Del Piero to start

June 19, 2000
Juventus Official Site

Monday evening’s match against Sweden will mark the end of the group games for Dino Zoff’s Azzurri. They are assured of top spot in the group whatever the result - and will go through to a quarter-final on Saturday in Brussels against an as yet unknown opponent. For Zoff’s troops it will be very much a case of putting on a show for the legions of fans and Italian immigrants who will make one hell of a racket at the Philips stadion in Eindhoven. The coach’s mind is set, and he has decided to play Juve’s favourite son from the very beginning. After all, his pedigree in this fixture is undoubted; Del Piero it was who scored the winning goal against Sweden in the friendly played on 23 February. Furthermore, Alex’s goal made history, as the 200th goal scored by a Juventus player wearing the blue shirt of Italy.

Italians and neutrals alike cannot wait to see Del Piero weave his magic for the whole duration of a match. Both Juve and Italy number 10 shirts are selling like hotcakes - clear evidence of the mass appeal that the Conegliano-born forward enjoys the world over.

However, coach Dino Zoff will also be drawing on the vast experience of Bianconero centre-half Ciro Ferrara. The latter’s defensive partner at Juve, Mark Iuliano, should also keep his place after a stirling performance against the Belgians. Last but not least, Gianluca Pessotto has made a full recovery from the muscle strain picked up against Turkey. The national team, it seems, will have Juve written all over it.
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