Davide Moscardelli has gone down as one of the silkiest footballers to have played the game and boasts the greatest-ever beard in football history
Davide Moscardelli is an icon of football (Image: LightRocket via Getty Images)
Davide Moscardelli is a former Italian striker who boasts the greatest-ever beard in football and his highlights reel puts Neymar to shame.
The Belgian-born international never played at the heights that his YouTube highlights suggest he could’ve. He carved out a 23-year career where he played 91 times in the Serie A in spells at now-excluded Chievo Verona and Bologna – though he scored just 12 times in Italy’s top-flight.
Moscardelli flourished in Serie B throughout the majority of his career, appearing the most for his first club in Italy’s second-tier, Triestina. The striker did embark on a journeyman’s career after making it professional after beginning his career with Maccarese in the seventh tier of Italian football – playing for nine clubs in 15 years.
The 43-year-old retired in 2020 at Serie B side Pisa before taking up a role on the coaching staff at the club. Though largely a complete unknown outside of Italy, Moscardelli has gone down in the football archives as one of the most recognisable players due to an enormous beard he sported at his final club.
His glorious beard is 11 years in the making after he stopped cutting his facial hair on February 2, 2013. Moscardelli had previously promised to cut his beard on two occasions, firstly if Bologna qualified for the Europa League, or if Leece won promotion to Serie B, but neither came to fruition and luckily, his beard remained.
Moscardelli’s beard is the best ever seen in football (Image: Getty Images)
Moscardelli’s talents are also plastered all over YouTube, and they’re definitely worth checking out – with one video titled Davide Moscardelli Is Too Good For Ballon d’Or going viral in 2019 and amassing over five million views in less than two weeks, he still continues to drop jaws whilst playing in exhibition games – not losing his touch or finish.
The 6ft1 striker possessed incredible balance and control for a player of his size, as well as one of the quickest feet seen, with his trademark flip-flap skill moves turning defenders inside out.
The Italian has cut his beard in 11 years
The legend still features in exhibition games now (Image: @moscagol)
Nicknamed ‘Battigol’ for his similarities to Gabriel Batistuta while playing in Serie B, Moscardelli was also famed his scoring some breathtaking acrobatic goals, throwing his physically strong body through the air in jaw-dropping fashion.