Widely regarded as one of the greatest Italian centre-backs of all-time, and one of the best of his generation, during his playing career he was nicknamed lo Zar ("the Tsar") because of his pace, defensive ability, physicality, tenacious playing style, and Ukrainian descent; he was the son of a Ukrainian Red Army soldier from Starobilsk.[2][3]
Vierchowod then moved on to AC Milan and Piacenza, for whom he continued to play regularly until his early 40s. In the 1998–99 season, Vierchowod scored three goals in the last ten Serie A matchdays to help Piacenza win six out of the last ten league games, which was crucial in securing survival; his second goal was scored on 3 April 1999, just three days before his 40th birthday, in a 4–3 win over Udinese, and his third goal came in the final matchday, on 23 May, when Vierchowod, at the age of 40 years and 47 days, scored in a 1–1 draw against Salernitana,[4][5] thus becoming the second 40-year-old player to score a Serie A goal after Silvio Piola, and currently sitting as the fifth oldest Serie A goalscorer behind Zlatan Ibrahimović, Alessandro Costacurta, Piola, and Fabio Quagliarella.[6]
He eventually retired in 2000, aged 41. Vierchowod played 562 Serie A matches, and is the
Vierchowod was capped 45 times with the Italy national team between 1981 and 1993, scoring two goals. He made his international debut on 6 January 1981, at the age of 21, during a 1–1 friendly draw against the Netherlands in Montevideo, in the 1981 "Mundialito" tournament. He was one of the players in the Italian squad, although he did not play, that won the 1982 FIFA World Cup, under manager Enzo Bearzot. Vierchowod was a member of the Italian squad that took part at the 1986 FIFA World Cup and he also made three appearances at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, as Italy finished in third place on home soil, under manager Azeglio Vicini, after reaching the semi-finals. He is also the oldest goalscorer in the history of the Italy national team: he scored in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Malta on 24 March 1993, which ended in a 6–1 win for the Azzurri, under manager Arrigo Sacchi. Vierchowod also competed for Italy at the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, where Italy managed a fourth-place finish, after reaching the semi-finals of the tournament, although he has never played for Italy in a UEFA European Championship.[7][8]
Style of play
Nicknamed lo Zar,
zonal marking defensive system during his later career.[2][3][10][15][16][17] Although he was initially not the most refined or technically gifted defender in his youth, as his career progressed, he showed significant technical and tactical improvements.[16][17][18] While he was not particularly tall for a centre-back, he was also very strong in the air, due to his elevation, and had a penchant for scoring goals from headers; as a result he is one of the most prolific Italian defenders of all time.[17][19] Despite his aggressive playing style, he was also regarded as a fair player both on and off the pitch,[2][3][20] and also stood out for his longevity, leadership, dedication in training, and ability to avoid injuries.[3][21][22][23]
Gary Lineker also revealed in an interview with FourFourTwo that Vierchowod was "the hardest defender he ever faced" adding "he was absolutely brutal and lightning quick. He gave me one or two digs."[25]
. In all of the circumstances, he left before the end of the season.
On 13 June 2014, Vierchowod was announced as the new coach of the Hungarian club, Budapest Honvéd,[28] but after the team's poor performance and the lack of company support, he resigned on 6 October.[29]
He then briefly served as head coach of FC Kamza between June[30] and July 2018,[31] He left the company because of issues with the management.
_-_Pietro_Vierchowod_(cropped).jpg)
