Reminiscing Alessandro del Piero: Delhi Dynamos' marquee player from 1st season

Although he scored just one goal, it was a delight to have him play the ISL

Alessandro del Piero! This name causes a strange shiver of expectation and delight for anyone associated with football, especially in Italy and more precisely in the business town of Turin. My fellow journalist here, who hails from the aforementioned, exclaims he always feels it himself - a cold sensation running down the spine- and the ring of spectators swayed with it as corn waves in a sudden breeze on a summer day.

One could watch the tremor encircle the whole field of play; it was like an electric shock and when the figure of the hero emerges from the dugout, the public, no matter where it is, roared in welcome.

Of course he is blessed with supreme natural gifts and an alert and receptive mind, physique that is still strong, supple and perfectly coordinated and, as a result, a lightning quickness in conception and execution that no one has ever quite equaled. His extraordinary quickness of eye and mind allow him to do things utterly impractical for others.

He can play against the best of defences in Serie A and the A-League and never have to hurry his touch; his passing has been marvellous and even the not so frequent runs from back of the field have been a joy to watch over the years.

Looking back, Del Piero, has definitely been one of Italy’s most potent gift to football. His magic does not just lie in the number of goals that he has accumulated or the frequency with which he has scored them. It lies in the manner in which he made them, for he certainly seemed, rather like another great from the same era — Totti, to make goal scoring into a different art.

Contemporaries describe the perfection of his play — Diego Maradona once said, “Here he is, he is different, he likes to play, he feels it in his soul; between he and Zidane, I stay with him”.

Marcelo Lippi described how “del Piero is a champion with extraordinary technical ability and wonderful characteristics. When he is selected he never disappoints. He is an example to us all. He has great skills and intuitions that few other players have; He is a captain in the real sense of the word”.

Alone, of all his peers, he seemed at ease pulling his team trough the lower division when being plummeted into that in 2006-07.

It’s perplexing then how since his last appearance here in the inaugural Indian Super League, though, his perception and the way people and the media alike have been talking about him has changed out of all recognition. In what was the 14th fixture for the Dynamos and 10th for the Italian maestro, he finally scored, a curling free kick from outside the area, almost reminiscent of his strikes from what was fondly referred to as the ‘del Piero’ zone during Juventus’ Champions League winning campaign in 1995-96.

There was much joy, hype, applause and attention seeking, neither of which was unexpected. As Kipling had mentioned, we treat those two imposters- triumph and disaster, the same- with melodrama! And so people went berserk here in the capital- and they could not have been too different from the ones who were dismayed and questioned his presence on the pitch.

Makes me wonder that perhaps we should be willing to look upon him as a character actor, as a legend who helped football develop in a country where the professional set-up is still nascent to say the least. We might not be able to look back with much joy at his performances here but in all honesty, in all the years that we have seen him play, he has given us enough joy for us to pardon him for this.

For him to stay relaxed and encourage the masses around every time he steps onto the field, it’s exemplary. Here's hoping the likes of Carlos, Malouda & Riise can pull off just the same this season!