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 lea ...

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 Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

Under-18. Born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 Java ...

for the Australia national team between 2004 and 2005.

Biography

Vieri is the son of player Roberto Vieri and brother of Italian star

Christian Vieri Christian Vieri (; born 12 July 1973), commonly known as Bobo Vieri, 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 ...

. He was born in

where he grew up and attended

Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield (abbreviated as PBCF) is an independent Roman Catholic comprehensive single-sex secondary day school for boys, located in Fairfield, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded ...

. In 1996 he and his family relocated to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

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 FC, Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari, A.C. Perugia Calcio, Perugia, Hellas Verona F.C., Hellas Verona and A.C. Reggiana 1919, Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bol ...

season). Vieri was loaned to

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

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

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

as part of the deal of

Mauro Camoranesi Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra (, ; born 4 October 1976) is an Argentinian-Italian association football, football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder or right winger. Camoranesi began his career in Argentina in 1995, whe ...

. 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 known as SSC Napoli or simply Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that currently competes in the Serie A, the highest league of Italian football. Napoli are am ...

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 and currently compete in the Serie C. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A ...

, followed by half-season spells with

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to US Triestina or just Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the northern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Originally established in 1918, Triestina was one of the fo ...

and

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) 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 of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

. In July 2007, he was signed by

Lecco Lecco (, , ; ) is a city of approximately 47,000 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''). The Bergamasqu ...

, after spending the previous season with

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

. After a season at the club, he joined

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

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

International career

Vieri made his international debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

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 River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

as assistant coach to

Lamberto Zauli Lamberto Zauli (born 19 July 1971) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. As a player, he spent his career as an attacking midfielder but was also capable of playing on the left wing on occasion. Club career Born in Rome, ...

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 Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

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 men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players Serie B players AC Ancona players SS Arezzo players AC Prato players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players Hellas Verona FC players Juventus FC players Novara FC players SSC Napoli players Ternana Calcio players US Triestina Calcio 1918 players Weymouth Wales FC players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Australian expatriate sportspeople in Italy 2004 OFC Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Italian people of French descent Australian people of French descent People of Tuscan descent