Serie A had had its heyday by the time the 21st century rolled around, but the Italian top flight was still chock-full of top talent.
From Azzurri icons to foreign imports who became legends in a football-obsessed nation, these are the greatest Serie A players of the 00s.
Let's dive straight in, shall we?
33. Dario Hubner (Brescia, Piacenza, Ancona, Perugia)
A late bloomer, striker Dario Hubner didn’t feature in successive Serie A seasons until his mid-30s – but he made his time at the top count, finishing as top scorer with Piacenza in 2001/02.
Aged 35, Hubner became the oldest winner of the Capocannoniere award – a record which stood for 13 years.
32. Sinisa Mihajlovic (Lazio, Inter Milan)
The late Sinisa Mihajlovic was one of Serie A’s great entertainers of the modern era, breaking the record for the most free-kicks scored in the competition (28).
A 1999/2000 and 2005/06 Scudetto winner with Lazio and Inter Milan, the highly versatile Serbian was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame shortly after his untimely death from leukaemia in 2022.
31. Francesco Toldo (Fiorentina, Inter Milan)
Italy’s first-choice goalkeeper at Euro 2000 in the absence of Gianluigi Buffon, Francesco Toldo joined Inter Milan from Fiorentina in 2001 and spent the remaining nine years of his career with the Nerazzurri.
A reliable presence between the sticks, the five-time Serie A champion was something of a specialist when it came to saving penalties.
30. Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese, Juventus)
He endured rotten injury luck, but Vincenzo Iaquinta still had a noteworthy Serie A career, enjoying a particularly strong spell between 2003 and 2009 – during which he featured for Udinese and Juventus.
An imposing centre-forward blessed with immense pace, Iaquinta was a member of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning squad.
29. Cristiano Lucarelli (Lecce, Torino, Livorno, Parma)
Having begun the decade with spells at Lecce and Torino, Cristiano Lucarelli dropped down a level in 2003 – and immediately fired hometown club Livorno to promotion from Serie B.
The six-cap Italy international – who loved Livorno so much he got their badge tattooed on his arm – continued his prolific form in the top flight, banging in 63 goals in three seasons and winning the 2004/05 Capocannoniere – before making the curious move to… Shakhtar Donetsk.
28. Christian Vieri (Inter Milan, AC Milan, Atalanta, Fiorentina)
One of the best strikers in Europe during the late 90s and early 00s, Christian Vieri enjoyed back-to-back campaigns of 20 or more Serie A goals for Inter Milan in 2001/02 and 2002/03.
The latter season saw Bobo register a joint career-best 24 times in the league – in just 23 appearances – to scoop the Copacannoniere.
27. Dida (AC Milan)
Signed from Corinthians in 2000, with the exception of a brief loan return, Dida spent the whole decade with AC Milan and established himself as one of the game’s top goalkeepers during that time.
Capped 91 times by Brazil, Dida made 206 Serie A appearances and helped Milan to the 2003/04 title under Carlo Ancelotti.
26. Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus, AC Milan)
Gianluca Zambrotta started and ended the 00s in Serie A, either side of a two-year stint in La Liga with Barcelona – and he made quite an impact.
A winner of successive Scudetti with Juventus in 2001/02 and 2002/03, the 2006 World Cup winner was a truly two-footed full-back/wing-back equally capable of lining up on either flank.
25. Filippo Inzaghi (Juventus, AC Milan)
While never prolific, Filippo Inzaghi was a highly reliable centre-forward whose opportunism in front of goal made him a fan favourite at AC Milan, who he joined from Juventus in 2001.
A 2003/04 Serie A champion and 2006 World Cup winner, Superpippo was inducted into the Rossoneri’s Hall of Fame in 2015.
24. Daniele De Rossi (Roma)
An exceptionally well-rounded midfielder, Daniele De Rossi spent almost his entire career at Roma, making his Serie A debut for the Giallorossi in January 2003.
Voted Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 2006 and Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year in 2009, De Rossi starred in the Azzurri’s 2006 World Cup triumph.
23. Lilian Thuram (Parma, Juventus)
A two-time Scudetto winner with Juventus in the early 00s, Lilian Thuram remained in Serie A until leaving for Barcelona in 2006, having long since cemented his status as one of the best defenders around.
Signed from Parma alongside Gianluigi Buffon in 2001, the highly studious Frenchman made 144 Serie A appearances for Juve.
22. Gabriel Batistuta (Fiorentina, Roma)
Right up there with the most clinical frontmen in world football during the latter half of the 90s, Argentine icon Gabriel Batistuta took his elite goalscoring proficiency from Fiorentina to Roma in 2000.
And he could hardly have been a better signing: in his first campaign, Batigol notched 20 times in 28 league outings as the Giallorossi claimed their first Serie A title for 18 years.
21. Hernan Crespo (Lazio, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Genoa)
Between 2000 and 2009, Hernan Crespo racked up 91 Serie A goals – an impressive feat considering he spent two years during that period in England, playing for Chelsea.
A complete centre-forward, the iconic Argentine found the net freely for Parma, Lazio and Inter Milan, finishing as 2000/01 Serie A top scorer for Lazio and winning three straight titles with Inter at the end of the decade.
20. Alberto Gilardino (Piacenza, Hellas Verona, Parma, AC Milan, Fiorentina)
One of the deadliest strikers around in the mid-00s, back-to-back 23-goal Serie A campaigns for Parma earned Alberto Gilardino a big transfer to AC Milan in 2005.
Serie A Footballer of the Year that same year, the 2006 World Cup winner racked up 120 league goals between 2000 and 2009, scoring for five different clubs.
19. Alessandro Costacurta (AC Milan)
AC Milan and Italy great Alessandro Costacurta made his professional debut in the late 80s – and he didn’t hang up his boots until 2007.
The 2003/04 campaign brought the legendary centre-half – who was versatile enough to also operate as a full-back, sweeper or defensive midfielder – his seventh and final Serie A title.
18. Rui Costa (Fiorentina, AC Milan)
A typical number 10 who established himself as one of the world’s best in the role while at Fiorentina, Portuguese great Rui Costa arrived at AC Milan in 2001.
Over the next five years, he featured 124 times in Serie A for the Rossoneri, helping them to the title in the 2003/04 season.
17. Clarence Seedorf (Inter Milan, AC Milan)
In 2002, Clarence Seedorf made the divide-crossing move from Inter Milan to AC Milan; by the end of the 00s, he would be closing in on 300 Serie A games for the Rossoneri.
An immensely adaptable midfield operator, the popular Dutch international won his first of two Scudetti with Milan in 2003/04 – in between a pair of Champions League triumphs.
16. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Juventus, Inter Milan)
Serie A Footballer of the Year for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 campaigns – and top scorer in the latter with 25 goals for Inter Milan – Zlatan Ibrahimovic first made his mark on the Italian top flight after joining Juventus from Ajax in 2004.
His two league titles with the Bianconeri were revoked as a result of the Calciopoli scandal – but three straight Scudetti at Inter from 2007 to 2009 rather made up for that!
15. Cafu (Roma, AC Milan)
One of the very best right-backs of all time, Cafu continued performing to an exceedingly high level well into his 30s, winning the Scudetto with Roma in 2001 and AC Milan three years later.
Brazil’s 2002 World Cup-winning captain also helped Milan to Champions League glory during the 2006/07 season.
14. Luca Toni (Vicenza, Brescia, Palermo, Fiorentina, Roma)
Across the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, Luca Toni plundered 51 Serie A goals, collecting his first of two career Capocannoniere awards in the latter campaign.
In the middle of that prolific two-year spell, the striker moved from Palermo – who he had fired to the 2003/04 Serie B title – to Fiorentina, netting 31 times in his first season with the Viola, before winning the World Cup with Italy.
13. Mauro Camoranesi (Hellas Verona, Juventus)
Born in Argentina, Mauro Camoranesi became a legend in the colours of Juventus and Italy, joining the Bianconeri from Hellas Verona in 2002 and lifting the 2006 World Cup with the Azzurri.
Adept on either wing or in a more central role, Camoranesi helped Juve to the Scudetto and Champions League final in 2002/03.
12. David Trezeguet (Juventus)
Signed from Monaco at the turn of the century, David Trezeguet’s goals helped fire Juventus to consecutive Scudetti in 2001/02 and 2002/03.
The Frenchman – who amassed 138 league goals in just over a decade at Juve – was on target 24 times during the former campaign, picking up the Capocannoniere and Serie A Footballer of the Year.
11. Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan)
A notoriously tough midfielder – sometimes to an excessive degree – Gennaro Gattuso’s nickname of Ringhio (Snarl) could not have summed him up better.
And the AC Milan icon – a 2006 world champion who has to go down as one of the greatest defensive midfielders in history – was absolutely brilliant at what he did, starring in the Rossoneri’s 2003/04 Scudetto triumph, among other successes.
10. Pavel Nedved (Lazio, Juventus)
A Serie A champion with Lazio and Juventus at the beginning of the 21st century, Pavel Nedved beat Thierry Henry to scoop the 2003 Ballon d’Or.
One of Italy’s greatest ever foreign imports, the phenomenally gifted Czech midfielder stayed with Juve following their 2006 demotion to Serie B, helping them back to the top flight as a Bianconeri player in 2009.
9. Francesco Totti (Roma)
The ultimate one-club man, Francesco Totti made his professional debut for hometown giants Roma in 1993 – and hung up his boots there almost a quarter of a century later.
Nicknamed L'Ottavo Re di Roma (The Eighth King of Rome), such is his legend, the iconic attacking midfielder-cum-forward – a 2006 World Cup winner – enjoyed his finest hour early in the 00s, captaining the Giallorossi to the 2000/01 Scudetto.
8. Alessandro Nesta (Lazio, AC Milan)
An all-time great in the art of defending, Alessandro Nesta kicked off the 00s by winning the Scudetto with boyhood club Lazio – who he left for AC Milan in 2002.
More success followed in the colours of the Rossoneri, with whom the sublime centre-back lifted the title again in 2004 – two years before becoming a world champion.
7. Paolo Maldini (AC Milan)
Paolo Maldini was past his peak by the latter half of the 00s, retiring in 2009, but it’s testament to how high that peak was that AC Milan’s utterly legendary Capitano ranks so high up this list.
The 2003/04 campaign yielded the defensive god’s seventh and last Serie A title, and he hung up his boots five years later having amassed 647 top-flight appearances for his local club.
6. Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)
One of Juventus and Italy's greatest players of all time, Alessandro Del Piero helped the Bianconeri to back-to-back Serie A titles in 2001/02 and 2002/03.
In 2006, Juve were demoted to Serie B as punishment for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal – but their talismanic captained stayed put, firing them back to the top flight, then winning Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year in 2008.
5. Fabio Cannavaro (Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus)
Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning skipper, Fabio Cannavaro starred for Parma, Inter Milan and Juventus between 2000 and 2006, winning two titles with the latter – only for them to be struck off as a result of Calciopoli.
That did nothing to diminish Cannavaro’s reputation as one of the game’s most formidable central defenders, however; that’s exactly what he was.
4. Andrea Pirlo (Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus)
If you had to pick a player to watch purely for aesthetic brilliance, Andrea Pirlo would probably be among your top candidates: his metronomic midfield mastery was pure magic to behold (he’s a devastatingly handsome fella, too).
Pirlo won the Scudetto on six occasions, the first in 2003/04 with AC Milan – where he well and truly cemented legend status over the course of a 10-year spell.
3. Gianluigi Buffon (Parma, Juventus)
Already one of the very best goalkeepers in world football by the turn of the century, Gianluigi Buffon became the most expensive custodian of all time when he joined Juventus from Parma for £33m.
And it was a deal which proved to be worth every penny: Buffon – a 2006 World Cup winner – quickly helped Juve to consecutive Scudetti, the first two of a whopping 10 he won in all.
2. Kaka (AC Milan)
Signed by AC Milan from Sao Paulo in 2003, 2002 World Cup winner Kaka played a hugely influential role in the Rossoneri’s Scudetto victory during his first season in Europe.
Within six years, the Brazilian – who scored double figures in four of his six Serie A campaigns during the 00s – was taking home the Ballon d’Or.
1. Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan)
Having almost fired Dynamo Kyiv to the 1998/99 Champions League final, Andriy Shevchenko took the next big step in his career by joining AC Milan in a deal worth £25m.
It didn’t take him long to ensure iconic status at the San Siro, as he banged in 24 goals in each of his first two seasons in Serie A – where he won the Capocannoniere for 1999/2000 and 2003/04, and the Scudetto in the latter campaign.
