Alessandro NESTA

He plays for the team he always cheered for. Alessandro Nesta, infact, was born 22 years ago in Cinecitta', a quarter of Rome, where he always professed his love for Lazio. When he was 9, Felice Pulici and Patarca (Lazio's scouts), found him out playing with his quarter's Club which wanted to sell him to Roma for 10 millions of italian lira. However no contract was signed and Alessandro refused the trade to go to play for his beloved team.

He played with all the juvenile teams of Lazio before making his first appearance in Serie A (Udinese-Lazio-2-2), 6 days before being 18. During that season (1993-94) he played 2 games and the next one 11, before becoming a starter in 1995.

In 1994-95 he won the European title with the Under 21 national team of Cesare Maldini, and became part of the major national team, coached by Sacchi, which went to the European Championship in England in summer 1996. He actually didn't play any game and made his first appearance with the major national team just a few months later in Moldovia (October 5 1996).The final recognition arrived in 1996-97 when he became a defensive pillar of Lazio and proved to be one of the best italian defenders around.

Now he is said to be the most probable replacement of Ferrara for the next World Championship in France. This year Lazio is having one of its best seasons ever and Nesta is definetely one of the main reasons of it. Considering that he is just 22 it's easy to predict a bright, successful career for this boy from Cinecitta' who, luckily, chose football over cinema. Infact it must be remembered that his quarter is well-known all around the world because of its important film studios, and who knows if he would be as good as an actor as he is as a football player?