Saint
Vincent - It's always him, at least from what was seen today, 253 days
from the accident: the whole class, the reasonable athletic condition,
still some caution. Alessandro Del Piero felt again the supporters' applause
during the friendly (2-0 for Juve) organized for him at Saint Vicent, against
the solid Valle D'Aosta amateurs.
His goal at the 33rd has
taken many appauses from the people and the protagonist has remembered
old feelings. He was set up on a beautiful pass by Rigoni, a youngster
that looks a little like him, he has avoided the opponent with a pirouette
and escaped from the keeper. But first he has shown three-four winning
dribbles. He was also put to the test in some confrontations, a couple
of winning tackles and absorbed with ease as many light fauls. He stil
lacks explosion and speed, but it's a matter of time. In the second half,
he got the captain's bracelet and played half an hour beside Kovacevic:
some changes in the attack have shown that between the two a very interesting
duo can be drawn up.
"Everything went fine - Del
Piero has said - the knee, the physique in general. Any goal is important,
even against the amateurs. There wasn't anything negative during
the day". "I haven't rejoiced at any time - Alex added - because it's still
not the moment. Now we must use the same attention of those nine months
as we go on with the preparation. It will take a series of matches to be
ready. I still can't determine the exact date". Del Piero was the last
one to leave the dressing rooms, in front of which there was a hundered
of fans waiting for him, with many youngsters among them. He patiently
stopped to sign some autographs, and afterwards, to avoid the attack of
the crowd, he's asked to get into the team bus at the antistadium, so he
could go with no problems. A little before that, the big juve managers
had saluted him (Vittorio Chiusano, Antonio Giraudo and Luciano Moggi),
all satisfied for they've seen in person Alex's positive return.
Carlo Ancelotti has tried
in vain to hide a little emotion limiting himself to say "everything is
ok", presuming this way his prediction was right. Before the match, indeed,
the coach had predicted a goal from Del Piero, because "it's useful for
his morale". Even the bianconero social doctor Riccardo Agricola has shown
satisfaction: "for the clinical part we were convinced that it all proceeded
for the best; today we were sure that also the physical and athletic planes
have been well worked in these months".
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