Alessandro Nesta was born on March 19, 1976 in Rome. He came through the Lazio youth ranks and rose to stardom with the Biancocelesti, becoming the captain and an icon of the team from the capital. He won seven trophies with Lazio, including the Scudetto in 2000, a Cup Winners’ Cup and a European Super Cup (both in 1999), as well as the Coppa Italia (x2 – 1998 and and 2000) and the Supercoppa Italiana (x2 – 1998 and 2000). In 2002, he left Lazio for AC Milan, where he won ten more titles and climbed to the top of Europe and the world: two Champions League triumphs (in 2003 and 2007) were followed by a Club World Cup success (2007). He also won two Scudetto titles with the Rossoneri in 2004 and 2011. Then, in 2012, he moved to Canada, where he played for Montreal Impact for one season before deciding to hang up his boots. However, he returned to the game in November 2014, playing in the Indian League with Chennaiyin; this was a brief spell, with Nesta then retiring from the game for good.

In February 2014, he joined the Montreal Impact coaching staff before accepting the Miami franchise’s call in the summer of 2015. He left Florida at the end of 2017 and returned to Italy, where, from May 2018, he coached Perugia before moving to Frosinone the following summer.

Nesta’s adventure with the Azzurri began with success in the 1996 European Under-21 Championship. It was in that same year that he made his debut for the Azzurri senior team, in a 3-1 win against Moldova on 5 October in a 1998 World Cup qualifier in Chisinau. He took part in two European Championships and three World Cups, winning in Germany 2006 under Marcello Lippi’s leadership, although an injury he picked up in Italy’s group stage match against the Czech Republic cut his tournament short. Nesta ended his National Team career on 11 October 2006 in a 3-1 win against Georgia in Euro 2008 qualifying. Overall, he made 78 appearances for the Azzurri.