On the other side of the world there had already been Vieri father and son, Ciccio Graziani, Angelo Colombo, Nicola Berti, Benny Carbone. More or less known players, but all with few and irrelevant appearances at the beginning or end of their career. The true ambassador of football will instead be he, Alessandro Del Piero, 37 years old, 19 of whom spent at Juventus, of which it was and will always be the flag, the symbol, the champion par excellence.
Now it's official: Del Piero, 513 appearances and 208 goals in black and white, signed for Sydney FC, Australian team founded just in 2004, when Alex had already won everything in Europe and in the world. The legendary captain therefore goes to Australia: he will stay there, if the contract is respected throughout its duration, for two years, with a salary of 1,6 million euros net per season.
Season that is almost starting: the A-League kicks off on 5 October and taking advantage of the image, Del Piero's talent launches the challenge (unlikely, to tell the truth) to the unreachable rugby. In the city that hosted the Olympic Games in 2000 there is in fact a large Italian colony (about 50 people), ready to fill the stadium to see the pupil arriving from the antipodes of the globe.
“It's a special day for me – these are the first words of the “southern” Del Piero, in one press conference for the last time in Turin, before taking the flight to Australia -. I am happy to announce that I have signed the agreement with Sydney: for the next two years I will be Australian. I will face a splendid, amazing and undoubtedly strong adventure, but I must admit that at the end of this long journey there could be no better place. What happened makes sense and I'm happy to be able to start this adventure”.
Del Piero then thanked, without mentioning them, the other teams who had strongly supported him the day after his farewell to Juve and still up until a few days ago. It was also about European top tier teams, such as Liverpool and Arsenal, or the Swiss side of Sion, where his friend Gattuso ended his career and who for a moment also seemed very close to the former Juventus number 10. But Del Piero already had a new adventure in mind. A new mission. “I'm going to a country that everyone describes to me as fantastic, to a city that everyone says is beautiful. I want to confront a country that is at the forefront of sport, and I will try to ensure that Australian football can evolve also thanks to my advice. I hope that the Australians and the many Italians there can enjoy themselves and that football can become a top-level national sport. The project requires close collaboration between me, Sydney and the A-League: as a result I'm proud, because it is not a project of one team and one city, but is a global collaboration of the whole nation. It is an honor to be called upon to do this".
Del Piero then explained that the choice was also made according to the family, which will follow him in this experience: "My family will follow me. The championship begins in a month, exactly on 5 October. I think I can be available for that date. Giovanni Buonocore will follow me in this adventure, who is my trainer and I trained with him for a month and a half. I'll have to get to know my new teammates, I'll have to train as a player for a new team, which hasn't happened for a long time."
Finally, the inevitable thought of Juventus: “Everything that exists today will remain in Turin. My office, my home, our shop. Everything will remain unchanged, but you won't see me on the street around here. The location of the conference? The one who represented Lawyer Agnelli is unique and will always remain over time. The choice is dictated by chance and the beautiful thing is this: that in the end we find ourselves here. There will always be affection in the Juventus world. Even that day did not end when I realized that I would never play for Juve again. The number 10 shirt? Thanks to everyone who wanted to buy it. I don't deny that a smile escaped me when I read that it was the best seller. But now I'll have another shirt and I hope it will have the same emotions from other points of view. 10 at Juve? I don't know why no one chose it or why the company didn't give it to anyone".
Words of affection, immediately reciprocated by Juventus, which on Twitter gave good luck to its timeless flag: "Good luck to Ale Del Piero for his new adventure in Sydney".
