Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer and politician
Giampiero Boniperti (Italian pronunciation: [dʒamˈpjɛːro boniˈpɛrti]; 4 July 1928 – 18 June 2021) was an Italian footballer who played his entire 15-season career at Juventus between 1946 and 1961, winning five Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia titles. He also played for the Italy national team at international level, and took part at the 1950 and 1954 FIFA World Cup finals, as well as the 1952 Summer Olympics with Italy. After retirement from professional football, Boniperti was a CEO and chairman of Juventus and, later, a deputy to the European Parliament.A forward, Boniperti is regarded by several pundits, including Mario Sconcerti, as one of Italy's and Juventus's greatest ever players, and is considered by some in the sport, such as Bruno Nicolè, to be Italy's greatest player of all time; with 182 goals in all competitions, Boniperti was the highest goalscorer in Juventus history for more than 40 years, until his record was bested by Alessandro Del Piero on 10 January 2006. Del Piero also broke his club record of 443 Serie A appearances on 14 February 2010, when he played his 444th Serie A game in a 3–2 win against Genoa; with 443 Serie A appearances for Juventus, Boniperti is currently third in the club's rankings, behind only Del Piero and Gianluigi Buffon. Boniperti also held the record for most minutes played in Serie A by a Juventus player (39,680), until his record was surpassed by Buffon on 19 March 2017, in the 66th minute of a 1–0 away win over Sampdoria. Boniperti is the eleventh-highest goalscorer of all-time in Serie A. In March 2004, he was named by Pelé as one of the world's top 125 greatest living footballers.