Del Piero ready and willing

June 17, 2000
Daily Soccer

GEEL, Belgium - Italy's Alessandro Del Piero is better prepared then ever for a major tournament and is convinced he will get a chance to shine during Euro 2000.

The little Juventus forward played only a secondary role in Italy's opening group B victories. He came on for the last 16 minutes against Turkey and the last 27 against Belgium.

But coach Dino Zoff appears certain to give him a place in the starting line-up to face Sweden in Italy's final group match in Eindhoven on Monday. The Italians have already qualified for the quarter-finals as group winners and Zoff is likely to rest many of his first team players.

Del Piero says he is ready to answer the call. "Certainly in terms of form and maybe also psychologically...I've perhaps never been this well prepared before," he said on Saturday.

Del Piero played only the first 45 minutes of Euro 96 and watched the rest of Italy's humiliating first round exit from the sidelines. He then suffered an injury on the eve of the last World Cup, missed Italy's opening two matches and made little impression when he returned later in the competition. He came to Euro 2000 following a moderate Serie A season but appears to be rediscovering his form on Italy's training pitch at Geel in northern Belgium. One good performance against the Swedes and Del Piero could be back in Zoff's first team plans.

"Zoff has shuffled his cards more than once before hasn't he?" he asked. "I don't think the fact the coach has chosen the same line-up for the last two matches means that's the end of the story". "At the moment it doesn't look as if we need to make changes but the further we go in the tournament the tougher our opponents will become."

Del Piero said he accepted his substitute's role but would like to play more. "The best scenario would be to play for a full match and score the winning goal in the 90th minute," he said.
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