Del Piero: fans' boos made me stronger

October 22, 2001
Planet Football

By Dominique Antognoni

The steady resurgence of Alessandro Del Piero from a slump in form that even saw him criticised by his adoring Juventus tifosi has provided a major boon for the Italian public, as they begin to set their sights on the World Cup.

The former golden-boy of Italian football saw his reputation damaged by a poor showing in the final of Euro 2000, and, his confidence noticeably lacking, a dearth of goals from open play began to see criticism creep in from the likes of Juve and Fiat supreme Gianni Agnelli.

But the mercurial genius appears to be once more firing on all cylinders, and he told planetfootball.com that he was spurred to greater heights when a section of Juve’s fans turned against him.

“When the fans whistled me it was because they knew that I could produce more,” Del Piero said. “The only thing that this caused me to do was think 'okay next time I will do better and they will applaud.'

“Juventus has 11 million fans in Italy and the rest are against us, but that is normal and my only aim is to delight the people by winning with Juve.”

Being dropped to the bench is not something that Del Piero is used to, but he admits the novelty of not starting gave him an opportunity to learn by watching the play from off the pitch.

“I got to take a very different view of the games, and it was amazing.  There are so many games believe me that I am quite happy to remain out some of the time!”

Del Piero was hit with a tragedy earlier in the year when his father died, and the Azzurri star believes he has gained from experience.

“I became stronger”, he explained.  “I even began to play with more wickedness – in the good sense of the word.

“I miss my father so much, because he was very close to me in all the best and worst moments of my life.

“Even when he said nothing, he was important to me. I learned a lot from him.”

The discussion about Del Piero’s best position has raged on, but the forward believes he can adapt to either a fantasista or striker role for both his club and country.

“I hear this kind of talk a lot but it is quite clear, we play with a 4-4-2 (at Juventus) and there are times when we play with two strikers, but other times when I play behind the front two.

“When people talk about who to play out of me and Francesco Totti for Italy, again there is not a problem.

“It is clear to both us and the coach Giovanni Trapattoni that we are two different players, with very different styles of play.

“The only rivalry between us is at a club level, that is it.”

Juventus have looked a little lost so far this season following the loss of influential Frenchman Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid, but Del Piero believes that the Turin club will emerge all the stronger for the sale.

“Again this is something that is said all the time, and I will say again that Zidane is irreplaceable.

“But we can continue playing in a different way. We are very combative now, stronger physically and the players on the wings – Pavel Nedved and Gianluca Zambrotta – are both quick and technically very good. This will bring our goals.”

Finally, Del Piero explained to planetfootball.com that he displays a picture of himself covered in black paint on his personal website to demonstrate his anger at the racism that is inherent in Italian calcio, and also talked of doping rumours that have dogged the game.

“Racism is a stupid thing that I see so many times and not just between black and white people – this is only the most obvious kind. It is such a pity this exists.

“In Italy a lot of people are arriving in stadiums only to take out the frustrations of their week. Why don’t they want to come to watch a football match? We have to learn from other countries in this.

“I cannot believe that doping exists at this high level of football,” added Del Piero. “I have never seen a player take illegal drugs or anything strange for that matter.”
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