Del Piero: My Juventus future Friday 17 July, 2009
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Alessandro Del Piero celebrates his contract extension by looking forward to “at least two more” successful years at Juventus.
The captain penned a new deal tying him to the club until June 30 2011 and held a Press conference at the Pinzolo training ground.
“I had been waiting for this for a while and wanted it very much,” he said. “Negotiations were very quick, as we immediately reached an agreement.
“I am happy at Juventus and we are competitive. I want to keep playing for as long as I can and I’m certain that for at least two more years I will be at the top level.”
Del Piero is a hero to the fans and stuck with Juve even after their demotion to Serie B, winning back-to-back Capocannoniere titles.
Now he hopes the Bianconeri can take that final step and win the Scudetto after bringing in Diego, Felipe Melo and Fabio Cannavaro.
“This squad has immense quality. In a one-off game we can beat anybody, so the next step will be to lead the rest of the pack throughout a group phase, a championship or a Cup tournament.
“We made huge sacrifices to strengthen the side and are the second top investors in the market after Real Madrid. That is fact.”
There were fears Cannavaro would be drummed out of the club after returning from Real Madrid amid controversy, but the defender begun pre-season training without incident.
“It is down to him to win back the faith of the fans with a great season. I don’t think he’ll have problems, as he is a real champion and has the total support of all his teammates.”
If Del Piero is still a focal point for Juventus, the same cannot be said of Italy, as he has not been called to the Nazionale under Marcello Lippi’s second reign.
“I have not spoken to Lippi yet,” confessed Alex. “It would be wonderful to go to the World Cup and defend the title we won in 2006, especially as being there would mean I’d had a great season with Juve.
“We’ll have to wait and see what Lippi’s choices are.”
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