Today is the birthday of the greatest Juventus player ever, Il Capitano Alessandro Del Piero. And I have never wished him a birthday with this much bleakness. Yes, the Bianconeri have just completed a record 49 games unbeaten run, most of them without their immaculate Captain's presence; but I always feel this legend's absence on and off the pitch this season. I despise Juventus for their decision to not extend his contract and the way they did it makes it even more disgusting. Perhaps there is a reason why Juventus are now lacking that cutting edge state of the art winning mentality in important matches despite having the best squad in Italy.
To even make an attempt to describe how indispensible Alessandro was to Juventus for almost two decades will be an insult to his stature, charisma and talent. It is widely speculated that the Agnellis wanted a whole new revolution in Juventus under the leadership of Antonio Conte from whom Del Piero took the Captain's armband in 1998 and that they wanted to finally put an end to the ineffable influence that Del Piero had in Turin. I personally do not buy it. Apart from Gianluigi Buffon, there are virtually no world class champions in the current Juventus squad (Andrea Pirlo is an outsider, someone who just landed from Milan).
Had Del Piero been still in Juventus, he could definitely have positively influenced the new breed of Bianconeri players. Most importantly, he could have made them understand what it really means to be a Juventus player. They may still be on top this season, but even a kid will know that this is not the same Juventus that ran the show as immaculate juggernauts last season. Conte fanboys argue that this lack of hunger among many of the current players is due to his absence on the pitch. They may have a point; Antonio's ability to motivate players is unprecedented. But I see, in this Juventus, an excess of complacency, something which is absolutely lethal in competitive football, especially when you are playing for one of the biggest clubs on Earth. Juventus used to have tenacious warriors like Birindelli, Pessotto, Di Livio, Tacchinaardi, etc. on the pitch when they ruled world football. They weren't your state of the art world class footballers, but their determination and the hunger to win week in week out, year after year, were absolutely conducive in winning trophies 'continuously'. The key word here is 'continuously'. Many of the current 'superstar' players seem to be complacent with the record unbeaten run and the two major trophies they won this year. Its not difficult to understand that this could very well be due to the absence of a talismanic one club man like Alessandro Del Piero. And this will haunt Juve, regardless of the much awaited return of Antonio Conte.
Juventus should retire no.10 forever. That's the least they could for the legend, who, in my opinion, has grown bigger than his former club. His final game in Juventus Stadium against Atalanta is indelible and leaves a poignant reminder to all those who watched it. The play stopped whilst he was being substituted and both the teams formed a guard of honour. I don't think you will ever see such an incident in top footballing leagues where the play will be virtually stopped for a considerable long time as this (See the last video in the end). Del Piero himself later stated that the experience was extremely touching for him. Fans pleading him to do a lap of honour when the match was still being played and him doing so (probably the only one of its kind in football farewells) will always be remembered by Juventus fans.
Fast forward 3 months. Del Piero is now a Sydney FC player. He has got an incredible fan following in Sydney as is evident by this video.
I am happy to see him playing still, though I will always regret that he didn't retire in Juventus. He has already settled well in Sydney and has scored 3 goals in 4 games so far for them. I hope to see the same for the many years to follow. But Juventus will continue to miss the greatest champion played for them ever.
PS:- During the final game against Atalanta in Juventus stadium, Del Piero, while being substituted, was hugged by Gigi Buffon who was sitting by the side of the pitch. Standing nearby was Antonio Conte. Though Conte was applauding Alex, the latter didn't come nowhere near Conte. Neither did Alex take a look at Conte. To view this specific incident alone, you may start from 2:20 onwards of the video below.
No comments:
Post a Comment