Press conference: Del Piero

October 24, 2001
Juventus Official Site

The day after the win against Porto, that allowed the bianconeri to secure qualification for the next round of the Champions League with a game to spare, Alessandro Del Piero spoke in a press conference about his satisfaction at reaching this first target of the season, about his excellent form, and finally about the next opponents Inter.

THE QUALIFICATION: "It's a really important result, because it allows us to catch our breath a bit, even though we won't go to Glasgow, playing uncommitedly. Attaining this first target of the season gives us more self-belief and helps our morale in what has been a slightly delicate moment, especially in the league, where at times we haven't managed to get the results we wanted. However, scoring three goals yesterday, as well as one perfectly good goal ruled out for offside, and lots of other shots, offers some good signs. We've learnt that if we don't battle for the whole 90 minutes, we can be vulnerable. The result against Porto was a reward for our attempts to improve, in a season that is showing the difficulty for any team, not just us, to be competitive and successful on lots of different fronts. All the teams are finding this".

JUVE, THE EXAMS CONTINUE: "That's true because all around us there is a desire to get good results in a hurry. We've also got this hunger, as much as the others. To do this we need to keep a balanced view, because we are playing every three days, and every match has it's own importance. Yesterday too, you saw that there are aspects of our game that we need to improve, such as the fact that on three occasions we were troubled in deadball situations".

HIS PERSONAL FORM: "Compared to the period after my injury, I've grown physically. Obviously praise comes when you score or play well. For me, to receive praise from the coach or from teammates is the most rewarding aspect, it's great because they are my point of reference. In the past to arrive at this point, I needed to take risks, the risk of making errors on the pitch. Now the difference is that whatever I want to do on the pitch, I am managing to do".

INTER: "This will be another of those matches that will push us. We'll have to be good in avoiding continuing celebrating the mini-target that we've reached; avoiding complacency. We have to be strong and turn that enthusiasm into something positive, so as to give our best against an Inter side, that will be looking to react to their defeat in the derby".
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