The 8 Best Italian Soccer Players to know about

It’s no doubt that the Italian national football team has produced some great players and continues to do so. However, it is extremely difficult to put together a list of some of the greatest Italian footballers of all time as this will always bring out a whole lot of debate, especially since you’re choosing out of an enormous talent pool in the world-class football team.

Nevertheless, here are the 8 best Italian soccer players to know about.

• Silvio Piola

Putting it simply, Silvio Piola is the all-time leading goal scorer in Serie A.

During his career, Piola managed to net 290 strikes when he was a member of Lazio, Juventus, and Novara.

Although it’s going to be almost unthinkable to find anyone on this list who witnessed the incredible Piola play in person, there’s a long list of history about his incredible achievements and road to becoming one of the greatest Italian players of all time. His name is still being brought up by our elders which shows that he is still remembered for his greatness.

• Giuseppe “Peppino” Meazza

Truly, the legendary of all, Giuseppe “Peppino” Meazza executed 242 goals in 348 game appearances for Inter between 1927-40. A two-time World Cup champ, the Italian stellar player Meazza was widely known as one of the most feared strikers ever created by the Peninsula.

In case you feel like you have heard his name somewhere, it’s because it was bestowed as the honorary title for the stadium which is known as San Siro. 

• Gianni Rivera

Gianni Rivera is arguably the greatest Italian midfield playmaker to have ever played. The legendary player who spent most of his career with AC Milan played for almost about two decades with clubs during the 60s and 70s. 

He is primarily recognized for his surgically positioned passes and could slice open a whole defense in a blink of an eye. Rivera also had strong scoring touches and was fatal in his years.

• Gianfranco Zola

Despite being small in size Gianfranco Zola whose height is just 5 feet 6 inches tall paved the path for Italians prevailing outside of the Peninsula.

Zola became a legend at Chelsea for his work rate in a raid, frequently overwhelming spectators with incredible style both in the goal-scoring division and in his imaginative ability.

He proceeded to function outside of Italy after his retirement as a footballer. Zola was also the assistant manager of Chelsea from 2018-2019. He currently owns an ice cream business which seems to be doing quite well and has now opened four stores in London.

• Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon is hands-down one of the finest goalkeepers in modern times. He was the central catalyst who led his national team to win the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Buffon is famous for his placing and control to cause stellar response saves.

His excellent performance at the back for the national squad was one of the primary reasons why the squad only allowed a single goal (own goal by Christian Zaccardo) until the final. 

• Dino Zoff

Dino Zoff is famously considered the finest Italian goalkeeper of all time, the former Juventus goalkeeper was like an octopus when it came to saving the balls from scoring. 

Zoff also had an internal record in footballing history for most time without allowing a single goal, when he proceeded 1,142 minutes without any goal for the Azzurri.

• Paolo Rossi

Even though Paolo Rossi did not possess the most brilliant technique or top-notch skill compared to the other players on this list, Rossi will indeed go down in history for his stellar performance in the 1982 World Cup, when his staggering six goals in the tournament earned him the golden boot and most importantly– he along with the Italian national team won the prestigious trophy.  

• Luigi Riva

Luigi Riva is considered one of the finest forwards of his time, his terrific left for an unbelievable spell on the Italian national squad directed him to become an Azzurri legend.

It’s kind of a waste of his talent that he always played with the Italian football club Cagliari as he spent the entirety of his career in this club after spending just about a year in the Legnano club because one can only think of the sensation he would have received at a more renowned club.