Del Piero keeps busy

May 30, 2000
Juventus Official Site

Alessandro Del Piero addressed a busy press conference on Sunday afternoon, and announced that he has agreed terms with the Compact agency, who will look after all initiatives relating to the star's image. Compact is already well known to the Bianconeri: the company has been working for the club in the Asian market for years.

Indeed, Del Piero wasted no time in revealing that two projects are already in the pipeline: a dedicated internet site and a new range of Adidas products to be endorsed by the player. This burst of activity is hardly surprising given that Del Piero remains Juventus' most popular export. But the legendary number 10 has not cut financial ties with the club: his new deal obliges him to take part in a Juventus initiative each year, to be decided in agreement with both parties. The club retains the right to evaluate further initiatives together with the player.

While announcing his new deal, however, Del Piero was not losing sight of what matters most at present. The inspirational playmaker, who will be hoping to leave his mark on the European Championships later this month, declared, "Let's hope that fans of whatever club side unite behind Italy - along with the press, of course. Scathing criticism would do nothing to help us."

The critics, however, have already begun hunting around for material. The current success of the Italy Under-21 side, which beat England 2-0 on Saturday and defended a 1-1 draw with Slovakia on Monday, despite being reduced to 10 men, has provided the press with a handy means of comparison. The Under-21s, it is argued, possess all the hunger and team spirit that the seniors - who reputedly train, lunch and then go off to their own rooms - lack. "We do communicate," retorted Del Piero. "We chat via computer for one thing. We've even managed to teach Ciro Ferrara how to do it. Just kidding - Ciro is one of us, but we have got the bug for communicating this way.

"The fact is, we all care passionately about the national side. Unfortunately, we always face the same predicament: when the side does well, everyone supports it, when it loses, they all renounce it."

But Del Piero was in no mood for major revelations. When pushed to comment on the fact that the strikers in Dino Zoff's squad enjoyed little success towards the end of the domestic season, he closed the discussion with, "We were saving ourselves for Euro 2000." That might seem a glib rejoinder, but the Juventus number 10 knows that the true answer will come on the pitch.
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