After
19 years in the black and white stripes of Juventus, Alessandro Del
Piero will move on this summer, leaving the team he has been a symbol
of for so long. Del Piero is one of the best examples of a player who
has represented the essence of their club for many years, and with players
such as Steven Gerrard of Liverpool, Carles Puyol of Barcelona, and
Francesco Totti of Roma, is a breed of player that is getting
rarer. It seems criminal, but Del Piero's contract will expire this
summer, with the board of Juventus having decided not to offer him a
renewal. As
an Inter supporter, Juventus are probably our biggest rivals, and not
a team I'd often want to compliment, but Del Piero has always been a
player you had to respect.
Worthy
of respect not just for his skill and ability, especially during the
glory days when he and David Trezeguet formed one of the best strike
partnerships in Europe, he has always been a model professional and
followed Juventus down into Serie B after Calciopoli, when he could
have gotten a move to any of Europe's top clubs. Del Piero should be
respected for being a player who led by example, and who was a gentleman every time he stepped onto the
pitch.
Del
Piero played his last match for Juve yesterday, but could not sign
off with a win, as Juventus lost 2-0 to Napoli in the Coppa Italia
final. Luckily he will not yet hang up his boots and has been tipped
to move either to the United States, or the English Premier League. I would love to see him in England scoring more of his trademark free kicks
for a new audience.
As
well as Del Piero leaving Juventus, this season there seems to be a
changing of the guard as a whole in Serie A, with so many legends
leaving their clubs. At AC Milan, Filippo Inzaghi, goal poacher
extraordinaire is also out of contract, while Alessandro Nesta, who
formed one of the best centreback pairings ever with Fabio Cannavaro
for Italy, will also move, probably to play in the United States. Gennaro Gattuso is another who won't be renewing his contract at Milan; he has expressed a desire to return to play for Glasgow Rangers, but may be stopped by the club's transfer ban.
Clarence
Seedorf, the only player ever to win the Champions League with three
different clubs, and always an awesome pundit for the BBC, could move
to Brazil where he already owns a home, to play for Botafogo. At
Inter Ivan Cordoba will leave, but I would like to see him back in some
capacity as a member of the backroom staff, as for many seasons he
was a stalwart in our defence and a leader of the team. Finally,
Marco Di Vaio, perhaps unjustly underrated as a striker, but a hero
to Bologna fans for the past four seasons, will also leave his club
this summer.
It
seems like the end of an era in Serie A, and I want to say buona fortuna; good luck to all the departing legends, and thanks for the
memories.
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