Fillippo Inzaghi is a 40 year old retired Italian footballer from Piacenza, but to millions around the world he is so much more. Here is a comprehensive list of reasons why we all need more Pippo in our lives. For more normal articles about AC Milan please go here (and then come back because this article about Pippo is AWESOME)
1. He scored LOADS of goals. Most of them from inside the 6-yard box.
http://youtu.be/Ioopi3St4wA
2. “That lad must have been born offside.” Sir Alex Ferguson
At an early age, Pippo was prohibited from playing football with his friends due to continuous accusations of ‘goal hanging’. In his unofficial biography of Inzaghi, ‘Pippo: A Man Offside’, Tony Davis wrote, ‘At around the age of 8, a game of youth football ended 14-0, despite none of the players or parents watching realising any goals had been scored. The referee that day had noticed one player score 14 goals, a young Mr Inzaghi, despite doing absolutely nothing else of any value to his team. It was the first reported case of an opposition being ‘Inzaghied’. (via Backofthenet)
3. His Italian team-mates couldn’t bear to watch his diet
Good boys like Pippo Inzaghi, who conscientiously eat plain pasta and thin slices of meat, amaze Rino Gattuso. ‘He is perfect in his preparation, but I feel sick just to watch him eating while every day I’m dreaming of my wife’s tiramisu,’ Gattuso says.
(via theguardian)
4. He once made this face
Fillippo Inzaghi
5. On the rather more dramatic Italian version of Soccer Saturday, he makes presenters do this (58 seconds in)
http://youtu.be/TgkzeyVRwq0
6. The way he celebrated made him look like a footballing version of Bonnie Tyler
Fillippo Inzaghi celebration
7. STAT ATTACK 1
He also holds the record for most hat-tricks in Serie A (10).
8. When he scored his last ever goal in his last ever game for AC Milan; it was like a religious event in the stadium. Even the referee got involved.
http://youtu.be/25xbl4Ttmv0
9. He has probably the worst top 10 goal compilation of all time, in terms of goals and music (ok the music does suit the occasion and the top 4 are pretty good finishes).
http://youtu.be/wL9nwwW10hk
10. He inspires fandom from even the most cultured journalist
That’s what Inzaghi did for more than two decades. He made his own career out of the limited tools at his disposal. He was neither strong nor particularly quick. He was neither graceful nor technically gifted. But he had two qualities in which he was near peerless. Inzaghi was frighteningly persistent in a chicken-legs pumping, arms flailing, veins popping sort of way.
(via ESPN )
11. …and his fans at Juventus loved him so much they pulled down his pants
Juventus fans pulling down Inzaghi’s shorts
12. STAT ATTACK 2
He is 7th on the list of all-time UEFA Champions League goalscorers with 46 striker in Europe’s elite competition.
13. He scored a crucial goal in a Champions League final just by being in the way (15:58)
http://youtu.be/Ioopi3St4wA
14. STAT ATTACK 3
He scored 41 of his 126 AC Milan goals in the Champions League, that’s 32.5% of his strikes in big, BIG games.
15. Even when he was in his thirties, he celebrated every goal like his first.
Fillippo Inzaghi celebration
16. Pippo, Pippo Mio
Fillippo Inzaghi celebration
