Massimiliano Vieri (born 1 September 1978) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker. He is in charge as assistant youth coach for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

Under-18. Born in Sydney to Italian parents, he won six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the

Australia national team Sport is an important part of Australia that dates back to the early colonial period. Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, association football, cricket and tennis are among the earliest organised sports in Australia. Sport ha ...

between 2004 and 2005.

Biography

Vieri is the son of player

Roberto Vieri Roberto Vieri (born 14 February 1946) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker, and also as a central attacking midfielder or winger. Active in both Italy and Australia, Vieri made nearly 300 professional career lea ...

and brother of Italian star

Christian Vieri Christian "Bobo" Vieri (; born 12 July 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Having been born in Italy, Vieri moved with his family to Australia as a child, before returning to Italy to pursue his p ...

. He was born in Sydney where he grew up. In 1996 he and his family relocated to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Club career

Vieri was sold to

Brescello Brescello (; in the local dialect, in the Reggio Emilia dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Reggio Emilia. ...

in co-ownership deal for 30 million lire (€15,494) in 1999. In 2000

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

bought back Vieri for undisclosed fee (his brother Christian had also previously played for the club during the

1996–97 Serie A The 1996–97 Serie A title was won by Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari, Perugia, Hellas Verona and Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bologna, Hellas Verona, Perugia and Reggiana had been promoted from Serie B. Events Follow ...

season). Vieri was loaned to

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

for 100 million lire (€51,646) in 2000–01 season and again in 2001–02 season. In 2002 Vieri joined

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

as part of the deal of

Mauro Camoranesi Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra (, ; born 4 October 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder or right winger. Camoranesi began his career in Argentina in 1995, where he played for Aldosivi and B ...

. Vieri's 50% registration rights was valued 1 billion lire at that time (€516,457). In June 2003 Juventus bought back Vieri for €516,457 and bought Camoranesi outright for €5 million. In July 2003 Vieri left for

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli (), is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Naples ( it, Napoli, nap, Napule), Campania that plays in Serie A, the top flight of Italian football. Napoli ha ...

for €500,000. In June 2004 Juventus gave up the player's remaining 50% registration rights. After leaving Napoli in 2004, he later had a season-long spell with

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 ...

, followed by half-season spells with

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

and

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation o ...

. In July 2007, he was signed by

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...

, after spending the previous season with

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

. After a season at the club, he joined

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 ...

in 2008. In July 2012, he was released by the club.

International career

Vieri made his international debut for Australia against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

in 2004. He received his final international call-up in 2005, totalling six appearances for his country.

Post-playing career

In July 2017, he joined

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

as assistant coach to

Lamberto Zauli Lamberto Zauli (born 19 July 1971) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Crotone. As a player, he spent his career as an attacking midfielder, but was also capable of playing on the left win ...

for the ''Primavera'' Under-19 youth team. In 2020, Vieri joined the youth coaching staff of

as assistant to Renato Buso in charge of the Under-18 team.

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

Honours

Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the Oceania Football Confederation, OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irre ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

OzFootball profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vieri, Max 1978 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Australian soccer players Association football forwards Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players Serie B players A.C. Ancona players S.S. Arezzo players A.C. Prato players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players Hellas Verona F.C. players Juventus F.C. players Novara F.C. players S.S.C. Napoli players Ternana Calcio players U.S. Triestina Calcio 1918 players Weymouth Wales FC players Expatriate footballers in Italy Australian expatriate sportspeople in Italy 2004 OFC Nations Cup players Australian people of Italian descent Italian people of French descent Australian people of French descent People of Tuscan descent