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Del Piero: "Baggio wasn't in Parma"

October 7, 2001
Sportal (translated by Alice)

He scored the decisive goal exactly when the Parma crowds had started to boo him and to sing chants supporting Baggio. It was a delicate moment for Alessandro Del Piero, but he overcame it with a beautiful free kick which gave Italy the lead against tough Hungary.

He reacted as a champion, changing an evening that could be a nightmare for him and which, instead, ended with a standing ovation on the moment he was replaced. And even though Pinturicchio returned to Juve on Sunday, the National team, Baggio and his splendid free kick goal can't help being mentioned on the press room.

It's been a qualification we deserved, because we played better than the other squads", Del Piero said. The goal put things back in place, especially with the Parma people. "I am obviously very happy with the goal, I had been close to scoring before. We wanted to close the match soon, we started out well and the fact that we made some mistakes shows that there was a lot of tension due to the importance of the match".

Impossible not to talk about Baggio and the Emilians (pro-Divine Ponytail) chants. "Nobody has any doubts about Baggio's qualities, but the Parma people's attitude in that part of the match didn't help us. The squad needed support. Anyway, I know very well that all of these talks will come back around April, that is, little before the World Cup".

After the goal he took of the shirt, in a mix of joy and anger in a long embrace with Di Livio, a friend he knows since his Padova times, going through Juventus and the National team together. "Taking off the shirt? No special meaning, it was a spontaneous sign of joy and that's it".

The goal, after several missing chances, came on a free kick. "We have to take advantage of all our qualities, this includes the free kicks. I am not the only one who can take it, there are also Totti and Albertini. These can be our extra weapons".

Totti confirmed he is already one of Trapattoni's team leaders. "He played a great match, showing he's a complete player, he was all over the field and verticalized perfectly. Our group will have to take to the World Cup the experience we got on the last tournaments. We are running short of luck, since among penalties, golden goals and other things it's not like we've been exactly lucky".

Some people saw an angry Del Piero after the substitution. "I thought I'd play a little more, but there's no problem. What has Trapattoni brought to this team? His great spirit, his personality, his experience and his ability to build a group".

Del Piero attacker or trequartista? Though Del Piero has been playing almost exclusively as a second striker lately, this question inevitably comes. However, he is never tired of answering. "I repeat what I've said several times: I don't exclude anything; if I need to, I will play as a trequartista. But I wouldn't go as far as saying that I want to play in this role".
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