Friday, September 26, 2008
Ranieri Grateful To Juventus Old Guard
Coach Claudio Ranieri has saluted stalwarts Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedvěd, Gianluigi Buffon and David Trezeguet for standing by Juventus at a "difficult time" and bringing the club back to the highest level of European football.
Recovery
Keeping the core of the side that reached the 2003 final was crucial to Juventus's swift recovery from their enforced relegation of two years ago.
"I think it was especially important that they got behind the project to rescue the club," Ranieri, who was appointed on Juve's return to Serie A last season, told uefa.com. "Buffon signed a new contract believing in this project and then step by step all the others signed as well.
This was very satisfying for us, because we saw they were willing to keep wearing the shirt. They were aware of the problems and difficulties but they decided to stay, believing in the project to bring back Juventus. They knew it would be the most difficult time in the club's history, so it was a tremendous gesture by all of them."
Hero Del Piero
That quartet were present and correct when the Bianconeri welcomed FC Zenit St. Petersburg on UEFA Champions League Matchday 1, with Del Piero scoring the only goal 14 minutes from time. Ranieri is particularly proud of the captain, who is something of a Juve icon: no one has scored more goals or played more games for the club than the 33-year-old, now in his 16th season in Turin.
"Alessandro is a great player, not only for his technical skills, which everybody knows about, but also for his character, his calm, his sincerity and his way of representing the club," Ranieri said. "He is a role model for his team-mates. We have tried to mix experienced internationals with new young players and internationals from other countries, and when you see Del Piero, Nedvěd, Trezeguet and Buffon train with a smile and with such spirit, it rubs off on the others."
Cosmopolitan
When Ranieri returned to Italian football with a brief spell at Parma FC in 2007, the former Cagliari Calcio, SSC Napoli and ACF Fiorentina coach had spent a decade abroad – serving Valencia CF, Club Atlético de Madrid and Chelsea FC.
That puts the 56-year-old, whose side visit FC BATE Borisov next week, in a good position to assess the three strongest leagues in Europe according to UEFA's rankings. "In Italy the result is what counts, winning is the most important thing," Ranieri said.
"In Spain it's important to play well and to put together great combinations and moves, and I think Luis Aragonés was able to bring together the quality of Spanish football and the pragmatism of his personality" [at UEFA EURO 2008™].
"In English football, it's a continuous fight until the very last second of the very last match. It's not important where you stand, which position you have reached or the position of the team. Every match is lived to the full. And that's very nice, from the first minute until the last match of the season."
Uefa.com
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