Cherry on top of a cake, my friend. His corner kick that set up Grosso's goal was his best contribution before that goal that sealed the game. Never mind that right-footer he (impossibly) sent WAY wide of the left post earlier in the second period of extra time...
As long as people are recognizing our 2 biggest reasons for having a bad result against france are gattuso and inzaghi I can agree with Del Piero hanging his Azzuri boots up, but Del Piero isn't to blame for the scoreless draw. Blame that on Inzaghi only ever being able to capitalize when someone blows a mark or over commits, and Gattuso just not having the ability to attack.
yeah, but criticizing gattuso for not being able to attack is like criticizing cannavaro for not being able to attack, he is a defensive mid and a destroyer in what essentially played like a five-man midfield. he does the dirty work, and organizes and stays back, and breaks up counters (legally and illegally), etc. whatever he gives to attack is a bonus.
Man was I ever fuming when I saw him miss that shot by that much. Especially considering that Iaquinta of all people set him up perfectly inside the penalty area
I think it was Gila actually. Totti sent a ball into the path of Iaquinta, who took a touch, backheeled it to Gila, who laid it off first time to Del Piero, who shanked it.
Nice try. He did that after having just come on. Totti didn't do it (or much of anything, TBH). Toni didn't do it. ADP did it running almost the full length of the pitch To be clear: I like Totti and Toni
This is the best post I've seen on the topic (from someone I often disagree with), and I'm glad that a non-Juve fan posted it so it doesn't seem biased. I don't think most of us believe that players like ADP and Inzaghi must play. However, until there is an adequate replacement, I'm not so shocked to see these experienced guys get the nod, particularly in games of such importance. Now, I know that some of you are going to jump on me and say we have Di Natale, Rocchi, Iaquinta and Lucarelli; however, IMHO, these are not international calibre strikers; good domestically, but they will never be great threats as Azzurri strikers. Moreover, the Rosinas and Rossis of the world still have much to prove before they are called up as full internationals (though I am not necessarily averse to seeing the Toro player called up given that he played very well ALL OF LAST SEASON). Cassano? If we had a striker like Didier Drogba, even the most avid Juve supporter would not be able to justify ADP's presence in the squad over a guy like that. However, that guy just does not exist at the moment. And another thing people will never seem to understand is that people are still pushing the likes of ADP and Inzaghi because they are still playing critical roles for their respective clubs. To this day, ADP is a very good player for Juventus. Now, I acknowledge that he hasn't lived up to billing for the Azzurri, but you non-Juve fans must understand that we will continue to support our captain who still, at 32 or 33, plays very well for the club. The same can be said for Pippo.
I do think both the national team and Juve have given Del Piero more of a chance/had more patience, than say what Baggio was given. But he has contributed some great things to the footballing world... People like to talk sh*t about his contributions to the national team... and yeah he (as well as Totti) have had some very poor games at times, but that doesn't take away from everything else they've done. Fact is, there are only three people in existence who have ever scored more for the azzurri than Del Piero; is that a "failure"?... As for the World Cup, he atleast came on and made an impact in the semi-finals. As well as been one of the five men to score a penalty in the final itself. All five of those men who scored deserve nothing but praise, it must take balls of steel beyond comprehension to stand up in the most important footballing competition in the world, 69,000 in attendence millions watching around the globe and to score... especially when Italy have such a poor track record with penalties. Del Piero and Totti will both be marginalised in the history books by the footballing snobs, (even when just discussing Italian football) but IMO unfairly. As much as I like George Best for example who is widely praised in football, those two lads deserve to be considered just as important. People should be more greatful; Platini, Baggio, Raul, etc? Never won the World Cup... Del Piero & Totti? World Champions.
yeah that is very true. but i'm just curious.. sure del piero is 3rd in scoring for the azzurri but how many games did he play compared to say the top 10 all time goal scorers. or even top 5.
in fact i just found the list.. and DP has 27 goals in 85 games.. averaging 0.32 goals per match which is actually the worst out of the top 9. my point being.. he probably wouldn't be 3rd if he didn't get so many chances. which also points out that with 85 games under his belt(the most on the top 9 list) he has been nothing but disappointing. all the chances we have given him, all the caps he has, and the poor performance he has displayed. i don't know why anyone would still want to give him more chances. enough is enough. Leading the line of the glorious 4 time world cup winners should not be del piero. we have an arsenal of great forwards. the time has come to give those forwards half the chance we gave del piero.
These stats would make a point if Del Piero only played the role of striker but considering that he has taken roles that take him away from a scoring role, it is useless. I would venture that Cannavaro, Zoff and Maldini, players who I know for certain off the top of my head that have more caps than Del Piero, have scored less goals. Now the instant response is that those players did not play up front. And that is correct. Neither has Del Piero in all of the caps that he has earned. And many of those caps are not full matches. So while anyone can take stats and skew them to make their argument, it is far from the true picture. Del Piero has always been a true professional, a true team player. That is probably the number one reason he continues to be called for NT duty. While the media and many of you love to dump on him, not one coach has said anything negative about him, including Capello.
I have an infatuation? You're the one that completely littered about 4 pages of the Italia vs. Ukraine thread with your sobbing about how everyone has been picking on him!
Lol, I don't know if he actually "confirmed" his place as a starter just yet, but he does have the advantage over Del Piero at this point, that's for sure. Di Natale may be facing some stiff competition from the likes of Miccoli, Cassano, and Gilardino in the long run though. Miccoli has shown incredible form and it's only a matter of time till Donadoni recognizes it, and if both Gila and Cassano can recover their world class form then they will likely be brought back as well. Di Natale first and foremost needs to stay healthy and try to perform as well as possible at the club level, which will be no easy task considering how much Udine stinks this year
Cannavaro is a center back, and Gattuso is a center mid. I will hold Gattuso to the standards of Pirlo and De Rossi because they are center mids, center mids that aren't a liability when the other team says "Go ahead, beat us, we don't think you have the creativity to" like france did. Gattuso's effort is nice and all, but like I say about Perotta, when the best complement you can give me for him is he works hard, somebody else is better and in this case De Rossi is better because he gives you intensity, defense, and the ability to attack. Take Gattuso out and put Aquilani into that game against France and we score two goals and create 10-15 chances. The french were dirty that game with all those elbows, well they lost on their turf to Scotland and we won, serves them right.
If you hold gattuso to the attacking standards of pirlo, then yeah he fails miserably, but he is a defensive midfielder, so that is silly.
Let's not forget Antonio is also coming off a slight injury, where the "top form" Del Piero was dancing with two left feet. Well, he at least confirmed his place on the bench. Moving ADP OFF THE ROSTER! Cassano, when 100% fit again, will be the replacement. I also hope Gila finds his form too, but he's not really the creative supporting forward type, good off the bench after Toni. Gila will make a comeback, I'm sure of it. Might Mouse Miccoli? Give him some time to catch the eye, but he's always impressed me at Benfica and seems to be doing good so far. There's a lot of options! Either way, Del Piero OUT!