Alessandro Del Piero assures that the time has come for him to shine at international level after slipping up in two tournaments.
The Juventus star has impressed for his club throughout the years, but a combination of bad luck and injuries saw him struggle at both France ’98 and Euro 2000.
“The name of Del Piero has been attached to the success at Juventus,” he admits, “but I have never won anything with Italy. The time has come to make up for lost opportunities.”
“I am confident as I am in better condition than before both the last World Cup and the European Championships in Holland and Belgium.”
Del Piero has particularly hit peak form in the last month in what proved crucial performances for Juve’s Scudetto winning season.
“Italy cannot hide from the fact,” he explains, “we are among the favourites for this World Cup. We all spoke about it today in the changing rooms. We want to go all the way, even if it won’t be easy as there are another five or six teams that share our chances.”
One of the reasons for Del Piero’s stuttering Azzurri record has been the duality with Roberto Baggio. In particular the 1998 World Cup saw fans demand the Divine Ponytail be picked ahead of the younger model. That won’t be an issue this year as Baggio has been left at home.
“Giovanni Trapattoni thought about this decision long and hard,” assured Del Piero. “I would have had no problems if Baggio was part of the squad as we get on very well. We must respect the Coach’s choices and having spoken to Trap I think he suffered in making this decision.”
At the end of today’s training session Trapattoni ordered a game between ranks. Ten men were in each team and the red-shirted players should be the starting line-up for Saturday’s friendly against the Czech Republic.
Francesco Totti and Cristiano Doni did not take part as they are still struggling with fitness problems.
The red squad was Abbiati; Cannavaro, Nesta, Maldini; Zambrotta, Tommasi, Di Biagio, Coco; Inzaghi, Vieri
The goalkeeper for Saturday’s game will be Gianluigi Buffon. In the 25-minute match the yellow-shirted team won 2-1 thanks to goals from Angelo Di Livio and Vincenzo Montella. Christian Vieri scored for the reds.
The Juventus star has impressed for his club throughout the years, but a combination of bad luck and injuries saw him struggle at both France ’98 and Euro 2000.
“The name of Del Piero has been attached to the success at Juventus,” he admits, “but I have never won anything with Italy. The time has come to make up for lost opportunities.”
“I am confident as I am in better condition than before both the last World Cup and the European Championships in Holland and Belgium.”
Del Piero has particularly hit peak form in the last month in what proved crucial performances for Juve’s Scudetto winning season.
“Italy cannot hide from the fact,” he explains, “we are among the favourites for this World Cup. We all spoke about it today in the changing rooms. We want to go all the way, even if it won’t be easy as there are another five or six teams that share our chances.”
One of the reasons for Del Piero’s stuttering Azzurri record has been the duality with Roberto Baggio. In particular the 1998 World Cup saw fans demand the Divine Ponytail be picked ahead of the younger model. That won’t be an issue this year as Baggio has been left at home.
“Giovanni Trapattoni thought about this decision long and hard,” assured Del Piero. “I would have had no problems if Baggio was part of the squad as we get on very well. We must respect the Coach’s choices and having spoken to Trap I think he suffered in making this decision.”
At the end of today’s training session Trapattoni ordered a game between ranks. Ten men were in each team and the red-shirted players should be the starting line-up for Saturday’s friendly against the Czech Republic.
Francesco Totti and Cristiano Doni did not take part as they are still struggling with fitness problems.
The red squad was Abbiati; Cannavaro, Nesta, Maldini; Zambrotta, Tommasi, Di Biagio, Coco; Inzaghi, Vieri
The goalkeeper for Saturday’s game will be Gianluigi Buffon. In the 25-minute match the yellow-shirted team won 2-1 thanks to goals from Angelo Di Livio and Vincenzo Montella. Christian Vieri scored for the reds.
