Del Piero hype finally justified

For 10 years Alessandro Del Piero has been hyped as the great hope of Italian football only to disappoint on the big stage.

After Sunday’s World Cup final victory over France, the Juventus player admitted he was happy to have played just a supporting part in the Azzurri’s fourth World Cup triumph and their first since 1982.

Del Piero was one of, in team-mate Simone Perrotta’s words, a “team without stars” that outlasted France to raise the spirits of a nation whose football has been tarnished by a major corruption scandal at which Del Piero’s club is the centre.

“I think every game we played we started to believe in ourselves a little more,” said Del Piero who coach Marcello Lippi used as a substitute – he scored the clincher in the 2-0 semi-final win over Germany and converted a penalty in the shootout win over France in the Berlin final.

Even though Del Piero played only a bit part in the team’s success he told PA Sport the World Cup win was still the highlight of his high-profile career.

“Yeah for sure,” he said. “When you are still a baby you dream of this (winning a World Cup).

“I am very happy and this is a special moment for me. We are world champions and that is unbelievable for me.”

Del Piero told La Gazzetta dello Sport he considered the World Cup win a career-defining moment after many disappointments in the days when he was seen as his country’s star player.

In Euro 96 he was first touted as a superstar but indifferent performances at the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 followed. By 2002 his star appeared to be on the wane and Del Piero had to settle for the number seven shirt, handing his favourite number 10 jersey to Francesco Totti who was now seen as the Azzurri golden boy.

The 2002 campaign and Euro 2004 were further blank years for Italian football but it is only in his twilight years Del Piero has finally achieved something in the blue jersey, albeit not as a regular starter.

Del Piero told Gazzetta: “This was my first World Cup final and comes 10 years after I won the World Club Championship with Juventus.

“I can say my career has now reached a climax – all I need now is to start winning golf tournaments.”

In a reference to Italy’s previously poor record in penalty shootouts, notably in the 1994 World Cup final with Brazil, Del Piero said: “The penalty curse is over and this victory is the fruit of a team that worked together and believed in itself at the right time.”

Referring to the penalties, he told the Italian sports paper: “I tried to encourage the others but then there comes a point when you have to think about yourself as you prepare to shoot.”

Del Piero also spared a thought for troubled Juventus general manager Gianluca Pessotto who fell during the World Cup from a top-storey window in Turin and is still in intensive care.

“I thought of Gianluca before, during and after the game and when I get back to Turin I will go and visit him,” said Del Piero.