and ended his debut Serie A campaign with 14 goals in just 25 appearances.
With the Bianconeri hierarchy impressed with their new signing, Inzaghi was sold to Milan in the summer of 2001 and Trezeguet became the main man.
The Frenchman immediately formed a devastating partnership with Alessandro Del Piero, getting 32 goals in all competitions as Juve won the Scudetto under Marcello Lippi.
Del Piero got 21 of his own in that campaign, and their partnership would be a fixture for the Old Lady for the best part of a decade.
Despite struggling with injuries, Trezeguet would win another league title in the following season, as well as a further two under Fabio Capello, though they were later revoked in the Calciopoli scandal.
The crucial game in the first of those disputed title wins was a 1-0 win over Milan, and featured a classic example of the understanding with Del Piero.
The Italian saw his cross blocked on the left-hand side of the penalty box, with the ball spinning up in the air.
Few in the stadium could have predicted that Pinturicchio would send in his cross at the second time of asking with an audacious overhead kick but, as ever, ‘Trezegol’ was on the same wavelength.
The Frenchman reacted quickest to head the ball beyond Dida and effectively secure the Scudetto.
The summer of 2006 was a turbulent one for everyone associated with Juventus, and Trezeguet in particular.
Not only were the Bianconeri relegated to Serie B as a result of the Calciopoli scandal, the Frenchman missed the crucial penalty in the World Cup final as Italy triumphed in the shoot-out.
Trezeguet opted to remain in Turin, scoring 15 goals in the second division as the Old Lady returned to Serie A at the first time of asking.
He bagged 20 goals on his return to the top flight, finishing second in the goalscoring charts – behind Del Piero.
A groin injury limited Trezeguet to just eight appearances in the following season, and after seven goals in 19 games in 2009-10 he was released from the final year of his contract.
A respectable spell at Hercules followed, and it appeared the striker was heading for retirement when he signed for Baniyas in Abu Dhabi.
The Frenchman had one last childhood dream to complete though, and after only four games in the Middle East he answered the call from River Plate, his boyhood team.
The Argentine giants had just been relegated to the Primera B Nacional, and Trezeguet scored 13 goals in 19 league games to fire them back to the big time.
Limited game time in the Primera Division was followed by a brief spell at Newell’s Old Boys and a sojourn in the Indian Super League before Trezeguet finally hung up his boots.
He ended his career as Juventus’ all-time top foreign goalscorer with 171 goals in 318 games, putting him fourth on the overall list behind Roberto Bettega, Giampiero Boniperti and, of course, Alessandro Del Piero.
Trezeguet is also currently France’s third top-goalscorer of all time with 34 goals in 71 caps, behind Thierry Henry and Michel Platini.
Though Henry may have out-scored him for Les Bleus, he named Trezeguet as the best finisher he ever played with.
"David Trezeguet, hands down, is the best finisher that I've ever seen," the Arsenal legend told Sky Sports UK in 2017.
"The goal he scored [against Italy] at the Euros – he's taking a step back, and to generate that power with your left foot… if it was me I don't know where the ball would have gone."