Del Piero realistic

March 20, 2000
Juventus Official Site

"I never once thought of taking off Del Piero," Juventus boss Carlo Ancelotti told the gentlemen of the press after the Turin derby. His comment only served to reaffirm his confidence in the diminutive number 10. The respect is clearly mutual. "I have never felt like an unsubstitutable player, because you only get to play in this team when you're at your best," observed Del Piero. "But I must thank the coach, because you can only become match-fit by playing. I also want to thank all those who have been close to me and helped me through this difficult patch."

Del Piero's words will offer no comfort to any sides still harbouring hopes of winning the title: he went on to insist that there was no chance of Juve letting their concentration slip, after having fought so hard. "We will continue to tell ourselves that we cannot afford to let our concentration slip. We will only uncork the champagne once we know that we have the Scudetto in the bag."

Del Piero continued, "Our strength is that we are all pulling in the same direction, we all want the same thing. We won't suffer from a physical drop in form, despite having started before the rest, because the psychological aspect is our strength."
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