Legends Of Club Football: Alessandro del Piero

We all have heroes. People that we admire, people that we envy, people we long to be ourselves. People who we look up to and recognize the magnitude of their simplest of actions as something that we would probably never be able to do. A hero is Alessandro del Piero.

13th May 2012. Away at Atalanta. Juventus’ final league game of 2011-12. Del Piero’s final Serie A appearance for Juventus. The stage was set for the not-so-big man. 27 minutes in, the Italian picks up the ball at the edge of the penalty box. He took a touch and then swung that transcendent right foot, ever so perfectly, oozing perfection, and placed the ball with finesse past the hapless goalkeeper. He wheeled off towards the Juventus faithful. Tongue hanging, an almost maniacal glint in his eyes – his vintage celebration… his last in those black and white drapes.

‘Il Pinturicchio’ they call him. ‘The most complete trequartista’ they call him. But the man had humble beginnings. Son of an electrician, del Piero was born and brought up in Conegliano, Italy – where the fire that would develop into a blazing inferno was ignited. He played frequently with friends and his brother in his backyard though his mother used to insist that he play only goal-keeper to avoid any injury.

His mother’s efforts would go in vain though. On the advice of his brother Stefano, Ale switched the gloves for striking boots and soon, at the tender age of 13, he was snapped up by Padova. He would only last 16-odd games with the Serie B club and in the summer of 1993, something came calling at his door. Something that would change his life forever and in turn, he too would reciprocate the favour. Something that came hailing from Turin and went by the name of Juventus. And there began the love affair.

‘On the 28th of June, 1993 I signed my future: black on white, black and white forever.’

There really is nothing else to call the relationship del Piero and Juventus had except true love. Love at first sight? Perhaps so. Love that would brave the tempestuous seas. Dare I say, the love del Piero held for Juve could probably have been right off of a Shakespeare or John Milton script.

Mr. Juventus, so rightly called, made his debut only the following season, against Foggia. In his second game, he scored his first goal, coming on as a young substitute. Impressive? On his full debut for Juventus against Parma, an 18-year-old Alessandro del Piero scored a hat-trick. In his first season, Juventus won their first Scudetto in 8 years, though del Piero was limited to substitute appearances. The following season, ‘Il Pinturricho’ established himself as the main man at Turin. As Marcelo Lippi took over, the then-youngster cemented his place in the front three, playing along with the experienced Luca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanielli. It was this trident attack that would win Juventus the Champions League in 1996, with a certain Antonio Conte playing behind them.

As the likes of Pippo Inzaghi and a certain Zinedine Zidane arrived, ‘Delpi’ changed his game such that he would partner Zidane while Inzaghi played upfront. They reached the 1997 Champions League final but del Piero’s goal was simply a consolation; del Piero finished the season as top scorer in Europe. Juventus and Ale had much to cheer for on the domestic front though; Juventus won the Scudetto, del Piero scored a personal best 21 goals and they’d won the Supercoppa Italiana. del Piero would never again taste victory in the Champions League, finishing a runner up again in 1998 and 2003.

If 1998 was heartbreak in terms of coming so close but not getting there, 1999 was a personal and physically traumatizing year for ADP. A knee injury meant that he was ruled out for nearly the whole season. But the fans had already seen this 24-year-old as a cult hero. No, he was THEIR cult hero. Inter fans called Ronaldo ‘Il Fenomeno’? Juventus fans christened Ale with an epithet of his own, ‘Il Fenomeno Vero’ – The REAL Phenomenon. His bond with the fans only strengthened with time.

Soon, del Piero linked up to perfection with striker David Trezeguet and Zidane-replacement Pavel Nedved; the three eventually led la Vecchia Signora to another Scudetto in 2002. The triumvirate could not win Europe’s biggest prize together though, failing after coming close in 2003. In 2004, Marcelo Lippi was appointed Italy’s head coach after a brilliant spell with Juventus; his replacement, Fabio Capello, was nowhere near convinced with del Piero and instead preferred the newest import from Ajax – a particular Zlatan Ibrahimovic – to the Italian. Although del Piero was back to his best in 2005-06, scoring 20 goals, he had always had a troubled relationship with Capello. The manager preferred to use him as a super-sub while the man himself wanted to start every match for his beloved Juve.

However, controversy struck. The Calciopoli allegations emerged and the Bianconieri’s 27th and 28th league titles had been stripped away from them; they were relegated to Serie B. This was the crucible for the love del Piero held for his Vecchia Signora; the ultimate test. Cannavaro, Zambrotta, Thuram, Vieira and Ibrahimovic all left the club for greener pastures, all abandoning the club when it needed them most. Would del Piero do the same? Of course not.

A true gentleman never leaves his lady.

Del Piero also requested the club to let him captain them to promotion back into the Serie A and in what fashion. Ale finished as top scorer in the Serie B, with 20 goals, while the Old Lady won promotion as champions – even though they were handed a 9-point penalty as a result of the calciopoli.

The 2007-08 season proved that, even at 33 going on 34, Alessandro del Piero was a man to be reckoned with. He notched up 20 goals in the league – becoming only the second ever Italian to win two Capocannoniere awards in two different leagues in two consecutive seasons! From 2009 onwards, del Piero has smashed records into smithereens week in week out. He became Juventus’ top Serie A appearance maker, their all-time top scorer, breaking Boniperti’s record of having most Serie A goals for Juventus and in appearances for the club. If there was one man who could bear the weight of all these records at Juventus, it had to be Mr Juventus only.

In the summer of 2011-12, as his former teammate Antonio Conte took over the reins, the club announced that that would be del Piero’s last season with the Bianconieri. The adieu was emotional. del Piero scored a magnificent goal in his final Serie A appearance for the Old Lady and would finish the Coppa Italia final going off to a standing ovation by every soul present at the stadium. The club wanted to retire his no. 10 shirt, out of respect and commendation for the 19 years of incredibly loyal service he had given them. But he disagreed and felt his number should not be withdrawn from use.

He’d write an open letter to the Juventus fans, stating that,

“Above all what remains is the fans, you who are Juventus. That jersey that I loved and will always love, that I desired and respected… From tomorrow I will no longer be a Juventus player, but I will always be one of you. Now a new adventure begins and I am as fired up as I was 19 summers ago.”

Del Piero scored 5 goals in his final season – the same tally as his first season for Juventus. They had come a complete circle.

Alessandro del Piero is one of the most complete players in European history – you’d have to wait a few hundred years before you see a player as versatile, as skilled and as dedicated as the Italian. He could provide the creativity quotient, make the mouth-gaping assists, score the eye-enlarging goals, and just draw your awe and respect for the way he literally played his heart out on field for Juventus.

They say Juventus is La Fidanzata d’Italia, which roughly translates to the girlfriend of Italy. If you want to call Alessandro del Piero ‘Italy’, I guess.

Devotion is a scarce proclivity to come across in today’s world. I doubt there will never be another man who loved the Old Lady as much – a man who rejoiced every time he pulled on the Black and White armour, with every moment spent fighting and vanquishing all his troubles just to play and strive for the crest that lies oh-so-close to his heart on his shirt – no, on his skin.

Superlatives are no longer valid for him. A hero is Alessandro del Piero.