Striking abilities

It was the 28th minute of the AC Milan vs. Juventus match in May 2005. The de-facto title decider had the top two teams clashing ahead of the last three matches for the Italian Serie A title. It was a tense affair, marked largely by defensive playing by both sides until, out of nowhere, emerged Alessandro Del Piero.

Playing for the ‘Old lady of Turin’ — as fans fondly refer to Juventus — since he was 17, Del Piero was going through a pretty poor season by his standards. The new manager, Fabio Capello, had bought the young superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, threatening Del Piero’s position in the team for the first time in his club career.

Chasing the ball after it had broken free in the midfield area, Del Piero moved inside the penalty box on the left flank. He managed to wrong-side Alessandro Nesta, his national teammate on the opposing side, but the latter got back in time to effect a block and send the ball floating up in the air, seemingly headed out for a corner. Del Piero chased the ball with his back to the goal and, in a standout moment of decisiveness, leaned back and flipped around to loft the ball towards the goalpost with a bicycle kick. His long-time teammate and striking partner, the French player David Trezeguet was in the middle and he sent the ball in with a simple header to clinch the title for Juventus that season. The assist by Del Piero is still considered a cornerstone of footballing history.

Loyalty club

“Yes, I remember that goal; the fans loved it,” says Del Piero, when we meet him at the Delhi Dynamos team hotel in an east Delhi suburb. “It was a tight game and I don’t remember how I did it, but yeah, it was a great moment.” For an Italian, he speaks English rather fluently and credits it to his stint at Sydney FC, the team from which he’s made the shift to Delhi as its marquee player in the Indian Super League. In an era where exceptional players change teams every other season, he was a one-club man for long, moving from Juventus in 2012 after 19 seasons; Delhi Dynamos is only his fourth club. In fact, he stayed with Juventus even after it was relegated to second division after the Italian football scandal of 2006.

“When we went to Serie B, it was very easy for me. I was always clear that I would stick with the club. I was the captain and we have had a great time together, won everything. Now I thought Juve needs me and therefore stuck on,” he says. The team rebounded the very next season and won the title in 2011-12. Del Piero had played a record 705 games for the club between 1993 and 2012, becoming its all-time top scorer with 290 goals and securing it the Uefa Champions league in 1996. Alongside, he played for Italy in three World Cups and was instrumental in winning the Cup in 2006.

A zone of his own

The ‘Del Piero Zone’ entered football lexicon to describe his trademark style of scoring goals — simple, yet one of the most beautiful things seen on the football field. Approaching from the left flank, he curls the ball precisely before lobbing it into the top-right corner of the goal.

“It started when I was 19, when I played in the Champions’ league for Juventus for the first time,” he recalls. “I ended up scoring five consecutive goals from the same area. I had seen players doing the same thing before and believed in that style of scoring. But when I started doing the same over and over again, it became something incredible I guess, and the term was invented by commentators in Italy.”

The classic second striker, Del Piero was part of some of football’s most formidable attacking formations that saw him pairing up first with Zinedine Zidane and Filippo Inzaghi, then with Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet, and later with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Delhi and beyond

The Italian is looking forward to his brief stint in India. “I’m looking first of all to play football, this is my job. Football is up and coming here, and so I’m looking forward to seeing the game here and also out of the field, learn about the country and its culture,” he says. He is one among 12 international players in the Delhi team, owned by the cable distribution company Den Networks. Like the others, he was bought for an undisclosed sum, and as always, the team will be built around him.

He will also be facing friend and former teammate David Trezeguet, who will play for FC Pune City. “It’ll be fun. He’s a strong guy and full of heart. We have had great games together and it would be exciting to play against him here.”

And even as he prepares for a post-football life by getting involved in charities and owning an art gallery in Turin, Del Piero’s mind is never likely to be too far away from the football pitch. Asked if he might be Juventus’ manager one day, he replies, “I have not thought much about the future but, yes, every door is open to be a manager or something like that. Let’s see, maybe one day.”

Meanwhile, fans in Delhi are ready for exciting times in the next two months. Who knows, maybe El Phenomeno Vero (the real phenomenon), as he’s known back home, will help his team bag the inaugural title of the ISL.