Trap had no doubts about Godot
October 3, 2000
Onefootball.com
As the Italy squad gathered
to prepare for their forthcoming World Cup qualifiers against Romania and
Georgia, all eyes were once again on Alessandro del Piero, with coach Giovanni
Trapattoni insisting that he had had confidence in the Juventus forward
even before his goal against Napoli on Sunday.
"I'm not interested about
the goal in Napoli," Trapattoni said, "because Alex did well in the last
qualifier in Hungary. If it hadn't been for the bumpy pitch, he would have
scored there as well.
"Instead, he was attacked
by the critics, but I saw him playing even better than against Napoli.
Of course, I hope that the goal in Naples has unblocked him, but let's
not make any jokes: if Del Piero is here, it's certainly not because of
that goal."
Del Piero's place in the
national - and indeed Juventus - team has been the subject of intense speculation
in the press.
So long is he taking to return
to the kind of form he showed in inspiring Juve to the Champions' League
in 1996, indeed, that Juve owner Giovanni Agnelli has taken to calling
him Godot.
Francesco Totti, recently
voted Italian player of the year, was also keen to get behind Del Piero.
"There's nothing to worry about regarding Alex, although I am happy for
him that he scored that goal. I'll say again: I'm sure we could play together
in the same team."
Trapattoni, though, refused
to confirm that Del Piero would be in the starting line-up against Romania
on Saturday.
"It's premature to talk about
that," he sad. "I could choose between many players."
He did speak about his decision
to give Valerio Bertotto and Francesco Coco their first call-ups to the
national squad. "Bertotto could be very useful - the player is ideal to
join the group," he said.
"He has played a lot in Europe
with Udinese, and he guarantees me his experience at the moment when Negro
is not at his best. Coco played well last year and this year he has started
very well; he could even become one of the regular players."
He also spoke of those who
aren't in the squad. "Antonio Conte and Gianluca Pessotto have come back
from a long period out, and do not seem to be physically ready.
"I've been following Simone
Inzaghi, but his league form will decide whether he deserves to be part
of the national team. I'm also following very carefully the progress of
Cristiano Zanetti, who performed beautifully in the Olympics.
"I'm also keeping an eye
on Marco Simone, Paulo Di Canio, Christian Panucci, and Gianfranco Zola.
"I've tried to choose the
players that are in form. Paolo Negro and Mark Iuliano are out because
I don't think they're in good condition.
"Many teams have this problem,
that players are not physically fit, but I hope I did the right thing.
The game against Romania is the most difficult, so that's why we're playing
it in Milan were there will be around 60,000 fans. We must take six points
from these two home games."
Italy began their qualifying
campaign with a disappointing 2-2 draw in Hungary.
.
