Alex is back!

July 18, 1999
Juventus Official Site

Alessandro Del Piero is back after an eight-month-and-eleven-day absence following the injury he picked up at Udinese. Del Piero will take the field at 5.30pm in the Perucca stadium in Saint-Vincent.

This is the first of a series of friendlies which Ancelotti has scheduled specially for him, to give him a run on the pitch and assess his progress.

"He has recovered," said the Juventus coach after attending some of his first training sessions.

Alex pointed out that, in spite of the considerable progress he has made, he needed to exercise caution: "Getting back to full athletic training will not be all a bed of roses, but I am prepared for that. I am now training alongside my team-mates from a technical point of view and on tactics. I have a personalised programme in the gym as everyone does."

He seemed a little moved at the idea of getting back on the pitch now that his moment is nearing. Getting back on the pitch is both an achievement and also the starting point for fresh objectives. At the end of the summer tests, which may take the form of friendlies or perhaps even Intertoto matches, we will know if Del Piero has achieved his first, real and important objective: being on the field for the first game of the season on August 29.

Everyone wants to see him back on the pitch. Club officials Moggi, Bettega and Giraudo will be watching at the Perucca stadium together with a long list of observers. In addition to the whole Juventus clan particular attention falls on Ancelotti, back from Romania, the athletics trainer Ventrone and Esposito, the physiotherapist who has monitored Alex's progress step by step.

Many of his team-mates who stayed to train at Chatillon will be playing against the Valle d'Aosta XI: Isakkson, Davids, Conte, Montero, Henry and Oliseh (his Juventus debut). Those who took part in the away game in Romania have time off, with the exception of Rampulla, Zambrotta and Mirkovic who will all be playing. Zidane and Esnaider will not feature. Both are still on individual training regimes. Fonseca has gone down with a fever and Inzaghi has a slight muscle strain.

Team (probable): Isaksson; Mirkovic; Montero; Scardinia; Zambrotta; O'Brien, Oliseh, Davids, Henry; Del Piero, Rigoni.
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