161-667: The European Sports Media ( ESM ), formerly European Sports Magazines , is an association of football-related publications in Europe . European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine founding members were: A Bola (Portuguese), Don Balón (Spanish), Sport/Foot Magazine (Belgium), La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italian), kicker (German), Onze Mondial (French), Sport (Switzerland), Voetbal International (Dutch), World Soccer (English). ESM membership has varied over time. Former members also include France Football . ESM presents
322-411: A 26th time on 5 May 2002, the last match day of the season; Juventus won the title over Roma and Inter Milan by a single point, after a 2–0 away victory over Udinese, with goals from top-scorer Trezeguet and Del Piero. Del Piero managed 21 goals in all competitions, also scoring his 100th and 101st goals for Juventus that season, against Venezia , on 26 August 2001. Del Piero also helped Juventus reach
483-446: A 2–0 away loss against Wellington Phoenix . Del Piero scored his first goal for the club from a free-kick in 3–2 loss to Newcastle Jets on 13 October, in his first home game for Sydney. The match against Newcastle featured hero-cam, which allowed the viewer to track Del Piero's movements with one camera throughout the game. On 20 October, Del Piero scored the winning goal against Western Sydney Wanderers FC (1–0), making history with
644-649: A 2–1 win over Brescia on 27 April 2003. In the UEFA Champions League, Juventus were placed in Group E alongside Newcastle United , Dynamo Kyiv , and Feyenoord . Del Piero opened up his account in European competitions that season when he scored his side's second goal in a 5–0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv on 24 September, after combining with Nedvěd and Mauro Camoranesi . On the next matchday, Juventus played host to Newcastle on 1 October and Del Piero hit
805-414: A 3–2 win against Genoa . Del Piero finished the season as the all-time top scorer for Juventus, having scored over 250 goals in all competitions with the club, and having also made over 600 appearances in official matches for Juventus, breaking Scirea's appearance record. On 14 March 2010, Del Piero recorded his 300th and 301st career goals during a 3–3 draw with Siena, with the first two goals coming in
966-871: A German naturalist, Peter Simon Pallas , as a valley that once connected the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and subsequently was proposed as a natural boundary between continents. By the mid-19th century, there were three main conventions, one following the Don, the Volga–Don Canal and the Volga, the other following the Kuma–Manych Depression to the Caspian and then the Ural River, and the third abandoning
1127-643: A Semitic term for west , this being either Akkadian erebu meaning 'to go down, set' (said of the sun) or Phoenician 'ereb 'evening, west', which is at the origin of Arabic maghreb and Hebrew ma'arav . Martin Litchfield West stated that "phonologically, the match between Europa's name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor", while Beekes considers a connection to Semitic languages improbable. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to
1288-818: A boundary along the Terek and Kuban rivers, so southwards from the Kuma and the Manych, but still with the Caucasus entirely in Asia. However, most geographers in the Soviet Union favoured the boundary along the Caucasus crest, and this became the common convention in the later 20th century, although the Kuma–Manych boundary remained in use in some 20th-century maps. Some view the separation of Eurasia into Asia and Europe as
1449-635: A brace and setting up Claudio Marchisio for the youngster's third goal of the season to end their run of seven winless matches in Serie A. Juventus then went on to defeat Lazio 2–0 and clinch the second place spot in Serie A over Milan, determined by their head-to-head record. On 17 July 2009, Del Piero extended his contract with Juventus by one more year until 30 June 2011 in Pinzolo while training for pre-season, thus practically ensuring that he would retire at
1610-438: A brace to help his club maintain the top spot in their group. Juventus advanced to the second group stage where the club managed to progress, along with Manchester United , on goal differential over FC Basel and Deportivo de La Coruña . Juventus then saw off Barcelona in the quarter-finals through an extra time goal by Marcelo Zalayeta , and faced Spanish opposition again in the likes of defending champions Real Madrid in
1771-582: A common currency, the euro , and participate in the European single market and a customs union . A large bloc of countries, the Schengen Area , have also abolished internal border and immigration controls. Regular popular elections take place every five years within the EU; they are considered to be the second-largest democratic elections in the world after India's . The EU is the third-largest economy in
SECTION 10
#17327721663121932-521: A disappointing sixth place. Juventus did manage to reach the semi-finals of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League , losing out to eventual champions Manchester United. Following his serious injury, Del Piero underwent a muscle strengthening regime in order to adapt to the increasingly more physical and athletic demands of twenty-first century football, which allowed him to compensate for the loss of some of his pace and agility. Due to his dramatic weight gain and physical development during this period, as well as
2093-481: A friendly match being former England defender Gary Neville 's testimonial match. Del Piero was substituted after 65 minutes to a standing ovation from the United supporters. Juventus confirmed on 18 October 2011 that the 2011–12 Serie A would be Del Piero's last season with the club. The 2011–12 season under new manager Antonio Conte , his former Juventus teammate, saw Del Piero being used sparingly, and mainly as
2254-543: A hat-trick in a 0–4 away win over Atalanta . On the final weekend of the 2007–08 season , Del Piero scored a brace against Sampdoria in a 3–3 draw. These two goals were crucial, as it took him to 21 goals for the season, thus winning him the Capocannonieri prize in Serie A for the first time in his illustrious career, beating the likes of teammate David Trezeguet (20 goals) and Marco Borriello (19 goals), also matching his highest seasonal tally in Serie A since
2415-611: A historic moment for football in Australia, I wouldn't like to go into the details of the contract, but this does represent the largest professional sporting contract in Australian history and the numbers that have been discussed aren't too far off the mark." Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley said that this signing would be crucial for the growth of Australian Football, both economically and technically. Ian Crook , manager of Sydney FC, said he would build
2576-433: A joint career best of 21 goals in Serie A, and finished top scorer in the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League with 10 goals, one of which included a freekick and a hat-trick against Monaco in the semi-finals. With these goals, he helped Juventus to reach their third consecutive Champions League final , although Del Piero was not fully fit for the match, and Juventus were once again defeated, falling 1–0 to Real Madrid from
2737-615: A lap of honour around the pitch. This was Alessandro Del Piero's final Serie A appearance for Juventus. Del Piero's final match for Juventus was in the Coppa Italia Final on 20 May against Napoli, which ended in a 2–0 victory to the Neapolitans. Del Piero was substituted in the 67th minute for Vučinić as his Juventus career came to an end; he received a standing ovation from both the Juventus and Napoli fans. Following
2898-406: A large land mass completely or almost completely surrounded by water at its borders. Prior to the adoption of the current convention that includes mountain divides, the border between Europe and Asia had been redefined several times since its first conception in classical antiquity , but always as a series of rivers, seas and straits that were believed to extend an unknown distance east and north from
3059-454: A match against Milan at the San Siro . Del Piero also helped Juventus to reach the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League , only losing out to eventual champions Liverpool . Several journalists and coaches believed that Del Piero was back to his best form in the 2005–06 Serie A , as he managed 12 goals in Serie A, and 20 goals in all competitions, helping Juventus to defend
3220-407: A new part of the world where I can make a major contribution and help grow the game I love." After the announcement of the transfer to Sydney FC, Juventus wished good luck to their former captain. Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi said they were saddened by his departure. Sydney FC chairman Scott Barlow said: "The signing of Alessandro Del Piero is a big moment for this club and, we believe,
3381-763: A precise eastern boundary of Europe arises in the Early Modern period, as the eastern extension of Muscovy began to include North Asia . Throughout the Middle Ages and into the 18th century, the traditional division of the landmass of Eurasia into two continents, Europe and Asia, followed Ptolemy, with the boundary following the Turkish Straits , the Black Sea , the Kerch Strait , the Sea of Azov and
SECTION 20
#17327721663123542-711: A residue of Eurocentrism : "In physical, cultural and historical diversity, China and India are comparable to the entire European landmass, not to a single European country. [...]." During the 2.5 million years of the Pleistocene , numerous cold phases called glacials ( Quaternary ice age ), or significant advances of continental ice sheets, in Europe and North America, occurred at intervals of approximately 40,000 to 100,000 years. The long glacial periods were separated by more temperate and shorter interglacials which lasted about 10,000–15,000 years. The last cold episode of
3703-685: A result, the Reconquista took the greater part of eight hundred years, in which period a long list of Alfonsos, Sanchos, Ordoños, Ramiros, Fernandos, and Bermudos would be fighting their Christian rivals as much as the Muslim invaders. During the Dark Ages, the Western Roman Empire fell under the control of various tribes. The Germanic and Slav tribes established their domains over Western and Eastern Europe, respectively. Eventually
3864-601: A season with Delhi Dynamos FC in the Indian Super League . Del Piero has scored in every competition in which he has participated. In 2004, he was named in the FIFA 100 , a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA 's centenary celebrations. In the same year, he was also voted into the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll , a list of the 50 best European players of
4025-432: A strike by Predrag Mijatović on 20 May. Domestic success, however, was achieved that season, after a tight battle with Inter Milan , as Juventus celebrated its 25th Serie A title over their Italian rivals, with Del Piero scoring a memorable and decisive individual match-winning goal during the controversial Derby d'Italia match. Del Piero also managed a goal in the 1997–98 Coppa Italia that season, helping Juventus to
4186-475: A substitute, because of the summer arrival of forward Mirko Vučinić from Roma. In the club's opening match of the season against Parma on 11 September, he assisted Simone Pepe 's goal in an eventual 4–1 home win. Del Piero scored his first goal in the new Juventus Stadium on 24 January 2012, in a 3–0 win over Roma in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia . Later in the season, Del Piero stated that he
4347-743: Is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere . It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Asia and Africa . Europe is commonly considered to be separated from Asia by
4508-401: Is also evidence that Homo sapiens arrived in Europe around 54,000 years ago, some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. The earliest sites in Europe dated 48,000 years ago are Riparo Mochi (Italy), Geissenklösterle (Germany) and Isturitz (France). The European Neolithic period—marked by the cultivation of crops and the raising of livestock, increased numbers of settlements and
4669-491: Is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker , although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia . A technically gifted and creative supporting forward who was also a free-kick specialist , Del Piero won the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award in 1998 and 2008 and received multiple nominations for
4830-488: Is closest to Anatolia (or Asia Minor), but is considered part of Europe politically and it is a member state of the EU. Malta was considered an island of North-western Africa for centuries, but now it is considered to be part of Europe as well. "Europe", as used specifically in British English , may also refer to Continental Europe exclusively. The term "continent" usually implies the physical geography of
4991-562: Is generally considered a transcontinental country divided entirely by water, while Russia and Kazakhstan are only partly divided by waterways. France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain are also transcontinental (or more properly, intercontinental, when oceans or large seas are involved) in that their main land areas are in Europe while pockets of their territories are located on other continents separated from Europe by large bodies of water. Spain, for example, has territories south of
European Sports Media - Misplaced Pages Continue
5152-550: Is sometimes considered to mark the end of antiquity; alternatively antiquity is considered to end with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE; the closure of the pagan Platonic Academy of Athens in 529 CE; or the rise of Islam in the early 7th century CE. During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe. During
5313-422: Is somewhat arbitrary and inconsistent compared to any clear-cut definition of the term "continent". The current division of Eurasia into two continents now reflects East-West cultural, linguistic and ethnic differences which vary on a spectrum rather than with a sharp dividing line. The geographic border between Europe and Asia does not follow any state boundaries and now only follows a few bodies of water. Turkey
5474-477: Is the largest and most populous , spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a total population of about 745 million (about 10% of the world population ) in 2021; the third-largest after Asia and Africa. The European climate is affected by warm Atlantic currents, such as the Gulf Stream , which produce a temperate climate , tempering winters and summers, on much of
5635-456: Is the fans, you who are Juventus. That jersey that I loved and will always love, that I desired and respected ... From tomorrow I will no longer be a Juventus player, but I will always be one of you. Now a new adventure begins and I am as fired up as I was 19 summers ago." On 5 September 2012, Del Piero signed a two-year deal with Sydney FC . He was paid approximately AU$ 3.5 million for each of his first two seasons, and therefore became
5796-536: Is the joint fourth highest scorer for the Italy national team , with 27 goals, alongside Roberto Baggio , and behind only Silvio Piola with 30 goals, Giuseppe Meazza with 33 goals, and Luigi Riva with 35 goals; with 91 appearances for Italy between 1995 and 2008, he is also his nation's eleventh-most capped player of all-time . In his career Del Piero scored 462 goals. Del Piero was born in Conegliano , Veneto,
5957-495: Is the seventeenth highest UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer , with 42 goals. Del Piero refused the board's offer to retire the No. 10 shirt in his honour, saying: "I've really had so much that I would never want it to be retired, this way, every child can dream one day of wearing it." On 30 June, Del Piero wrote an open letter to the Juventus fans thanking them for almost two decades of support, stating: "Above all what remains
6118-483: The 1995–96 season , Del Piero was awarded Baggio's No. 10 squad number , which had also previously belonged to Michel Platini , following his departure to A.C. Milan . Del Piero scored 6 goals and provided 10 assists in Serie A, although Juventus finished the season in second place behind Milan. Del Piero did manage to capture the Supercoppa Italiana in 1995 , over Parma, setting up Vialli's only goal of
6279-419: The 1998–99 Serie A with a 2–1 defeat in the 1998 Supercoppa Italiana at the hands of Lazio , although Del Piero was able to score from a penalty. On 8 November 1998, Del Piero picked up a serious knee injury in the final minutes of a 2–2 draw with Udinese ; this kept him out of action for the remainder of the season, as he managed only 2 goals. The club struggled without him, finishing the league season in
6440-491: The 2000–01 Serie A title once again, this time to Roma . Juventus and Del Piero began the season strongly, and Del Piero scored the winner on his season debut against Napoli on 30 September, although he later suffered another injury and fell out of form, failing to score. On 18 February 2001, Del Piero broke his goal drought, scoring in an away win over Bari . Del Piero celebrated the goal by dedicating it to his father, who had recently died. Del Piero refound his form towards
6601-590: The Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year . A prolific goal-scorer, he is currently the second highest all-time Italian top-scorer in all competitions , with 346 goals, behind only Silvio Piola , with 390 goals; he is also the joint ninth highest goalscorer in Serie A history , with 188 goals, alongside Giuseppe Signori and Alberto Gilardino . After beginning his career with Italian club Padova in Serie B in 1991, he moved to Juventus in 1993, where he played for 19 seasons (11 as captain ), and holds
European Sports Media - Misplaced Pages Continue
6762-574: The Bravo Award (as the best U-23 player in European Competitions), and placed 4th in the 1996 Ballon d'Or for the second consecutive year. Del Piero also captured his second Serie A title with Juventus that season, and helped lead Juventus to their second consecutive Champions League final , although he was unable to start the match due to injury. During the group stage, en route to the final, he helped Juventus to qualify for
6923-845: The Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. From that time, the term designated the sphere of influence of the Western Church , as opposed to both the Eastern Orthodox churches and to the Islamic world . A cultural definition of Europe as the lands of Latin Christendom coalesced in the 8th century, signifying the new cultural condominium created through the confluence of Germanic traditions and Christian-Latin culture, defined partly in contrast with Byzantium and Islam , and limited to northern Iberia ,
7084-629: The Coppa Italia , and the UEFA Cup , scoring 5 goals, which all came in Serie A , as Juventus finished the season in second place in the league. The 1994–95 Serie A season saw Marcello Lippi take over as Juventus manager, as well as the introduction of a new team of directors, made up of Giraudo, Roberto Bettega , and Luciano Moggi ; Del Piero played a more prominent role for the club that season following Roberto Baggio 's injury in November against Padova . Del Piero temporarily took his place in
7245-527: The Coppa Italia final that season, although Juventus were defeated by Parma. Juventus's title success in 2002 enabled the club to automatically qualify for the UEFA Champions League the following season. Juventus began the 2002–03 season by winning the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana over Parma, with Del Piero scoring two goals, and Juventus were also able to successfully defend their Serie A title . Del Piero scored his 100th goal in Serie A in
7406-517: The Don (ancient Tanais ). But maps produced during the 16th to 18th centuries tended to differ in how to continue the boundary beyond the Don bend at Kalach-na-Donu (where it is closest to the Volga, now joined with it by the Volga–Don Canal ), into territory not described in any detail by the ancient geographers. Around 1715, Herman Moll produced a map showing the northern part of the Ob River and
7567-573: The European population at the time. The plague had a devastating effect on Europe's social structure; it induced people to live for the moment as illustrated by Giovanni Boccaccio in The Decameron (1353). It was a serious blow to the Roman Catholic Church and led to increased persecution of Jews , beggars and lepers . The plague is thought to have returned every generation with varying virulence and mortalities until
7728-512: The Greeks and Phoenicians gave rise to early Mediterranean cities. Early Iron Age Italy and Greece from around the 8th century BCE gradually gave rise to historical Classical antiquity, whose beginning is sometimes dated to 776 BCE, the year of the first Olympic Games . Ancient Greece was the founding culture of Western civilisation. Western democratic and rationalist culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece. The Greek city-state,
7889-636: The Inquisition against heretics. In the Iberian Peninsula , the Reconquista concluded with the fall of Granada in 1492 , ending over seven centuries of Islamic rule in the south-western peninsula. In the east, a resurgent Byzantine Empire recaptured Crete and Cyprus from the Muslims, and reconquered the Balkans. Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe from the 9th to
8050-801: The Iron Curtain , with NATO in the West and the Warsaw Pact in the East . This divide ended with the Revolutions of 1989 , the fall of the Berlin Wall , and the dissolution of the Soviet Union , which allowed European integration to advance significantly. European integration is being advanced institutionally since 1948 with the founding of the Council of Europe , and significantly through
8211-733: The Irtysh River , a major tributary of the Ob, as components of a series of partly-joined waterways taking the boundary between Europe and Asia from the Turkish Straits, and the Don River all the way to the Arctic Ocean. In 1721, he produced a more up to date map that was easier to read. However, his proposal to adhere to major rivers as the line of demarcation was never taken up by other geographers who were beginning to move away from
SECTION 50
#17327721663128372-479: The Mediterranean Sea —namely, Ceuta and Melilla —which are parts of Africa and share a border with Morocco. According to the current convention, Georgia and Azerbaijan are transcontinental countries where waterways have been completely replaced by mountains as the divide between continents. The first recorded usage of Eurṓpē as a geographic term is in the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo , in reference to
8533-708: The Megalithic Temples of Malta and Stonehenge , were constructed throughout Western and Southern Europe. The modern native populations of Europe largely descend from three distinct lineages: Mesolithic hunter-gatherers , descended from populations associated with the Paleolithic Epigravettian culture; Neolithic Early European Farmers who migrated from Anatolia during the Neolithic Revolution 9,000 years ago; and Yamnaya Steppe herders who expanded into Europe from
8694-427: The Neandertal valley in Germany ) appeared in Europe 150,000 years ago (115,000 years ago it is found already in the territory of present-day Poland ) and disappeared from the fossil record about 40,000 years ago, with their final refuge being the Iberian Peninsula. The Neanderthals were supplanted by modern humans ( Cro-Magnons ), who seem to have appeared in Europe around 43,000 to 40,000 years ago. However, there
8855-432: The Pechenegs and the Cuman-Kipchaks , caused a massive migration of Slavic populations to the safer, heavily forested regions of the north, and temporarily halted the expansion of the Rus' state to the south and east. Like many other parts of Eurasia , these territories were overrun by the Mongols . The invaders, who became known as Tatars , were mostly Turkic-speaking peoples under Mongol suzerainty. They established
9016-409: The Pontic–Caspian steppe of Ukraine and southern Russia in the context of Indo-European migrations 5,000 years ago. The European Bronze Age began c. 3200 BCE in Greece with the Minoan civilisation on Crete , the first advanced civilisation in Europe. The Minoans were followed by the Myceneans , who collapsed suddenly around 1200 BCE, ushering the European Iron Age . Iron Age colonisation by
9177-406: The Serbian Principality (later Kingdom and Empire ), and the Duchy of Croatia (later Kingdom of Croatia ). To the east, Kievan Rus' expanded from its capital in Kiev to become the largest state in Europe by the 10th century. In 988, Vladimir the Great adopted Orthodox Christianity as the religion of state. Further east, Volga Bulgaria became an Islamic state in the 10th century, but
9338-508: The Supercoppa Italiana , with 3 goals in 6 appearances. He is the club's top-scorer in Serie B , with 21 goals, and the club's second highest scorer in the Coppa Italia , with 25 goals, behind Pietro Anastasi . Alongside Giuseppe Signori and Alberto Gilardino , Del Piero is also the ninth highest all-time goalscorer in Serie A , and he is currently the joint all-time top scorer in the Supercoppa Italiana, alongside Samuel Eto'o , Andriy Shevchenko , and Carlos Tevez . As of April 2023, he
9499-494: The UEFA Champions League the following season. Before the season, Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri remarked that Del Piero would have as good a season, or an even better one, than the previous term. In August 2008, Del Piero announced that he would try to keep playing professional football with Juventus until he turned 40. Juventus were drawn into the same Champions League group as Real Madrid , and UEFA Cup winners Zenit Saint Petersburg . Del Piero marked Juventus's return to
9660-426: The decline of the Roman Empire , Europe entered a long period of change arising from what historians call the " Age of Migrations ". There were numerous invasions and migrations amongst the Ostrogoths , Visigoths , Goths , Vandals , Huns , Franks , Angles , Saxons , Slavs , Avars , Bulgars , Vikings , Pechenegs , Cumans , and Magyars . Renaissance thinkers such as Petrarch would later refer to this as
9821-465: The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE, Christian consolidation of Europe in the wake of the Migration Period marked the European post-classical Middle Ages . The Italian Renaissance spread in the continent a new humanist interest in art and science which led to the modern era . Since the Age of Discovery , led by Spain and Portugal , Europe played a predominant role in global affairs with multiple explorations and conquests around
SECTION 60
#17327721663129982-432: The last glacial period ended about 10,000 years ago. Earth is currently in an interglacial period of the Quaternary, called the Holocene . Homo erectus georgicus , which lived roughly 1.8 million years ago in Georgia , is the earliest hominin to have been discovered in Europe. Other hominin remains, dating back roughly 1 million years, have been discovered in Atapuerca , Spain . Neanderthal man (named after
10143-531: The penalty shoot-out . Despite starting the season with a nine-point penalty from the match-fixing scandal, Juventus gained promotion to Serie A as Serie B champions; Del Piero finished the league campaign as the top scorer of the 2006–07 Serie B season, with 20 goals. During the season, Del Piero also managed his 200th goal with Juventus on 21 October 2006, in a 1–0 league victory over Frosinone . "Del Piero never really grows old." Diego Maradona , 2008 Following Juventus's return to Serie A, Del Piero
10304-517: The polis , was the fundamental political unit of classical Greece. In 508 BCE, Cleisthenes instituted the world's first democratic system of government in Athens . The Greek political ideals were rediscovered in the late 18th century by European philosophers and idealists. Greece also generated many cultural contributions: in philosophy , humanism and rationalism under Aristotle , Socrates and Plato ; in history with Herodotus and Thucydides ; in dramatic and narrative verse, starting with
10465-457: The watershed of the Ural Mountains , the Ural River , the Caspian Sea , the Greater Caucasus , the Black Sea , and the waterway of the Bosporus Strait . Europe covers about 10.18 million km (3.93 million sq mi), or 2% of Earth's surface (6.8% of land area), making it the second-smallest continent (using the seven-continent model ). Politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states , of which Russia
10626-402: The "Dark Ages". Isolated monastic communities were the only places to safeguard and compile written knowledge accumulated previously; apart from this, very few written records survive. Much literature, philosophy, mathematics, and other thinking from the classical period disappeared from Western Europe, though they were preserved in the east, in the Byzantine Empire. While the Roman empire in
10787-411: The "Old Lady" Juventus during Calciopoli , 2006 Del Piero's first appearance after the 2006 FIFA World Cup triumph was in a Coppa Italia match against Cesena on 23 August 2006. As Juventus played in the Serie B for the 2006–07 season, the Coppa Italia campaign became increasingly important for the club in order to achieve a UEFA Cup spot. Having been on vacation beforehand, Del Piero started on
10948-461: The 12th centuries, with a population of approximately 400,000. The Empire was weakened following the defeat at Manzikert , and was weakened considerably by the sack of Constantinople in 1204 , during the Fourth Crusade . Although it would recover Constantinople in 1261, Byzantium fell in 1453 when Constantinople was taken by the Ottoman Empire . In the 11th and 12th centuries, constant incursions by nomadic Turkic tribes, such as
11109-401: The 12th to the 15th centuries, the Grand Duchy of Moscow grew from a small principality under Mongol rule to the largest state in Europe, overthrowing the Mongols in 1480, and eventually becoming the Tsardom of Russia . The state was consolidated under Ivan III the Great and Ivan the Terrible , steadily expanding to the east and south over the next centuries. The Great Famine of 1315–1317
11270-598: The 14th and 16th centuries: it saw the flowering of art , philosophy , music , and the sciences , under the joint patronage of royalty , the nobility, the Roman Catholic Church and an emerging merchant class. Patrons in Italy, including the Medici family of Florentine bankers and the Popes in Rome , funded prolific quattrocento and cinquecento artists such as Raphael , Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci . Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale OMRI ( Italian pronunciation: [alesˈsandro del ˈpjɛːro] ; born 9 November 1974)
11431-444: The 18th century. During this period, more than 100 plague epidemics swept across Europe. The Renaissance was a period of cultural change originating in Florence , and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The rise of a new humanism was accompanied by the recovery of forgotten classical Greek and Arabic knowledge from monastic libraries, often translated from Arabic into Latin . The Renaissance spread across Europe between
11592-645: The 1997–98 season. He became only the second Italian ever to win consecutive Capocannoniere titles in two different leagues – former Juventus and 1982 World Cup hero Paolo Rossi being the other. (Coincidentally, Rossi also won the Capocannoniere titles like Del Piero – first in Serie B and then in Serie A). On 26 July, Del Piero was awarded the Scirea Award. Juventus finished the 2007–08 Serie A season in third place, which allowed them to qualify for
11753-400: The 50 years of peace that followed are known as Golden Age of Athens , the seminal period of ancient Greece that laid many of the foundations of Western civilisation. Greece was followed by Rome , which left its mark on law , politics , language , engineering , architecture , government , and many more key aspects in western civilisation. By 200 BCE, Rome had conquered Italy and over
11914-537: The British Isles, France, Christianised western Germany, the Alpine regions and northern and central Italy. The concept is one of the lasting legacies of the Carolingian Renaissance : Europa often figures in the letters of Charlemagne's court scholar, Alcuin . The transition of Europe to being a cultural term as well as a geographic one led to the borders of Europe being affected by cultural considerations in
12075-574: The Don altogether, following the Greater Caucasus watershed to the Caspian. The question was still treated as a "controversy" in geographical literature of the 1860s, with Douglas Freshfield advocating the Caucasus crest boundary as the "best possible", citing support from various "modern geographers". In Russia and the Soviet Union , the boundary along the Kuma–Manych Depression was the most commonly used as early as 1906. In 1958,
12236-675: The Early Middle Ages, and soon spread throughout Europe. A struggle for influence between the nobility and the monarchy in England led to the writing of Magna Carta and the establishment of a parliament . The primary source of culture in this period came from the Roman Catholic Church . Through monasteries and cathedral schools , the Church was responsible for education in much of Europe. The Papacy reached
12397-559: The East, especially relating to areas under Byzantine, Ottoman, and Russian influence. Such questions were affected by the positive connotations associated with the term Europe by its users. Such cultural considerations were not applied to the Americas, despite their conquest and settlement by European states. Instead, the concept of "Western civilization" emerged as a way of grouping together Europe and these colonies. The question of defining
12558-707: The Frankish tribes were united under Clovis I . Charlemagne , a Frankish king of the Carolingian dynasty who had conquered most of Western Europe, was anointed " Holy Roman Emperor " by the Pope in 800. This led in 962 to the founding of the Holy Roman Empire , which eventually became centred in the German principalities of central Europe. East Central Europe saw the creation of the first Slavic states and
12719-520: The Great 's efforts to make Russia more European, ignored the whole boundary question with his claim that neither Russia, Scandinavia, northern Germany, nor Poland were fully part of Europe. Since then, many modern analytical geographers like Halford Mackinder have declared that they see little validity in the Ural Mountains as a boundary between continents. The mapmakers continued to differ on
12880-652: The Juventus Youth team to win both the 1994 Torneo di Viareggio , and the 1994 U-20 championship . Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia on 12 September 1993 under Trapattoni, as a substitute, and he scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana on 19 September, after coming off the bench once again. On his full debut for Juventus, he netted a hat-trick against Parma . After his promising performances, Del Piero began to be deployed with more continuity, and he managed 14 appearances for Juventus that season between youth matches , league matches,
13041-655: The Levant and North Africa and making inroads into Asia Minor . In the mid-7th century, following the Muslim conquest of Persia , Islam penetrated into the Caucasus region. Over the next centuries Muslim forces took Cyprus , Malta , Crete , Sicily , and parts of southern Italy . Between 711 and 720, most of the lands of the Visigothic Kingdom of Iberia were brought under Muslim rule—save for small areas in
13202-588: The Mediterranean Sea without the inclusion of any mountain ranges. Cartographer Herman Moll suggested in 1715 Europe was bounded by a series of partly-joined waterways directed towards the Turkish straits, and the Irtysh River draining into the upper part of the Ob River and the Arctic Ocean . In contrast, the present eastern boundary of Europe partially adheres to the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, which
13363-427: The Serie A title. His role at Juventus changed during his second season under Capello, who preferred to use him as an immediate-impact substitute. Due to his lack of playing time, Del Piero's relationship with Capello was often strained. On 10 January 2006, Del Piero became the all-time leading goalscorer for Juventus when he scored three times in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina, taking his total goal tally for
13524-801: The Soviet Geographical Society formally recommended that the boundary between the Europe and Asia be drawn in textbooks from Baydaratskaya Bay , on the Kara Sea , along the eastern foot of Ural Mountains, then following the Ural River until the Mugodzhar Hills , and then the Emba River ; and Kuma–Manych Depression, thus placing the Caucasus entirely in Asia and the Urals entirely in Europe. The Flora Europaea adopted
13685-509: The Tanais (the modern Don River) as the boundary. The Roman Empire did not attach a strong identity to the concept of continental divisions. However, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the culture that developed in its place , linked to Latin and the Catholic church, began to associate itself with the concept of "Europe". The term "Europe" is first used for a cultural sphere in
13846-704: The Turin club, making him the third–highest assist provider of all time in Serie A history , after Totti and Roberto Baggio. In addition to these records, Del Piero is also Juventus's top scorer and second highest appearance holder in the UEFA Champions League , behind only Buffon, with 44 goals in 92 appearances; he is also the top scorer and appearance holder for Juventus in European Competitions , with 50 goals in 125 appearances, in International competitions , with 54 goals in 131 appearances, and in
14007-496: The adoption of Christianity ( c. 1000 CE) . The powerful West Slavic state of Great Moravia spread its territory all the way south to the Balkans, reaching its largest territorial extent under Svatopluk I and causing a series of armed conflicts with East Francia . Further south, the first South Slavic states emerged in the late 7th and 8th century and adopted Christianity : the First Bulgarian Empire ,
14168-648: The basis of many modern legal systems, funded the construction of the Hagia Sophia and brought the Christian church under state control. From the 7th century onwards, as the Byzantines and neighbouring Sasanid Persians were severely weakened due to the protracted, centuries-lasting and frequent Byzantine–Sasanian wars , the Muslim Arabs began to make inroads into historically Roman territory, taking
14329-479: The bench. Juventus and Cesena were locked on 1–1 when Del Piero entered in the 74th minute and after nine seconds, he scored the winning goal for Juventus. Del Piero then came on as a substitute in the 61st minute during Juventus's next Coppa Italia match on 27 August, against Napoli. Once again Juventus came from behind, as Del Piero scored twice to give his team the lead. The match eventually went to penalties; although Del Piero scored his spot-kick, Napoli won 5–4 in
14490-563: The boundary between the lower Don and Samara well into the 19th century. The 1745 atlas published by the Russian Academy of Sciences has the boundary follow the Don beyond Kalach as far as Serafimovich before cutting north towards Arkhangelsk , while other 18th- to 19th-century mapmakers such as John Cary followed Strahlenberg's prescription. To the south, the Kuma–Manych Depression was identified c. 1773 by
14651-433: The calendar year, Del Piero received nominations for both the 1997 FIFA World Player of the Year , finishing sixth and the 1997 Ballon d'Or . Del Piero began the following campaign strongly by winning the 1997 Supercoppa Italiana , forming a strong offensive unit with Juventus teammates Zinedine Zidane in midfield, and newcomer Filippo Inzaghi upfront. The 1997–98 Serie A campaign was his best season yet, as he scored
14812-606: The club records for most goals (290) and appearances (705). During his time at the club, he won six Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia , four Supercoppa Italiana titles, the UEFA Champions League , the UEFA Super Cup , the UEFA Intertoto Cup , and the Intercontinental Cup . After leaving the club in 2012, he also spent two seasons with Australian side Sydney FC ; he retired in 2014, after
14973-673: The club to 185. The previous record holder was Giampiero Boniperti , with 182 goals. Del Piero also finished the season as the top scorer of the Coppa Italia , with 5 goals. Del Piero equalled José Altafini 's Serie A record of six goals as a substitute after scoring in the final minute of Juventus' final game of the 2005–06 season, before Juventus were forcibly relegated due to the Calciopoli scandal, also having their two most recent Serie A titles revoked. After Juventus were demoted to Serie B and their two most recent scudetti were revoked, Del Piero pledged that he would stay to captain
15134-403: The club with which he started his professional career. During his renewal, he said: "I am happy at Juventus and we are competitive. I want to keep playing for as long as I can and I'm certain that for at least two more years I will be at the top level." On 14 February 2010, Del Piero marked his 445th Serie A appearance, breaking the all-time club record previously held by Boniperti, with a brace in
15295-465: The club's success during the mid to late 90s, Del Piero, along with several other Juventus players and staff members, was claimed of being involved in illegal performance-enhancing drug abuse; after a lengthy investigation, the club's staff members incriminated were eventually cleared of all doping allegations in 2005. During the next season under new manager Carlo Ancelotti , Del Piero primarily served as an assist-man, providing 14 assists in Serie A,
15456-522: The competition with a match-winning free kick to seal a home win against Zenit. On 21 October, Del Piero netted a notable goal as Juventus defeated Real Madrid 2–1 in Turin, scoring with a first-time, curling strike from distance, in the fifth minute of play. On 5 November 2008, Juventus and Real Madrid squared off at Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League . The Italians won 0–2, their first away win against Madrid since 1962, and Del Piero
15617-590: The continent The prevalent definition of Europe as a geographical term has been in use since the mid-19th century. Europe is taken to be bounded by large bodies of water to the north, west and south; Europe's limits to the east and north-east are usually taken to be the Ural Mountains , the Ural River , and the Caspian Sea ; to the south-east, the Caucasus Mountains , the Black Sea , and
15778-573: The continent. Chinese, for example, uses the word Ōuzhōu ( 歐洲 / 欧洲 ), which is an abbreviation of the transliterated name Ōuluóbā zhōu ( 歐羅巴洲 ) ( zhōu means "continent"); a similar Chinese-derived term Ōshū ( 欧州 ) is also sometimes used in Japanese such as in the Japanese name of the European Union, Ōshū Rengō ( 欧州連合 ) , despite the katakana Yōroppa ( ヨーロッパ ) being more commonly used. In some Turkic languages,
15939-424: The continent. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable producing more continental climates . European culture consists of a range of national and regional cultures, which form the central roots of the wider Western civilisation , and together commonly reference ancient Greece and ancient Rome , particularly through their Christian successors , as crucial and shared roots. Beginning with
16100-640: The continents as the lands given by Noah to his three sons; Europe was defined as stretching from the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar , separating it from Northwest Africa , to the Don, separating it from Asia. The convention received by the Middle Ages and surviving into modern usage is that of the Roman era used by Roman-era authors such as Posidonius , Strabo , and Ptolemy , who took
16261-584: The development of major commercial routes along the coast of the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas . The growing wealth and independence acquired by some coastal cities gave the Maritime Republics a leading role in the European scene. The Middle Ages on the mainland were dominated by the two upper echelons of the social structure: the nobility and the clergy. Feudalism developed in France in
16422-658: The end of the 18th century, gave rise to radical economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe and eventually the wider world. Both world wars began and were fought to a great extent in Europe, contributing to a decline in Western European dominance in world affairs by the mid-20th century as the Soviet Union and the United States took prominence and competed over dominance in Europe and globally. The resulting Cold War divided Europe along
16583-505: The end of the season to take charge of the Italy national team. After Euro 2004, Juventus manager Marcello Lippi was replaced by Fabio Capello . Capello was not convinced of Del Piero's fitness levels, and frequently benched him in favour of the younger, new offensive signing Zlatan Ibrahimović . Despite his limited playing time, Del Piero still managed to score 14 goals, as Juventus won their 28th league title , due to his overhead assist to teammate David Trezeguet, which proved decisive in
16744-483: The end of the season, although he was unable to help Juventus capture the Serie A title, despite scoring a goal in a 2–2 draw against Roma. Del Piero was named Juventus captain upon Lippi's return to Juventus, and he formed a formidable offensive partnership with French striker David Trezeguet , who joined in 2000, and Czech playmaker Pavel Nedvěd , who arrived in 2001. Del Piero scored 16 goals and provided several assists, as Juventus were crowned Serie A champions for
16905-590: The epic poems of Homer ; in drama with Sophocles and Euripides ; in medicine with Hippocrates and Galen ; and in science with Pythagoras , Euclid , and Archimedes . In the course of the 5th century BCE, several of the Greek city states would ultimately check the Achaemenid Persian advance in Europe through the Greco-Persian Wars , considered a pivotal moment in world history, as
17066-401: The final, although they were defeated by Parma in the 1995 UEFA Cup Final . During this time, Del Piero earned the nickname Pinturicchio due to the similarity between his own technical and tactical characteristics, and Baggio's creative style of play. This nickname arose when former president Gianni Agnelli compared the emerging talent Del Piero to the renaissance artist Pinturicchio, who
17227-485: The first goal in the first Sydney Derby . On 19 January 2013, Del Piero scored four goals and also provided one assist in Sydney's 7–1 win against Wellington Phoenix; this was the first time he had scored more than three goals in a single match, and after being substituted, the fans gave him a standing ovation. On 10 February, Del Piero broke the club's record for most goals in a single season, scoring his eleventh goal of
17388-445: The first team alongside Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli , flourishing at the opportunity given to him, and Juventus went on to claim their first scudetto in nine years. Del Piero scored 8 goals in Serie A that season, including a match-winning chipped volley against Fiorentina . Del Piero was also able to achieve a rare double, and he captured the 1994–95 Coppa Italia with Juventus, defeating their season rivals Parma in
17549-3663: The following awards: 1994–95 [REDACTED] Vítor Baía [REDACTED] Paolo Maldini [REDACTED] Matthias Sammer [REDACTED] Frank Rijkaard [REDACTED] Danny Blind [REDACTED] Gianfranco Zola [REDACTED] Jari Litmanen [REDACTED] Michael Laudrup [REDACTED] Iván Zamorano [REDACTED] Alan Shearer [REDACTED] Jürgen Klinsmann 1995–96 [REDACTED] Edwin van der Sar [REDACTED] Paolo Maldini [REDACTED] Frank de Boer [REDACTED] Laurent Blanc [REDACTED] Danny Blind [REDACTED] Alessandro Del Piero [REDACTED] Raí [REDACTED] Jari Litmanen [REDACTED] Mehmet Scholl [REDACTED] George Weah [REDACTED] Eric Cantona 1996–97 [REDACTED] Angelo Peruzzi [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Fernando Hierro [REDACTED] Ciro Ferrara [REDACTED] Jocelyn Angloma [REDACTED] Raúl [REDACTED] Alessandro Del Piero [REDACTED] Clarence Seedorf [REDACTED] Luis Enrique [REDACTED] Ronaldo [REDACTED] Davor Šuker 1997–98 [REDACTED] Angelo Peruzzi [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Fernando Hierro [REDACTED] Laurent Blanc [REDACTED] Gary Neville [REDACTED] Alessandro Del Piero [REDACTED] Zinedine Zidane [REDACTED] Fernando Redondo [REDACTED] Luís Figo [REDACTED] Ronaldo [REDACTED] Christian Vieri 1998–99 [REDACTED] Carlos Roa [REDACTED] Bixente Lizarazu [REDACTED] Jaap Stam [REDACTED] Laurent Blanc [REDACTED] Lilian Thuram [REDACTED] Rivaldo [REDACTED] Siniša Mihajlović [REDACTED] Stefan Effenberg [REDACTED] David Beckham [REDACTED] Raúl [REDACTED] Gabriel Batistuta 1999–2000 [REDACTED] Oliver Kahn [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Paolo Maldini [REDACTED] Siniša Mihajlović [REDACTED] Jocelyn Angloma [REDACTED] Rivaldo [REDACTED] Juan Sebastián Verón [REDACTED] Roy Keane [REDACTED] Luís Figo [REDACTED] Raúl [REDACTED] Andriy Shevchenko 2000–01 [REDACTED] Oliver Kahn [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Sami Hyypiä [REDACTED] Alessandro Nesta [REDACTED] Jocelyn Angloma [REDACTED] Pavel Nedvěd [REDACTED] Francesco Totti [REDACTED] Mehmet Scholl [REDACTED] Gaizka Mendieta [REDACTED] Michael Owen [REDACTED] Hernán Crespo 2001–02 [REDACTED] Francesco Toldo [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Walter Samuel [REDACTED] Lúcio [REDACTED] Carles Puyol [REDACTED] Freddie Ljungberg [REDACTED] Zinedine Zidane [REDACTED] Michael Ballack [REDACTED] Rubén Baraja [REDACTED] Ruud van Nistelrooy [REDACTED] Christian Vieri 2002–03 [REDACTED] Gianluigi Buffon [REDACTED] Paolo Maldini [REDACTED] Daniel Van Buyten [REDACTED] Carles Puyol [REDACTED] Lilian Thuram [REDACTED] Roberto Carlos [REDACTED] Pavel Nedvěd [REDACTED] Zinedine Zidane [REDACTED] Christian Vieri [REDACTED] Mateja Kežman [REDACTED] Roy Makaay 2003–04 Europe Europe
17710-584: The following two centuries it conquered Greece , Hispania ( Spain and Portugal ), the North African coast, much of the Middle East , Gaul ( France and Belgium ), and Britannia ( England and Wales ). Expanding from their base in central Italy beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans gradually expanded to eventually rule the entire Mediterranean basin and Western Europe by the turn of
17871-489: The forward set-up around the Italian, who would be given licence to pull the strings, adding: "We're not going to reinvent the wheel here. He's played 19 years for one of the biggest four or five clubs in the world, as a No. 10 or a No. 9. We're not going to change that." FIFA President Sepp Blatter sent his best wishes to Del Piero and his new club. On 6 October 2012, Del Piero made his A-League debut with Sydney FC in
18032-429: The game, he confirmed that after his 19-year spell with Juventus, he did not plan to retire. He then left the club and became a free agent. In total, Del Piero made a club record of 705 appearances for Juventus across all competitions, scoring a record 290 goals, and providing 134 assists in all competitions throughout his career with the club; he also scored 188 goals and provided 108 assists in 478 Serie A appearances with
18193-565: The game-winner in a 2–0 victory over Newcastle Jets, also setting up Joel Chianese 's goal. Alessandro went on to score 10 goals in total for Sydney FC in the 2013–14 season, which earned him the Sydney FC Golden Boot; he helped the club qualify for the finals series, setting up both of his team's goals in the final match of the regular season on 13 April 2014, a 2–1 home win over Perth Glory , before being released of his contract at Sydney FC. His final match with Sydney came in
18354-505: The hamlet of Saccon, a rural home in San Vendemiano . While growing up, Del Piero's family did not have much money for travelling abroad, so he considered being a lorry driver in order to see the world. While playing for the local youth team of San Vendemiano, Del Piero used to feature as a goalkeeper in order to gain more playing time. His mother thought it would be better for him to play in this role, as he would not sweat, and
18515-598: The height of its power during the High Middle Ages. An East-West Schism in 1054 split the former Roman Empire religiously, with the Eastern Orthodox Church in the Byzantine Empire and the Roman Catholic Church in the former Western Roman Empire. In 1095 Pope Urban II called for a crusade against Muslims occupying Jerusalem and the Holy Land . In Europe itself, the Church organised
18676-444: The highest-paid footballer to ever play in Australia. Del Piero had been linked to Liverpool prior to signing for Sydney, but later revealed due to his memories of Heysel he would not have been able to move to the club. Upon signing for Sydney FC, Del Piero said: "It's a special day for me. I am happy to announce that I just signed for two years for Sydney FC. This is a very big moment for me because I want to continue my career in
18837-509: The idea of water boundaries as the only legitimate divides between Europe and Asia. Four years later, in 1725, Philip Johan von Strahlenberg was the first to depart from the classical Don boundary. He drew a new line along the Volga , following the Volga north until the Samara Bend , along Obshchy Syrt (the drainage divide between the Volga and Ural Rivers ), then north and east along
18998-596: The latter waterway to its source in the Ural Mountains . At this point he proposed that mountain ranges could be included as boundaries between continents as alternatives to nearby waterways. Accordingly, he drew the new boundary north along Ural Mountains rather than the nearby and parallel running Ob and Irtysh rivers. This was endorsed by the Russian Empire and introduced the convention that would eventually become commonly accepted. However, this did not come without criticism. Voltaire , writing in 1760 about Peter
19159-478: The match. He also played a key role in helping Juventus to win the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League , scoring 6 goals in the competition, and finishing as the second highest scorer of the tournament. The following season, Del Piero followed these victories up with the 1996 UEFA Super Cup and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup , scoring goals in both finals, and being named Man of the Match in the latter final; he also won
19320-577: The millennium. The Roman Republic ended in 27 BCE, when Augustus proclaimed the Roman Empire . The two centuries that followed are known as the pax romana , a period of unprecedented peace, prosperity and political stability in most of Europe. The empire continued to expand under emperors such as Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius , who spent time on the Empire's northern border fighting Germanic , Pictish and Scottish tribes. Christianity
19481-517: The most capped Juventus player, edging out former Juventus legend Giampiero Boniperti. Del Piero was the third most capped active player in the Serie A at the time, behind Javier Zanetti and Francesco Totti , respectively. On 5 May 2011, he signed a new one-year contract to stay at the Juventus Arena . His previous deal was due to expire on 30 June 2011. On 24 May 2011, Del Piero and Juventus played against Manchester United at Old Trafford in
19642-467: The most in the league that season, and 20 in all competitions. He faced criticism, however, for his inability to score in open play following his injury the previous season, as only one of his 9 Serie A goals that season was in open play (a header against Parma), with the rest coming from penalties. Furthermore, towards the end of the season, his once excellent attacking partnership with Inzaghi became less effective, due to Inzaghi's individualism, as well as
19803-710: The northwest ( Asturias ) and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees . This territory, under the Arabic name Al-Andalus , became part of the expanding Umayyad Caliphate . The unsuccessful second siege of Constantinople (717) weakened the Umayyad dynasty and reduced their prestige. The Umayyads were then defeated by the Frankish leader Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732, which ended their northward advance. In
19964-483: The originally Persian name Frangistan ("land of the Franks ") is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa . Clickable map of Europe, showing one of the most commonly used continental boundaries Key: blue : states which straddle the border between Europe and Asia ; green : countries not geographically in Europe, but closely associated with
20125-524: The pair's lack of understanding and strained relationship both on and off the pitch. Del Piero helped Juventus to capture the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup that season, which allowed Juventus to qualify for the UEFA Cup ; overall, he scored 12 goals in all competitions, as Juventus narrowly missed out on the Serie A title. In 2000, Del Piero was the world's best-paid football player from salaries, bonuses, and advertising revenue. The following season saw Juventus suffer another disappointing defeat losing out on
20286-551: The past 50 years. Along with six awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct, he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality as well as playing ability. At international level, Del Piero has also represented the Italy national team at three FIFA World Cups and four UEFA European Football Championships , most notably winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup , and reaching the final of UEFA Euro 2000 with Italy. He
20447-444: The poetry devoted to it. An alternative view is that of Robert Beekes , who has argued in favour of a pre-Indo-European origin for the name, explaining that a derivation from eurus would yield a different toponym than Europa. Beekes has located toponyms related to that of Europa in the territory of ancient Greece, and localities such as that of Europos in ancient Macedonia . There have been attempts to connect Eurṓpē to
20608-403: The possibility of him getting injured was less likely. His brother Stefano commented to their mother that, due to his skill, the younger Del Piero was more suited to playing in a more offensive position, and he switched to a forward role. Del Piero began his rise to professional football in 1981, in the ranks of San Vendemiano. In 1988, Del Piero was first spotted by scouts, and he left home at
20769-446: The quarter-finals a match early, scoring a goal in Juventus's 1–0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford , on 20 November 1996; this was the first time that an Italian team had defeated Manchester United at their home ground. In the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final , he came off the bench to score a goal with a back-heel, which was unable to prevent Juventus from losing 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund . Due to his performances throughout
20930-480: The realisation of the European Union (EU), which represents today the majority of Europe. The European Union is a supranational political entity that lies between a confederation and a federation and is based on a system of European treaties . The EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. A majority of its members have adopted
21091-575: The remote regions of north-western Iberia and the middle Pyrenees the power of the Muslims in the south was scarcely felt. It was here that the foundations of the Christian kingdoms of Asturias , Leon , and Galicia were laid and from where the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula would start. However, no coordinated attempt would be made to drive the Moors out. The Christian kingdoms were mainly focused on their own internal power struggles. As
21252-456: The season against Atalanta , marking the occasion and the victory of their 28th Serie A title by scoring a goal. Twenty-seven minutes into the match, Del Piero picked the ball up at the edge of the penalty box and placed a shot past Giorgio Frezzolini to make the score 2–0, helping Juventus to go undefeated in Serie A that season. He was substituted off after 59 minutes to an emotional response from both sets of players and supporters, as he made
21413-420: The season in a 2–1 home win over Brisbane Roar . Despite his record-breaking tally of 14 goals in 24 appearances, Del Piero was unable to help Sydney qualify for the play-offs at the end of the season. On 21 February, Del Piero renewed his contract until 2014. Del Piero was named Sydney's captain for their 2013–14 season. On 11 October 2013, Del Piero scored the opening goal of the 2013–14 A-League season,
21574-401: The second and seventh minutes. On 30 October 2010, he recorded his 179th Serie A goal, helping his side to a 2–1 win at Milan, breaking the record of club legend Giampiero Boniperti as Juventus's top scorer in Serie A, and further cementing his status as the most prolific goalscorer in Juventus history. On 5 February 2011, with his substitution against Cagliari , Alessandro Del Piero became
21735-436: The second goal of the match in a 2–0 victory, his first goal of the Serie A season. In Juventus' match against Lazio on 11 April, Del Piero replaced Vučinić in the second half, making his 700th appearance for Juventus, and then went on to score from a free kick to earn his side a 2–1 victory; the result also enabled Juventus to return to the top of the Serie A table. On 13 May, Del Piero started Juventus's final league game of
21896-549: The semi-finals, and finishing the season with a career best of 32 goals in all competitions. Del Piero was awarded the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year award for his performances, and he was also nominated for the 1998 Ballon d'Or . During this time, he was nicknamed by the fans as Il Fenomeno Vero ("The Real Phenomenon"), in comparison with the Brazilian striker Ronaldo , who was nicknamed Il Fenomeno ("The Phenom") by supporters of rivals Inter Milan. Juventus began
22057-554: The semi-finals. The triumvirate attacking partnership proved wonders for Juventus, as the team overturned a 2–1 first leg deficit to record a 4–3 aggregate win as all three attacking stars netted in a 3–1 home win in the second leg. Juventus faced Italian rivals AC Milan in the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final in Manchester on 28 May. After a goalless 120 minutes, the tie went to a penalty shoot-out, where Del Piero finished his spot-kick, but it wasn't enough, as Juventus fell 3–2 in
22218-412: The shoot-out. The following season saw Juventus start strongly, winning the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana over Milan on penalties, although Juventus were knocked out in the round of 16 in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League , and finished the 2003–04 Serie A season in a disappointing third place. The club did manage to reach the 2004 Coppa Italia Final , only to be defeated by Lazio. Lippi left Juventus at
22379-440: The son of Gino, an electrician, and Bruna, a housekeeper. He regularly played football in the backyard with two friends, Nelso and Pierpaolo, as a child. All three dreamed of becoming footballers but only Del Piero would eventually manage to do so. His older brother, Stefano, briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before an injury curtailed his career; he later worked as his younger brother's agent. The family lived in
22540-535: The state of the Golden Horde with headquarters in Crimea, which later adopted Islam as a religion, and ruled over modern-day southern and central Russia for more than three centuries. After the collapse of Mongol dominions, the first Romanian states (principalities) emerged in the 14th century: Moldavia and Walachia . Previously, these territories were under the successive control of Pechenegs and Cumans. From
22701-432: The team. He underlined that players should remain with the team, explaining that "The Agnelli family deserve this, as do the fans and the new directors." While many key players such as Fabio Cannavaro , Emerson , Gianluca Zambrotta , Patrick Vieira , Zlatan Ibrahimović , and Lilian Thuram left, Del Piero chose to stay and help the club gain promotion. "A true gentleman never leaves his lady." Del Piero about
22862-407: The waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea . Islands are generally grouped with the nearest continental landmass, hence Iceland is considered to be part of Europe, while the nearby island of Greenland is usually assigned to North America , although politically belonging to Denmark. Nevertheless, there are some exceptions based on sociopolitical and cultural differences. Cyprus
23023-445: The west and the north, transmitting newly acquired skills in producing copper artifacts. In Western Europe the Neolithic period was characterised not by large agricultural settlements but by field monuments, such as causewayed enclosures , burial mounds and megalithic tombs . The Corded Ware cultural horizon flourished at the transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic . During this period giant megalithic monuments, such as
23184-416: The west continued to decline, Roman traditions and the Roman state remained strong in the predominantly Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire , also known as the Byzantine Empire . During most of its existence, the Byzantine Empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Emperor Justinian I presided over Constantinople's first golden age: he established a legal code that forms
23345-399: The western shore of the Aegean Sea . As a name for a part of the known world, it is first used in the 6th century BCE by Anaximander and Hecataeus . Anaximander placed the boundary between Asia and Europe along the Phasis River (the modern Rioni River on the territory of Georgia ) in the Caucasus, a convention still followed by Herodotus in the 5th century BCE. Herodotus mentioned that
23506-419: The widespread use of pottery—began around 7000 BCE in Greece and the Balkans , probably influenced by earlier farming practices in Anatolia and the Near East . It spread from the Balkans along the valleys of the Danube and the Rhine ( Linear Pottery culture ), and along the Mediterranean coast ( Cardial culture ). Between 4500 and 3000 BCE, these central European neolithic cultures developed further to
23667-411: The world had been divided by unknown persons into three parts—Europe, Asia, and Libya (Africa)—with the Nile and the Phasis forming their boundaries—though he also states that some considered the River Don , rather than the Phasis, as the boundary between Europe and Asia. Europe's eastern frontier was defined in the 1st century by geographer Strabo at the River Don. The Book of Jubilees described
23828-410: The world. The place name Evros was first used by the ancient Greeks to refer to their northernmost province, which bears the same name today. The principal river there – Evros (today's Maritsa ) – flows through the fertile valleys of Thrace , which itself was also called Europe, before the term meant the continent. In classical Greek mythology , Europa ( Ancient Greek : Εὐρώπη , Eurṓpē )
23989-452: The world. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers colonised at various times the Americas , almost all of Africa and Oceania , and the majority of Asia. The Age of Enlightenment , the French Revolution , and the Napoleonic Wars shaped the continent culturally, politically, and economically from the end of the 17th century until the first half of the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution , which began in Great Britain at
24150-472: The young age of 13 to play with the youth side of Padova . He joined the senior side during the 1991–92 season , at the age of 16, and at the age of 17, he made his debut in Serie B against Messina , under manager Mauro Sandreani, on 15 March 1992, coming on as a substitute for Roberto Putelli. The following season , on 22 November 1992, he scored his first professional goal in a 5–0 victory over Ternana . In 1993, thanks to Giampiero Boniperti , Del Piero
24311-422: Was legalised by Constantine I in 313 CE after three centuries of imperial persecution . Constantine also permanently moved the capital of the empire from Rome to the city of Byzantium (modern-day Istanbul ) which was renamed Constantinople in his honour in 330 CE. Christianity became the sole official religion of the empire in 380 CE, and in 391–392 CE the emperor Theodosius outlawed pagan religions. This
24472-399: Was a Phoenician princess. One view is that her name derives from the Ancient Greek elements εὐρύς ( eurús ) 'wide, broad', and ὤψ ( ōps , gen. ὠπός , ōpós ) 'eye, face, countenance', hence their composite Eurṓpē would mean 'wide-gazing' or 'broad of aspect'. Broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and
24633-407: Was a key performer, scoring both goals, and drawing praise from Ranieri, as well as Real Madrid's coach Bernd Schuster . As he left the pitch after being substituted, fans from both sides gave him a standing ovation. Juventus's Champions League campaign ended in disappointment, as they were eliminated by Chelsea in the second round. Despite converting a penalty in the second leg in Turin, Del Piero
24794-432: Was bought by Juventus for five billion lire , with an overlap of 150 million lire per season. In 1993, Del Piero transferred to Juventus and played for the Torinese club for 19 seasons until being released in the summer of 2012. Although manager Giovanni Trapattoni insisted that he trained with the senior team, he initially played with the Primavera squad , which was coached by Antonello Cuccureddu , helping
24955-428: Was eventually absorbed into Russia several centuries later. The period between the year 1000 and 1250 is known as the High Middle Ages , followed by the Late Middle Ages until c. 1500. During the High Middle Ages the population of Europe experienced significant growth, culminating in the Renaissance of the 12th century . Economic growth, together with the lack of safety on the mainland trading routes, made possible
25116-400: Was locked in months of fractious negotiations over the signing of a new contract with Juventus' new management. After successfully negotiating a new contract till 30 June 2010, he was greeted with news of the birth of his first child. This was quite a staggering turnaround in his fortunes, as only two weeks earlier, he was dropped by Claudio Ranieri for the Serie A match with Fiorentina, and
25277-415: Was surprised at Juventus president Andrea Agnelli 's announcement regarding the club's decision not to offer him a new contract. In the second leg of Juventus's clash with Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Del Piero finished off a brilliant move by Juventus as they secured a 2–2 draw to progress to the final with a 4–3 aggregate win. On 25 March, Del Piero helped Juventus defeat Inter Milan by scoring
25438-495: Was the first crisis that would strike Europe in the late Middle Ages. The period between 1348 and 1420 witnessed the heaviest loss. The population of France was reduced by half. Medieval Britain was afflicted by 95 famines, and France suffered the effects of 75 or more in the same period. Europe was devastated in the mid-14th century by the Black Death , one of the most deadly pandemics in human history which killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe alone—a third of
25599-442: Was the student of the great Italian renaissance artist Raphael ( Raffaello ), a nickname he had used to describe Baggio, to emphasise his elegance on the ball. Del Piero placed fourth in the 1995 Ballon d'Or for his performances throughout the season. With the Turin club, Del Piero won the Serie A eight times, although the 2005 and 2006 titles were revoked due to Juventus's involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal . For
25760-561: Was then axed from Roberto Donadoni 's Italy squad for the games with Georgia and South Africa . On 15 December 2007, Del Piero scored two goals away at Lazio and was named to two consecutive Serie A teams of the week. In February 2008, he scored the winning goal for Juventus from a free-kick in a 1–0 Serie A home victory over Roma. On 6 April 2008, he set a new appearance record for Juventus, overtaking Gaetano Scirea 's previous tally of 552 matches in all competitions. In April, he registered seven goals in five Serie A matches, including
25921-408: Was unable to prevent Juventus from losing 3–2 on aggregate. On 29 November 2008, Del Piero scored his 250th goal for Juventus from a penalty, in a 4–0 home win over Reggina . In the league, Juventus were mostly challenging Milan for second place and an automatic Champions League spot. Most notably, Del Piero inspired Juventus to a 3–0 win over Siena in their penultimate game of the season, scoring
#311688