Del Piero fuels passionate debate
Luxury player or indispensable? We meet the man who has Italy split down the middle

June 24, 2000
Football Unlimited

By Paddy Agnew

Towards the end of Italy's training session in Geel on Thursday morning a frisson ran through the massed ranks of the Italian football media. As the players were preparing for the ritual mini-game that wraps up many sessions, all eyes were on the line-ups.

Surprise, surprise: Alessandro del Piero was in the "first XI" and his erstwhile rival Francesco Totti was relegated to the reserves. It was too much for the man from Ansa, Italy's national press agency, to resist. By the time training finished Ansa had sent out a quick flash: "Surprise in training, Del Piero not Totti".

As Italy prepare for their Euro 2000 quarter-final clash with Romania at the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels tonight, the nation's thoughts are focused on the Totti or Del Piero issue. It seems that for Italians a major football tournament is not worth the candle unless it engenders a furious, nationwide debate as to which of two contemporary stars should figure in the side.

The tradition dates from the Mexico World Cup in 1970 when Internazionale's Sandro Mazzola and golden boy Gianni Rivera of Milan were judged incompatible by the coach Ferruccio Valcareggi. And in the 1998 World Cup in France, Del Piero was in a two-way battle for a place with the only contemporary Italian who could reasonably be considered even more famous (and wealthy) than himself, the "Little Prince" Roberto Baggio.

As in 1970 and 1998, Italy's 56m-strong armchair army of potential national coaches want both their stars to play. Please, why not Mazzola with Rivera, Del Piero with Baggio, and now Totti with Del Piero?

The enthusiasm for Del Piero is understandable. Likewise, one can only admire the cavalier tactical approach urged by an editorial in yesterday's Gazzetta dello Sport, calling on the team coach Dino Zoff to start with a four-man attack led by Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi, supported by Totti and Stefano Fiore. Admirable, but hardly realistic. Only in the most extreme of losing circumstances, and maybe not even then, would Zoff consider such an attacking quartet.

No, for Del Piero fans the bad news is that Totti is almost certain to start tonight, once more relegating one of the world's highest-paid footballer to the substitutes' bench. If Del Piero plays, it will most likely be only as a second-half substitute, just as in Italy's opening Euro 2000 wins against Turkey and Belgium when he came on instead of Fiore and Totti respectively.

It was the third of Italy's first-round games, their 2-1 victory over Sweden in Eindhoven on Monday, which poured fuel on the Totti or Del Piero debate. Zoff opted to field a side containing eight reserves, including Del Piero. He seized his chance in the best possible manner, scoring an 88th-minute left-foot winner straight out of the Roy of the Rovers school of prowess.

"It's true that after scoring that goal I felt an almost violent sensation," the Juventus player says, "and that was because the goal meant a lot. The game against Sweden was a difficult one in that we were already into the quarter-finals, and therefore those of us who had played less than the others had to be sure to lay on a good show."

The "good show" was delivered and the nationwide debate exploded. It is one ripe with the possibility for endless local polemics of the north v south, Juventus v Roma (Totti is Roma's captain) variety. Not for nothing, the front page of the Rome sports daily Corriere dello Sport yesterday carried the headline, "This is Totti's Italy". Doubtless the Turin daily Tuttosport will respond this morning with calls for Del Piero to start.

To the credit of both players, neither has indulged in polemics or tried to make life difficult for Zoff. Both want to play, obviously, yet both have spent most of Euro 2000 so far explaining what a good player the other is. "I'm taking this whole thing calmly and serenely," Del Piero says. "There is no war of nerves between me and Francesco."

Non-Italian observers, confused by the sight of Del Piero on the bench, possibly underestimate two considerations. Totti, 23, is a supremely talented player, and Del Piero has spent much of this season on the comeback trail after a 10-month lay-off caused by cruciate ligament damage to his left knee in November 1998.

Whereas Totti has played at close to his best throughout the season, Del Piero has made a slow journey back to full strength and sharpness. Intriguingly, however, Del Piero appears close to journey's end as Euro 2000 moves into the quarter-finals. His ability to glide past defenders, his free-kick skills and terrific natural touch are all back. One suspects that if he played for any other country he would line up not as a striker but as midfield playmaker. Significantly, in one Serie A game last season when Zinedine Zidane was unavailable for Juventus, Del Piero dropped back to appear in the Frenchman's playmaker role, doing so with total ease and to great effect.

Zoff, however, does not want that type of playmaker. His choice is the talented Fiore, who tends to be more combative and mobile. Which leaves Del Piero and Totti to battle for a place up front and, in that context, Zoff probably believes Totti's greater physical strength gives him the edge.

Cynics might argue that, if Del Piero is dropped again, he can console himself with his huge pay packet. He has estimated annual earnings, after tax, of $11m (£7.3m), half in salary from Juventus and half from deals with such as Coca-Cola, Adidas and Walt Disney.

Del Piero, too, is still only 25 and clearly there are other European Championships, not to say World Cups, ahead. However, the sight of him on the substitutes' bench brings to mind the day almost a year ago when he and Juventus concluded months of contract negotiations. Asked how he felt about being then the world's best-paid footballer, he replied: "Money is important because it helps you to live better, but there are lots of things in life you simply can't buy."

Starting with a guaranteed first-choice place in Dino Zoff's Italy team.
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