Top 10 Best Italian Soccer Players of the 21st Century

The Top Ten
1 Francesco Totti Francesco Totti is a former Italian professional footballer who plays for Serie A club Roma and Italian national team.

He is one of the few teenage phenoms to be a great player from start to finish. He has never been given the accolades he deserves because he played for Roma. Had he played for Juventus, Milan, Inter, or Real Madrid, he would have been given more respect by others and would have won more trophies.

I also feel he was unlucky with the national team. He was wonderful in Euro 2000. The 2002 World Cup is very suspect. In 2004, he was banned - no excuses. In 2006, he did a wonderful job as a second striker and he was not fully fit. Overall, I feel that the lack of playing for a big club really diminishes his reputation. Let's be honest, we all love attacking talents. No other Italian passes like him and scores like him. Baggio is the only one who can be in the same league as Totti.

When you talk about 21st-century Italian football, Totti is the best player. He has several key advantages: he reached his athletic peak during this time, unlike Baggio and Del Piero. He won the Best Italian Player award five times, led Roma to four titles, and was arguably the best playmaker in the world along with Zidane.

2 Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon (born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional goalkeeper who plays for Serie B club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, and by some as the greatest ever.

By far the greatest keeper of the 21st century. Definitely better than both Neuer and Casillas.

The best goaltender in the country and on the best team in the country, Juventus.

3 Alessandro Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero Ufficiale is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a deep-lying forward.

Del Piero is simply the greatest Italian player ever. He would probably have been voted as such by the other players in the top ten. The world has seen very few players with his capabilities.

Del Piero is better than everyone from 2-10. He has been my favorite soccer player since I was a kid. He helped us beat Germany and scored a penalty against France in '06. Come on, if you guys are smart, vote for Del Piero. My friends are Spanish and think he's better than half of the Spain and Argentina team!

Del Piero's versatility has always been better than anyone else's. His free kicks, penalties, and dribbling skills have always been top-class in the world. And he loves Juventus. We saw that after they were relegated to Serie B.

4 Andrea Pirlo

One of the greatest Italian footballers! Fantastic playmaker, maybe the best in the world! He's competing with Xavi, Iniesta, and the rest of the top footballers in the world, especially the greatest Spanish ones. He should be credited more for his contributions to Italy's good performance in Euro 2012 and for Juve's victory in Serie A!

You don't even have to look him up. He's like 35 and still one of the best at his position. People say, "Oh, he never runs," but that doesn't matter.

The best playmaker in this decade. At this age, he can make some magic. He is the best Italian football player now.

5 Sebastian Giovinco
6 Daniele De Rossi
7 Giorgio Chiellini
8 Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a left back and central defender. Maldini captained Italy for 8 years and AC Milan for 12, and was renowned for his leadership skills, earning him the nickname “Il Capitano”, or ‘The Captain’.

When you think about defenders in general, he is one of those names.

9 Fabio Cannavaro

I watched him play for Real Madrid. His ability to read the game, even in later years, was unparalleled. He wasn't quick, much like Bobby Moore, but he would watch a player's body language, their head, and feet, and read what to do. He knew when to transfer his weight accordingly, when to drop, and when to step up. He is arguably one of the greatest defenders of all time, along with Baresi and Nesta.

10 Mario Balotelli

I think Balotelli is the best because he has the skill, and the team depends on him. There would be no team without Balotelli.

Balotelli worked alone as the best Italian offender.

The Contenders
11 Roberto Baggio Roberto Baggio (Italian pronunciation: roˈbɛrto ˈbaddʒo), born 18 Feb 1967, is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder. In 1993, he was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or. He is the former President of the technical sector of the Italian Football Federation. A technically gifted, creative playmaker... read more

Should be way higher! Not even in the top ten?

12 Leonardo Bonucci
13 Alessandro Nesta
14 Marco Verratti Marco Verratti is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for French club Paris Saint Germain in Ligue 1 and the Italian national football team.
15 Claudio Marchisio
16 Gennaro Gattuso
17 Riccardo Montolivo
18 Mauro Camoranesi
19 Christian Vieri

He may not have won many titles, but he is the most dangerous Italian striker. His terror in the box is felt by any defenders and goalkeepers.

This list is so wrong. Christian Vieri is still the joint top scorer for Italy in the World Cup with R. Baggio. He also has the most goals from headers in Serie A. He is the only Italian striker who can be a top scorer in another big competition (read: La Liga), and all of you put him below Balotelli and Iaquinta as strikers? How outrageous!

He scored 9 goals in 9 appearances in the World Cup, but why is he only ranked under the best ten? Outrageous!

20 Vincenzo Iaquinta
21 Alberto Aquilani
22 Fabio Grosso
23 Luca Toni
24 Filippo Inzaghi
25 Stephan El Shaarawy

Best young Italian player. Has the potential to be one of the best players in the distant future. Reminds me of Neymar, and his pace is almost unrivaled.

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