Del Piero delight

August 18, 1999
Juventus Official Site

Alex Del Piero had another good game and his goal gave Juventus the Berlusconi Trophy. "We have to improve our match fitness," he said. "Fortunately we had a good start and the goal helped. However, we have to remember that we were in trouble for periods of the game. On the whole, I am pleased because I am improving like the rest of the team."

A satisfied Alex said: "It's always a good feeling to win at the San Siro and I was very happy with the applause I received when I went off."

We all know what happens to the Berlusconi Trophy winners, but Del Piero doesn't believe in any of that: "I wasn't lucky before the injury and nothing has changed now. Superstitions are made to be broken."

Zaccheroni agreed: "I don't want to talk about these things. We play for the honour of this trophy, which is important to our president. Unfortunately, we lost in as much that Juventus were ahead of us in match fitness. This isn't the whole story. They played better than us even if my team had a few chances."

Reflecting on Del Piero's goal, Zaccheroni said: "It was the defence - they were ball-watching instead of marking. It's an error that's committed on a lot of occasions and it can decide a game."

Ancelotti was able to see a continued improvement throughout the team: "We were a lot more compacted and concentrated at the back. I don't want to single out individuals. I was happy with the whole team. Now I'm waiting to have Del Piero, Zidane and Esnaider available for the full ninety minutes."
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