Del Piero dilemma

June 23, 2000
Juventus Offical Site

It's the question on everybody's minds. Will Azzurri coach Dino Zoff field Alessandro Del Piero from kick-off against the Romanians on Saturday evening? Will he, furthermore, hold faith with Filippo Inzaghi, or will Roma's Francesco Totti yield his place in the side? While the inclusion of either Juve player in Zoff's starting line-up does not preclude the presence of the other, the variations on Italy's possible strikeforce seem endless, and unfathomable.

And with the Italy boss fielding Del Piero in his first 11 in a training ground friendly on Thursday, speculation that the Juventus number 10 will be on the pitch from the start has spread. A survey for a national newspaper, whose findings revealed that two out of three Italians would like to see Del Piero on from the start, has only served to accentuate the dilemma.

Famous for giving little away, however, Zoff will only reveal his side at the last minute. But whatever he decides, one thing is for sure: there are likely to be a good three or four Bianconeri in the starting line-up.

Indeed, Juventus' seven-man contribution to the Italy squad becomes even more impressive when you consider that such key players as France's Zinedine Zidane and the Netherlands' Edgar Davids are also of black-and-white persuasion. Neither has the calibre of the Juventus contingent gone unnoticed by the media.

A quick summary of the Italian press' player ratings - which assign marks out of 10 to players' performances - sees Antonio Conte and Zinedine Zidane currently in pole position, with an average rating of seven, along with Yugoslavia's Drulovic and Portugal's Figo.

But there is no sharing the honours on Friday, when Zidane celebrates his 28th birthday in the French camp in Knokk-Heist. Victory against Spain on Sunday would no doubt aid the celebrations.
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