Pillon: A shave to victory Wednesday 18 January, 2006
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Chievo Coach Bepi Pillon has promised his players that if they prove to be a cut above Juventus tonight, he will shave his moustache off. "I’ll go straight to the barber’s tomorrow," he pledged.
The Flying Donkeys have the onerous task of bringing Juve, who are flying high themselves, back to earth with a bump and breathe new life into the Serie A season.
Fabio Capello’s men, who lead the title race by 10 points at the half-way stage, have amassed a staggering 52 points in just 19 games, losing once, drawing once and winning the remaining 17 matches in a record-breaking sequence of games.
However, relatively speaking, Pillon has himself masterminded a remarkable achievement thus far in his first season in the top flight.
Chievo are in equal sixth place in the table, have already beaten Milan this term and have only lost once at home all season.
As an additional incentive then, the man who guided Treviso to four consecutive promotions has provided his Verona side with another reason to humble the runaway League leaders.
"If we beat Juventus," he said. "I’ll go straight to the barber’s on Thursday and shave off my moustache."
Perhaps Pillon feels that his hair-erasing promise to keep a stiff upper lip in snowy Verona is barely a risk at all, given the relentless pace at which Capello’s men are trampling over all before them.
"Juve are the best side in the world," he surmised. "They are good, they are nasty and when they are done they don’t even leave any crumbs behind."
However, with the whole of Italy sure to be glued to their television sets in the hope of witnessing the mighty fall, Pillon knows that his side have an outside shot of surprising the champions – not to mention Bepi’s barber.
"When we’re playing well we are ball-breakers of the highest order," he continued. "And we are playing well. What’s more, I have never enjoyed playing the part of the sacrificial lamb."
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