Alberto Gilardino is an Italian professional football manager and a former player who played as a striker.
53 Facts About Alberto Gilardino
2.
Alberto Gilardino is the manager of Serie A club Genoa.
3.
Alberto Gilardino currently holds the record for being the tenth-youngest player to have scored 100 goals in Serie A, a feat which he managed at the age of 26 years and 105 days.
4.
Alberto Gilardino has played for several Italian clubs throughout his career.
5.
Alberto Gilardino first came to prominence during his time at Parma due to his consistent goalscoring, which earned him the Serie A Young Footballer of the Year Award in 2004, followed by the Serie A Footballer of the Year and the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year Awards in 2005, as well as a move to AC Milan.
6.
Alberto Gilardino has played for Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande, with whom he won the 2014 Chinese Super League.
7.
Alberto Gilardino has represented Italy at under-19, under-20, under-21, and senior levels.
8.
Alberto Gilardino was a part of the Italian side that won the 2004 UEFA Under-21 Championship, where he became the tournament's leading goalscorer.
9.
Alberto Gilardino was named as the best player of the tournament, and one of two strikers in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.
10.
Alberto Gilardino is the all-time top scorer of the Italy U-21 national team with 19 goals in 30 appearances.
11.
Resident from birth to Cossato, in the province of Biella, Alberto Gilardino started playing with Cossatese, with whom he remained until the Under-15 category of Juniors.
12.
Junior Biellese Libertas under the guidance of Luca Prina, Alberto Gilardino went to Piacenza.
13.
Alberto Gilardino was involved in a car accident which ruled him out of the season on 28 April 2001: a truck crossed his car off the road and ended up in the river Sile, but he managed to abandon it before it sank.
14.
Alberto Gilardino nonetheless made 24 league appearances and scored four goals, as well as one goal in the Coppa Italia.
15.
Alberto Gilardino scored in a playoff match against Bologna, bringing his total haul to 24 goals.
16.
Alberto Gilardino scored his first goal for the Rossoneri in a match against Sampdoria.
17.
Later, Alberto Gilardino described the last few months spent at Milan as the worst of his career, while stressing the positive aspects of his experience in Milan and his estimate for the Rossoneri.
18.
At Fiorentina, Alberto Gilardino was reunited by former Parma teammates Adrian Mutu, Sebastien Frey and Marco Donadel, as well as his former manager at Parma, Cesare Prandelli.
19.
Alberto Gilardino insisted the handball was unintentional, claiming it was caused by defender Paolo Dellafiore.
20.
On this occasion, Alberto Gilardino scored ten goals in European competitions for Fiorentina, equalling the record set by Gabriel Batistuta.
21.
Alberto Gilardino later said the goal at Anfield was the most important goal of his career.
22.
Alberto Gilardino chose 82 as his shirt number, as his number 11 was occupied by Bosko Jankovic.
23.
Alberto Gilardino made his debut with the shirt Emilian on 1 September 2012 in the lost game against Milan, succeeding Robert Acquafresca.
24.
Alberto Gilardino finished the season with 13 goals in 35 matches.
25.
Alberto Gilardino signed a contract with the Chinese side until 31 December 2016 for an amount of 10 million.
26.
Alberto Gilardino finished his 2014 CSL season in Guangzhou with 5 goals in 14 matches, as Guangzhou won the Chinese Super League title for the fourth consecutive season.
27.
Alberto Gilardino finished the second half season with 4 goals in 14 matches.
28.
Alberto Gilardino scored the second goal of the season in the game against Inter Milan, making his eighth goal against the Nerazzurri.
29.
Alberto Gilardino tied the record for the most different clubs scored against in Serie A, which he now holds alongside Francesco Totti and Roberto Baggio.
30.
Alberto Gilardino finished the season with 10 Serie A goals in 33 matches.
31.
On 7 July 2016, Alberto Gilardino signed with Empoli on a two-year contract.
32.
Alberto Gilardino spent six months at the club, making 16 appearances across all competitions and scoring one goal.
33.
Alberto Gilardino left the club by the end of the season and, on 20 September 2018, announced his retirement.
34.
In September 2018, Alberto Gilardino received his UEFA A and UEFA B coaching licences.
35.
On 7 October 2018, Alberto Gilardino was named assistant coach and technical director of Serie D club Rezzato alongside head coach Luca Prina.
36.
On 28 February 2019, Alberto Gilardino was promoted to head coach of Rezzato, with Prina demoted to the supervisory role.
37.
On 11 July 2019, Alberto Gilardino was appointed manager of Pro Vercelli.
38.
On 1 July 2022, Alberto Gilardino was unveiled as the new head of Genoa Primavera, the Under-19 team of the Rossoblu.
39.
On 6 December 2022, Alberto Gilardino was temporarily promoted as head coach following the dismissal of Alexander Blessin from the Serie B side.
40.
Alberto Gilardino played for Italy at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, winning a bronze medal; he scored a decisive goal against Iraq in the match for third place.
41.
Alberto Gilardino led Italy's under-21 team to victory in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, being named the best player and top scorer of the tournament with four goals.
42.
Alberto Gilardino is currently the all-time top scorer for the Italy national under-21 team, with 19 goals in 30 matches.
43.
Alberto Gilardino was a member of the 23-man Italy squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
44.
Alberto Gilardino returned to the national team on 20 August 2008 following Lippi's reappointment on the Azzurri bench.
45.
Alberto Gilardino played a friendly match against New Zealand in Pretoria, South Africa days before Italy's first match, netting two goals and displaying a wonderful performance.
46.
Alberto Gilardino was part of the Italian 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.
47.
On 29 March 2011, Alberto Gilardino was made captain in a friendly match between Ukraine-Italy held in Kiev, 30 years since a Fiorentina player last held the Azzurri captaincy.
48.
On 7 October 2012, after an absence of over a year, Alberto Gilardino was called up again for the 2014 World Cup qualifying matches against Armenia and Denmark.
49.
Alberto Gilardino is naturally right-footed, but in his early years at Parma, he was able to improve his ability with his left foot.
50.
Shortly after getting his drivers license in April 2001, Alberto Gilardino was driving two sisters, Silvia and Cosetta Puppinato, back to their home in Treviso when he veered his Volkswagen Golf off the road and plunged into a canal.
51.
Alberto Gilardino is close friends with former Milan teammate Daniele Bonera; they were teammates at Parma.
52.
Alberto Gilardino once dedicated one of his goals to Daniele's baby daughter Talitha.
53.
Alberto Gilardino became engaged to Alice Bregoli on 31 March 2006 and had their first baby, a girl named Ginevra, on 2 March 2008.