Don't know if it was posted before, but here is a great interview with Alex.
Alessandro Del Piero is 37-years-old, spent 18 of them at Juventus and says he still gets carried away by a passion for 'that round thing they call the ball.’ He goes back to the beginning, his most difficult moments, and reveals that Zinedine Zidane and Roberto Baggio are the best he has played with.
A beautiful sunny day Turin. It’s Thursday. All the internationals are with their national teams. Not Alessandro Del Piero, who is in the starting line-up for a mini-match in training against Savona. He doesn’t dribble like before, but it is admirable to see him fighting for every ball. His opponents wait until the end of the first half to have their pictures taken with him.
Del Piero has just turned 37, 18 years at Juve. This will be his last season in Turin. His eyes glaze over on seeing a photograph of himself when he was small, with a ball almost as big as he was.
- Do you remember where that picture was taken?
Perfectly, behind my house. I wasn’t even one year old. You could already see what I wanted to be...It’s a photograph I remember with great fondness. Also, because of the technological age in which we live now there are no photos like that.
- Did you keep that ball or any other from that time?
Balls, no. But I kept all the posters I had in my room. And three cups I won in summer Petanca tournaments. My first cups were for Petanca, not football.
- Did you like Petanca?
Yes, because it was played solo on the beach and besides, I was very shy. I still am, but at that time I was so shy it set me back alongside the other children.
- What posters did you have?
Of Juve, of Platini and the singers I listened to with my brother, with whom I shared a room. We listened to Michael Jackson, Genesis, U2, Dire Straits...I’ve also kept a magical bike that was passed down to my cousin, my brother and I that we’ve had for 50 years. It’s in my mother’s house. It was brilliant, one of those with a brake pedal. I rode it like a motorbike.
- How have you changed?
I’m more secure and have learned to overcome my shyness. But I’m still a son of this land [Veneto]: I’m very reserved, relaxed and pragmatic.
- Have you ever had a sticker album?
No, because it was too expensive. We didn’t have much money in our house. I just got my mother to buy me a couple of envelopes. I put the stickers on my bike.
- Your father was an electrician; your mother a cleaner. If you hadn’t been a footballer what would you have been?
I haven’t the remotest idea. I remember that in class, one day, we had to pick a profession and I chose three: electrician like my father; lorry driver, because I liked to travel, and chef because I like to eat. My dream was to be a footballer, but I never wrote it down.
- What makes you emotional?
Apart from seeing my boys grow up [he has three], sports deeds and some films.
- What was the last sports deed that made you emotional?
I followed the rugby World Cup, apart from the final because I was training. The anthems and the preparation for games made my hair stand up.
- Do you watch sport on television?
Sure, whenever I can and they let me... because between Dora the Explorer and The Teletubbies...
- Your sons don’t watch too much television do they?
No danger. But bless them for my half hour of TV!
- How much time did you spend playing in the street when you were small?
All I was allowed to because of my homework, which I did as quickly as possible, and the hours of daylight. The winters, in the north, are long and it goes dark at 4.30pm. When it was dark, they didn’t let us go far. So I played alone a lot, in the street, in the fields, at home. When night fell my father took the car out of the garage to leave me space. In summer I was off the leash. I only went back for my dinner.
- What advice did your mother give you?
”Be careful, don’t sweat, don’t run...” And I used to say to her: “But, Mamá, what am I going out for if I can’t run?” From 13-years-of-age, when I started at Padova and had to catch two trains, she told me it doesn’t give people confidence.
- What were your first boots?
Adidas Littbarski’s that they bought me for my birthday. I cherish the affection I had for them.
- Who would you have asked for an autograph?
I don’t think I’d have been capable, I was so shy! Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done with an autograph. For me, I’d have enjoyed seeing my idols, but in this life nobody would have passed through San Vendemiano [his village of 10,000 inhabitants], neither Juve, Platini, Bono nor U2.
- Did any Coach ban you from dribbling?
No. I had excellent teachers. I remember getting my first praise as though it was yesterday. I had some turquoise shorts, gorgeous. I never took them off. One day I was playing football for my village team and the Coach gave us some technical exercises: to work the ball up, down, fast, with a lot of touches, with the right, the left and doing feints. I must have been doing well because the he said: “Well, boys, do it like this, like that lad in the turquoise shorts is doing it.” He was impressed by me and was my first Coach, one of those who knew that when you are small the important thing is to enjoy yourself and create a good team spirit.
- Mazzola always says dribbling is frowned upon in Italy.
I like to see a nice dribble, but a footballer’s genius is not knowing how to dribble, defend or mark, but knowing when to choose the right time to do it. The hard part is thinking about what the team needs.
- Today I saw you throw yourself to the floor to get the ball back. Why do you do that to enjoy yourself at 37-years-of-age?
Because I don’t feel 37-years-of-age. I still get carried away by the passion for that round thing they call the ball. There are times when you need to know how to do everything, including throwing yourself on the floor to get the ball back or running and running. It’s nice and I’m overjoyed I have all this inside me. When I die, I’ll have nothing.
- What has football given you?
Everything I was fanatical about every night before I went to sleep. It has allowed me to achieve my dreams.
- How do you feel about football when you are sat on the bench?
Bad. The majority of benches are cold, almost like the pitches. Err, no…better to be inside, seriously.
- Does it bother you?
You get ready to play and want to play. If you can’t do it then you are not happy. But I know perfectly well how team management works.
- Your best friend in football?
Di Livio.
- The goal you shout about most?
The one in the Germany-Italy game in World Cup 2006. Or the one in Tokyo 96.
- Is the greatest emotion to win a World Cup?
Yes. I won it aged 32 after 14 years of playing. To win it is to bring to fruition everything you had the nerve to do when you starting playing; it gives you most satisfaction.
- Which defender gave you most problems?
Cannavaro, Nesta and Thuram. I found it boring playing against them because of their ability to anticipate.
- Which stadium most impressed you?
In my heart I think, because of the emotion it represented in my career, the Bernabéu. The ovation the crowd gave me [in November, 2007 when he scored two goals] was like winning a cup. Also Old Trafford, which for years has been the emblem of football, not to mention the atmosphere of Glasgow and Anfield. I get goose pimples just thinking about it.
- When was the last time you cried?
I didn’t even cry when my father died. I felt like a fool. I wish he was here so I could thank him for what he gave me without me realising it.
- You signed for Juve in June, 1993. What was it like at the headquarters?
Beautiful. It was in Piazza Crimea, a tiny square of Turin, inside an 1800’s mansion that looked like a castle. It was all so new and big to me as I came from a village...
- Which was your hardest and most difficult time?
My first year in Padova. I was small and a long way from my parents. I found it hard to settle. I was in a house where there were only beds.
- Who had the biggest influence on your career out of Lippi, Capello, Trapattoni and Ancelotti?
Perhaps Lippi, because he coached me more than the others and because I won everything with him. I was able to work with him a whole 360 degrees.
- When you arrived at Juve there was Vialli, Ravenelli, Baggio...What advice did they give you?
I kept away from them. I saw everything through the eyes of a little kid. What I did was to take notice. I looked. If I’ve learned so much it’s because I’ve spent my life looking.
- What were Inzaghi, Vieri and Trezeguet like?
Inzaghi was marked even when he didn’t want to be. He turned, the ball arrived and...pow! In the net. Vieri was the power. Trezeguet had a wonderful way of shooting; it was a very high level. You looked at him and he didn’t seem to have any coordination. In reality, he had an incredible shot.
- Ibrahimovic has said he almost came to blows with Guardiola. What type of person was he here?
He almost came to blows with somebody here.
- With you?
Nooo! I would have punched him. Zlatan, most days, is quiet, but he is very demanding and wants the best from himself and everybody else.
- You inherited Baggio’s No 10 jersey. Is he the best footballer you have played with?
Yes. Next to Zidane and Jugovic. But Zizou and Baggio, technically, were delightful.
- Where would you like to end your career?
That’s not something I like to answer. I want to end this parenthesis in my career being mentally agile. I don’t want any hassles. What will be will be...
- When do you want to play until?
Into my forties.
- How is it that your physique has changed so much?
It changed on November 8, 1998. I was out for 12 months, four of them on crutches. It changed my career and made me a better player. Before that I was a strong boy, fast, technically good, who relied solely on instinct. Afterwards I calmed down a bit and now I look for a balance.
- How did you feel in front of a tribunal with accusations of doping?
I was angry and incredulous. It was a trial that had no reason to exist. And that was shown. For me, football is a game of 11 against 11 on a green pitch.
- Do you regret anything?
No, but I’d like to have played some games again with the mentality I have today. I’m happy with everything that has happened to me.
Buy on AliExpress.com
