FIFA World Cup™ Germany 2006 player's profile

Alessandro Nesta, together with Gianluigi Buffon and Francesco Totti, is an integral part of the backbone of the Italy team. The three also have something else in common. They were all promoted to the senior Azzurri side at a young age and their achievements in the sport have matched their tremendous potential.
This bodes well for Italy at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ if you consider the similar career paths followed by the Azzurri's most capped player, Paolo Maldini, as well as two defensive mainstays for Italy at Spain 82, Inter Milan’s Giuseppe Bergomi and AC Milan’s Franco Baresi. If Italy are to enjoy a successful FIFA World Cup, then they will rely heavily on Nesta, a defender whose name sits easily alongside Italian greats from the past.

Nesta made his Serie A debut for Lazio in 1994 and was part of the youth team that won the national championship in 1994/95. He soon became a fixture in the Lazio defence and was appointed club captain in 1997. Silverware soon followed with victories in the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999 and the UEFA Super Cup.

Title joy
However, the jewel in the crown was the Serie A title won in 2000, only the second in Lazio’s history. Nesta was transferred to AC Milan during the summer of 2002 to join a defensive rearguard already boasting the likes of Maldini and Brazil legend Cafu. He settled in quickly and, despite a slight loss of form last season, remains a key figure for the Rossoneri.

Nesta’s FIFA World Cup experiences have not quite reached the same heights. At France 98, Nesta was struck by a serious injury in his side’s second group game against Austria. He was no more fortunate at Korea/Japan 2002, when injury forced him to miss the second-round defeat by Korea Republic.

The UEFA European Championship has been a more fruitful hunting ground. Nesta’s defensive partnership with Fabio Cannavaro played a decisive role in Italy’s march to the final of EURO 2000. His collection of honours also includes a winners’ medal from the UEFA European U-21 Championship in Spain in 1996. He was part of the Azzurri squad at EURO 96 that same summer but did not make an appearance.

Nesta is a world-class defender thanks to a potent mix of timing, speed, strength and agility. His weaknesses are only exposed by strong and agile attackers, as Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic has shown when playing against him in Serie A. With the central-defensive pairing of Nesta and Cannavaro now in their 30s, Germany 2006 may well be their last chance of victory in the FIFA World Cup. It is an opportunity that both men will be keen to grasp.

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UEFA Champions League 2005-06 player's profile

Regarded as one of the best defenders in Europe, Alessandro Nesta is powerful yet extremely mobile. His elegance conceals his toughness and he possesses an impeccable positional sense.

National team
Starred for Cesare Maldini's UEFA European Under-21 Championship-winning Azzurini in 1996, before winning a late call-up to the senior squad for EURO '96™. Nesta made his debut later that year and subsequently helped Italy to reach the final of UEFA EURO 2000™, where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament, and played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Nesta also played three times at UEFA EURO 2004™ and continued to partner Fabio Cannavaro in central defence as the Azzurri began their bid to reach the 2006 World Cup finals.

Club
Born in the Italian capital, the defender was first given a trial at S.S. Lazio as a ten-year-old, and until his move north to AC Milan had spent his entire senior career at the Stadio Olimpico, where he was a hero to the supporters. A first-team regular from 1995/96, Nesta became the first player in the club's history to lift a European trophy when they claimed the last UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1999, and the following season led the team to the Serie A title.

2002: When Lazio fans heard of Nesta's €30.2m transfer deadline day move to Milan in August 2002, they demonstrated on the streets of Rome. He was superb in the UEFA Champions League for his new club, making 14 appearances including a fine performance in the final defeat by Juventus FC. He also helped the Rossoneri lift the Coppa Italia, and was the cornerstone of the defence that enabled Milan to clinch the Serie A title the following year.

2004/05: Nesta had another good season as Milan finished runners-up in both the Champions League and Serie A.

Did you know?
Nesta was first noticed by current Italy U17 coach Francesco Rocca, then an AS Roma scout. Nesta's father, a Lazio fan, turned down the club's offer.

©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

UEFA EURO 2004™ player's profile

Regarded as one of the best defenders in Europe, Alessandro Nesta is powerful yet extremely mobile. His elegance conceals his toughness and he possesses an impeccable positional sense.

National team
He first starred for Cesare Maldini's UEFA European Under-21 Championship-winning Azzurini in 1996, and he was called into the senior squad for EURO 96™ following the withdrawal of Ciro Ferrara but did not play. Nesta made his debut later that year and subsequently helped Italy to reach the final of UEFA EURO 2000™, where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament, and played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Like Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro, Nesta played in all of Italy's eight UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifying matches. He also played all three finals games, as Italy departed unbeaten having conceded just two goals.

Club
Born in the Italian capital, the defender was first given a trial at Lazio as a ten-year-old, and until his move north to AC Milan had spent his entire senior career at the Stadio Olimpico, where he was a hero to the supporters. A first-team regular from the 1995/96 season, Nesta became the first player in the club's history to lift a European trophy when they claimed the last UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1999, and the following season led the team to the Serie A title.

2002: When Lazio fans heard of Nesta's €30.2m transfer deadline day move to Milan in August 2002, they demonstrated on the streets of Rome. He was superb in the UEFA Champions League for his new club, making 14 appearances including a fine performance in the final defeat to Juventus FC. He also helped the Rossoneri lift the Coppa Italia.

2003/04: A key figure in Milan's record-breaking season, Nesta played 26 league games and formed a formidable partnership with Paolo Maldini. The pair had one off night, however, when Milan crashed out of the Champions League against a rampant RC Deportivo La Coruña.

Did you know?
Nesta was selected in the uefa.com users' Team of 2002.

©uefa.com 1998-2006. All rights reserved.

BBC's UEFA EURO 2004 player's profile

Alessandro Nesta is one of world's best central defenders and has been an Italy team regular since Euro 96.

A boyhood Lazio fan, he made his debut for the Roman club aged just 17 and was handed the captain's armband in 1997.

Nesta's commanding performances for Lazio saw him earn a starting spot at France '98 but injury ended his tournament prematurely.

Back to his best at Euro 2000, he played a starring role as Italy narrowly lost to France in the final.

Nesta settled quickly after joining AC Milan in 2002, winning the Champions League and Coppa Italia in his first season and the Serie A title this year.

Strong, quick and a superb reader of the game, he will partner Inter's Fabio Cannavaro at the back for Italy.

©bbc.co.uk 2004. All rights reserved.