Christian Vieri facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Christian Vieri

Vieri at Fiorentina in the 2007–08 season
Personal information
Date of birth	(1973-07-12) 12 July 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Bologna, Italy
Height	1.85 m
Playing position	Centre forward
Youth career
1987–1988	Marconi Stallions
1989–1990	Santa Lucia
1990–1991	Prato
1991–1992	Torino
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1992	Torino	7	(1)
1992–1993	Pisa	18	(2)
1993–1994	Ravenna	32	(12)
1994–1995	Venezia	29	(11)
1995–1996	Atalanta	21	(9)
1996–1997	Juventus	23	(8)
1997–1998	Atlético Madrid	24	(24)
1998–1999	Lazio	22	(12)
1999–2005	Inter Milan	143	(103)
2005–2006	AC Milan	8	(1)
2006	Monaco	7	(3)
2006	Sampdoria	0	(0)
2006–2007	Atalanta	7	(2)
2007–2008	Fiorentina	26	(6)
2008–2009	Atalanta	9	(2)
Total		374	(194)
National team
1992–1996	Italy U21	22	(11)
1997–2005	Italy	49	(23)
Honours Representing  Italy Men's football UEFA European Under-21 Championship Winner 1994 France Winner 1996 Spain
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Christian Vieri (born 12 July 1973), often called Bobo Vieri, is a famous Italian former footballer. He played as a centre forward, which means he was a main goal scorer. Vieri was born in Italy but moved to Australia with his family when he was young. He later returned to Italy to start his amazing football career. Most of his career was spent playing in Italy's top league, Serie A.

Christian Vieri was known for scoring lots of goals. For many years, people thought he was one of the best strikers of his time. In 1999, he even became the world's most expensive player when Inter Milan paid a huge amount of money to get him from Lazio. Vieri played for many different clubs, 12 in total, mostly in Italy, but also in Spain and France. He started his journey with Torino in 1991. His most successful times were with Juventus, Atlético Madrid, Lazio, and Inter, where he won several trophies.

Besides winning team awards, Vieri also earned many individual honors. He was the top scorer in Spain's league (winning the Pichichi Trophy) and Italy's league (winning the Capocannoniere award). He was also named the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year twice. For the Italian national team, Vieri scored 23 goals in 49 games between 1997 and 2005. He is one of Italy's top goal scorers ever. He also holds the record for Italy's highest goal scorer in the FIFA World Cup, with nine goals in nine matches across the 1998 and 2002 tournaments. In 2004, the legendary footballer Pelé even included Vieri in his FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers.

Early Life and Australian Connection

Christian Vieri was born in Bologna, Italy. His father, Roberto Vieri, was also a professional footballer. When Christian was four years old, his family moved to Sydney, Australia, because his father joined the Marconi Stallions team. They lived in a suburb called Wetherill Park. Christian got his famous nickname Bobo from his father.

While growing up in Australia, Vieri loved both football and cricket. He even said he would have liked to be a professional cricketer! His younger brother, Massimiliano "Max" Vieri, also became a professional footballer and played for the Australian national team. Christian played for Marconi Juniors as a child before his family moved back to Italy.

Club Career Highlights

Starting Out in Italy

After returning to Italy in 1988, Vieri first played for Santa Lucia, a team in Prato. The next year, he joined Prato and scored many goals. He then moved to Torino in 1990. At 18, he made his first team debut for Torino in October 1991, scoring a goal in a cup match. He also played his first Serie A game that season.

In 1992, Vieri moved to Serie B club Pisa. He then played for Ravenna and Venezia, scoring many goals in Italy's second division.

Back to Serie A

Vieri returned to Serie A in the 1995–96 season with Atalanta, where he scored 9 goals.

His big break came when Juventus signed him in 1996. He scored 8 goals in Serie A and 6 goals in European matches, making him a top scorer for Juventus that season. He helped Juventus win the Scudetto (the Italian league title) and played in the UEFA Champions League final.

Spanish Adventure with Atlético Madrid

In 1997, Vieri moved to Spain to play for Atlético Madrid. He quickly became a star, scoring 24 goals in 24 league games! He ended the season with 29 goals in 32 games overall, winning the Pichichi Trophy as Spain's top scorer. Vieri later said that he moved to Atlético mainly for the money, as they offered him a much higher salary than Juventus. He even made a bet with the club president, Jesús Gil, that if he scored a hat-trick, he would get a Ferrari. Vieri scored the hat-trick, but never took the car because he felt bad leaving the club after just one year.

Success with Lazio

After his great season in Spain and his performances at the 1998 World Cup, Vieri came back to Serie A to play for Lazio in 1998. He had a very good season, scoring 14 goals. He helped Lazio win the Cup Winners' Cup, scoring the first goal in the final match.

Golden Years at Inter Milan

The next season, Vieri made a record-breaking transfer to Inter Milan in 1999. He stayed at Inter for six seasons, which was the longest he played for any club. At Inter, he was meant to play alongside Ronaldo, but injuries often kept them from playing together.

Vieri was amazing in his first few seasons. Under coach Héctor Cúper, Vieri became the main focus of the attack. In the 2001–02 season, he scored 22 goals in 25 games as Inter almost won the league title. The next season, he was the top scorer in Serie A with 24 goals in 23 games. He also scored three goals in the Champions League. However, he got injured during a Champions League game and missed the semi-final against AC Milan.

Later, Vieri had some disagreements with new coaches and faced criticism from fans. Despite this, he continued to score many goals for Inter. In January 2004, he scored his 100th goal for the club.

Later Career Clubs

In 2005, Vieri left Inter and joined their rivals, AC Milan. He scored one goal for them before moving to Monaco in France in January 2006. Unfortunately, he suffered a knee injury there, which meant he couldn't play in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

After Monaco, Vieri briefly joined Sampdoria before returning to Atalanta in 2006. He played seven games and scored two goals. In 2007, he signed with Fiorentina, scoring 6 goals in 26 games. He then had another short spell at Atalanta in 2008 before finally announcing his retirement from professional football in October 2009.

International Career for Italy

Vieri played for the Italian national team from 1997 to 2005, scoring 23 goals in 49 matches. He is considered one of Italy's best pure strikers. He is also Italy's joint-highest goal scorer in the FIFA World Cup, with nine goals in nine games across the 1998 and 2002 tournaments.

Vieri made his debut for Italy in March 1997, scoring his first international goal in a 3–0 win against Moldova. He scored a very important goal against Russia to help Italy qualify for the 1998 World Cup.

World Cup Performances

At the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Vieri played very well with Roberto Baggio. He scored five goals in the tournament: one against Chile, two against Cameroon, one against Austria, and one against Norway. Italy was knocked out in the quarter-finals by France after a penalty shootout.

Vieri was Italy's main striker at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan. He scored four goals in four games. He scored two goals against Ecuador in the first game. He also scored Italy's only goal in a loss to Croatia. In the round of 16, he scored against co-hosts South Korea, but Italy lost the game in extra time.

He also played in Euro 2004, but did not score any goals. He missed Euro 2000 and the 2006 World Cup due to injuries. It was a shame he missed the 2006 World Cup, as Italy went on to win it!

How Vieri Played

Christian Vieri was a powerful and skilled striker who scored many goals. He was known for his strength, speed, and good technique. People often called him "Il Toro" ("The Bull") because of his strong physical presence. He was very good at heading the ball and is the top scorer of headed goals in Italian league history. Vieri could score with both feet and was also good at taking penalties. He was great at finding open space and getting into good positions to score. Even though he was mainly a goal scorer, he could also help his teammates by holding up the ball and creating chances.

Life After Football

After retiring, Vieri has been involved in several projects. He has his own fashion label called Sweet Years, which he runs with his friend and former teammate Paolo Maldini. They also own restaurants in Milan.

Vieri has also become a football expert and commentator for TV. He started a popular online show called Bobo TV with other former teammates like Antonio Cassano and Nicola Ventola.

In his personal life, Vieri married Italian showgirl Costanza Caracciolo in 2019. They have two daughters.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vieri goal.

List of international goals scored by Christian Vieri

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 March 1997	Stadio Nereo Rocco, Trieste, Italy	Moldova	2–0	3–0	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
2	29 October 1997	Dynamo Stadium, Moscow, Russia	Russia	1–0	1–1	1998 FIFA World Cup qualifier
3	11 June 1998	Parc Lescure, Bordeaux, France	Chile	1–0	2–2	1998 FIFA World Cup
4	17 June 1998	Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, France	Cameroon	2–0	3–0	1998 FIFA World Cup
5				3–0
6	23 June 1998	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France	Austria	1–0	2–1	1998 FIFA World Cup
7	27 June 1998	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France	Norway	1–0	1–0	1998 FIFA World Cup
8	5 September 1998	Anfield, Liverpool, England	Wales	2–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier
9	5 June 1999	Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy	Wales	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier
10	8 September 1999	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	Denmark	2–0	2–3	UEFA Euro 2000 qualifier
11	3 June 2002	Sapporo Dome, Sapporo, Japan	Ecuador	1–0	2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup
12				2–0
13	8 June 2002	Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima, Japan	Croatia	1–0	1–2	2002 FIFA World Cup
14	18 June 2002	Daejeon World Cup Stadium, Daejeon, South Korea	South Korea	1–0	1–2	2002 FIFA World Cup
15	20 November 2002	Stadio Adriatico, Pescara, Italy	Turkey	1–1	1–1	Friendly
16	29 March 2003	Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy	Finland	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier
17				2–0
18	20 August 2003	Gottlieb Daimler Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany	Germany	1–0	1–0	Friendly
19	11 October 2003	Stadio Oreste Granillo, Reggio Calabria, Italy	Azerbaijan	1–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifier
20	18 February 2004	Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy	Czech Republic	1–0	2–2	Friendly
21	31 March 2004	Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga, Portugal	Portugal	1–1	2–1	Friendly
22	28 April 2004	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy	Spain	1–1	1–1	Friendly
23	12 October 2005	Stadio Via del Mare, Lecce, Italy	Moldova	1–0	2–1	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier

Awards and Achievements