The first day of Euro 2008 already saw the Bianconeri in a starring role. Grygera played in Basel, and Del Piero held a press conference in Italy's training camp in Austria: Juventus are under the spotlight in this tournament too.
The football has begun and this is the most important thing. In Basel, it was Switzerland (the hosts alongside Austria) and the Czech Republic who opened the tournament and Group A, where the two teams are playing alongside Turkey and Portugal.
And it was a memorable debut for Grygera and his team mates. Their defence didn't leave much space to the Swiss forwards (apart from when they hit the crossbar near the end) and the Czechs won 1-0 thanks to a Sverkos goal, earning the first win of the tournament.
As the Czechs were starting off on the right foot in Switzerland, in Austria a top-form Alessandro Del Piero was itching to begin. Two days off from the first game against Holland, Juventus' skipper (who's up for Italy’s skipper role alongside Buffon due to Cannavaro's injury) was the star of a press conference held at Italy's headquarters in Baden.
Del Piero is ready to give his contribution to the Italian cause one more time, to try and win the European Championships after winning the World Cup two years ago in Germany. And Del Piero is also ready to play as well as he has done so many times at Juventus recently. "I've had two fantastic years, I have a son who has changed my life and all I can do now is enjoy this moment, without giving it too much thought – Alex remarked -, but with one desire in my heart, to convert this positive period into a perfect European tournament".
One more objective in a career that has given him plenty to be happy about, season after season. After winning the top scorer award in Serie A (one year after winning it in Serie B), Del Piero wants to leave his mark on Euro 2008 too, with the confidence given him by his record as the most prolific goal-scorer still playing. "I have never given up and I always believed I would make the selection, I never wavered. I gave my best to avoid any alibi and avoid people saying it was because of my shortcomings if I hadn't been called up. This is how I am; I always put my face forward".
Two days off from Italy's debut, Del Piero is confident about the Azzurri and himself doing well in this, the fourth European Championships of his career: "We're World Champions, we have to win the European Championships too. Two years ago we succeeded in everything we did and played at our best, but we've lost some of our players along the way and our opponents have also improved. These are not excuses, it really won't be easy. My tournament? You can't be at your best for twelve months, but I hope to be perfect here".
And if Del Piero plays as he's been playing at Juventus recently, he could really be Manager Donadoni's and Italy's added weapon.
Sauce: Juventus.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment