Don’t you just love great come-backs?

And by that of course, I mean Alessandro Del Piero’s return to scoring after nearly two months of drought. Our hero had not scored since Juve’s 3-0 victory over Catania on January 14th, and while we desperately awaited his crucially-needed goals in the UEFA Champions League (ok, no need to rub salt on the wound right?), it was a welcome sight to see ADP’s brace vs. Bologna this week-end. Boy did we need that!

You can read my full match report here, and enjoy a few match-photos below.

Il Capitano’s fighting…

…and the goals are coming.

Group hug!

ADP & his heir… Pinturicchio & Super-Seba… la relève est assurée

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Of course, there’s also the much-less publicized (but equally important?) return of yours truly to the ADP blog.

You probably want excuses as to why I was gone so long. Okay, that’s fair. It’s convenient that one of the reasons as to the why is something we’ll be saving a lot of by keeping this short: time.

Yup. Time (or lack thereof) is what has been keeping me away from here, and it has manifested in a variety of ways in the last 3 months. In December, my PC hard drive melted down (not litterally, but it’s awful close to the truth) which you can guess, made my surfing-the-net (and by extension, writing-the-blog) activities considerably harder. That coincided with the fact I spent my Xmas holiday back in Southern Italy, in the company of my folks, family, and a late 90’s steam-powered-sorry-excuse-for-a-latpop computer. Not cool (the laptop part).

Long story short, it took a while to get everything fixed, I resumed my mCalcio writing activities in January, but sadly… that is when ADP stopped scoring!!!! Indeed, you could add another reason to why list and that is goals (or once again: lack thereof). You see, in a convoluted mix of practicality, pseudo-perfectionism, procrastination and laziness logic, I was waiting for Del Piero to finally score AGAIN to announce my come-back on The Offside! Little did I know that ADP & Amauri, the most prolific pair of forwards in Serie A’s first half of the season, were going to have an abstinence so long it would make the Pope proud.

Anyways, sorry it took this long… but I am back. ADP’s back. The blog’s back. And this time it’s permanent hopefully. So stay tuned for a resumption of ADP-news in the coming days. ;]

And remember:

♫ ALESSANDRO DEL PIEROOOOOOO
IL FENOMENO VEROOOOOO
ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO ALEEEEEEEEEEE ♫

Il Re è tornato!!

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I just love this man. When he’s not scoring them, he’s dishing out passes for them.

ADP might have been a bit unlucky on Thursday, when Juventus played Genoa in an early match for Serie A’s Matchday 12: he had some good shots on target, but they were either saved or off the mark. His free-kick accuracy was a bit off the mark too, but at least his passing abilities remained in full force. Grygera and Iaquinta are saying thank you.

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In the words of Goal.com (Player Ratings):

Del Piero – 8.0: Inspired once again was Del Piero. Created two of Juve’s four goals – the first for Grygera and the third for Iaquinta. Also put Molinaro clean through on goal, while he should have scored late on himself.

Full match report of Juventus 4-1 Genoa here.

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ADP & Criscito, old teammates at work

Can anyone stop him? Ferrari and Sculli are sure trying…

…and so is Marco Rossi. By any means necessary apparently.

I guess the ref didn’t like the “any means” part. Free-kick time. And you know what that means…

Oh well… not today I guess.

On the upside, Grygera just received an ADP pass…

…and so did Iaquinta. Both are saying “Thank you Alex”.

A well-deserved prize for the effort.

There are three primary techniques used with direct free kicks. First, the player taking the direct free kick may blast the ball as hard as he can, usually with the laces of the boot. This method is used by Roberto Carlos and Robin Van Persie. Alternatively, some players try to curl the ball around the keeper, with the inside of the boot. Free kick specialists such as Juninho Pernambucano, Ronaldinho and David Beckham employ this method. Curling the ball is a hard skill to learn but when executed, can be the most effective way of scoring in a match. Additionally, certain free kick specialists will choose to kick the ball with minimal spin, making the ball behave unpredictably in the air. Juninho Pernambucano and Cristiano Ronaldo utilize this method regularly. Free kick takers may also attempt to cross the ball to their centre backs or strikers in order to get a header on goal, especially if the position of the free kick is close to the wings.

Source: Wikipedia

They don’t mention ADP in there, but they bloody well should. Since the season started, our beloved captain has scored five goals on set-pieces, and one more beautiful than the next. Such deadly free-kick scoring efficiency has been the trademark of very few players in football history, a rare breed in the lines of Zico, Sinisa Mihaijlovic and Juninho Pernambucano.

So just because I’m such a nice guy, here a 5 x 5 gallery of all those goals: 5 goals, 5 beautiful pictures for each, and nice little video to summarize everything.

Enjoy! :]

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JUVENTUS VS. ZENIT

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JUVENTUS VS. PALERMO

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JUVENTUS VS. ROMA

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REAL MADRID VS. JUVENTUS

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CHIEVO VS. JUVENTUS

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ALL 5 GOALS COMPILED:

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34 years ago, on the 9^th of November 1974, in a little town called Conegliano in the province of Treviso, one of the beautiful game’s greatest legends saw the light. Born of Gino and Bruna Del Piero, three decades later this wonderful footballing genius is still running on the fields of Serie A and of Europe, surprising us with his astonishing fitness level and never-empty gas tank, and delighting us many fans with his touches of magic. The delicate ball controls, the pinpoint passes, the inswinging goals (alla Del Piero), and free-kicks… these are but only a fraction of the immense repertoire of tricks this man is capable of, the true embodiment of where skills become genius, and where genius becomes legend.

And oh yes… those free-kicks. What better way to celebrate your 34^th birthday than with a victory and with a goal, the set-pieces home special. Yet another masterpiece in a year that only keeps getting better.

BUON COMPLEANNO ALE!!

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(From Channel4, Goal.com, Gazzetta):

Alex Del Piero is “very happy to be 34 years old” and on the form of his life, though there is one thing that would convince him to go back in time. “Would I like to be 20 again? Of course, then I could play for another 20 years and not the 7 or 8 ahead of me right now,” grinned the Juventus captain. “Having said that, time does help you to mature and I am very happy to be 34 years old right now.”

ADP’s sensational free kick sparked the 2-0 victory away to Chievo on his birthday, which also marked his 158^th Serie A goal in 377 appearances for the club. “I am overjoyed for the goal” said Del Piero, “and to have reached a great legend like Gaetano Scirea (note: Del Piero is currently tied second, alongside Scirea, in the ranking for players with most club appearances at Juve) but above all for the win that gives our fine form a sense of momentum and consistency. We really wanted this victory and it was very important to keep climbing after beating Real Madrid.”

And speaking of free-kicks, what’s ADP’s closely guarded secret for taking them so well? “Sorrentino had set up his wall very well, but I always play my football based on sensations I’m feeling,” he explained. “Perhaps that is why this season my strikes have been different. It’s true that in the last couple of years the height of the defensive walls has increased, and I find myself taking free-kicks at a greater distance from goal. I’ve had to train to shoot higher ball trajectories that could put the keepers in trouble. In reality there are many ways to strike a free-kick, but the important thing is that it goes in.”

“I don’t know if I have reached the level of my childhood idols Zico, Michel Platini and Diego Maradona, but I do know that as a youngster I dreamed of them and watched them closely, so perhaps that helped.”

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“He was born in Conegliano, he is our Capitano, Bianconero legend, happy birthday Del Piero”

“Happy birthday Capitano”

“34 years, 248 pearls, there’s only one Captain”

“34 years, 34% on free-kicks, 100% Juve”

“11 Nov 1974, a champion is born”

“34 years of history, Happy Birthday Alex”

So ADP won the Capocannoniere title, and he’s real happy about it (and so are we). But aren’t you wondering just how he achieved it? In numbers I mean…

Well I was, so I did some research and thanks to Gazzetta dello Sport was able to produce this. Enjoy. :]

Oh, and if someone can point me to a website with even more thorough statistics (like season total shots on goal, offsides, etc. etc.) that we would absolutely awesome.

Edit: Here’s some additional statistics, courtesy of Sports.it. Special thanks to HU from soccerstatistics.blogspot.com for the tip. :] I should point out the data’s been updated only until matchday 37 it seems (as the “Goal Total: 19″ row testifies). Still some useful numbers to look at…

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Fresh of earning the Serie A 2007-08 ”Capocannoniere” title, Alessandro Del Piero tells us just how it feels to be league topscorer two seasons in a row.

Straight from alessandrodelpiero.com, here goes:

I am the leading goal scorer, for the second consecutive time and for the first time in Serie A. If I had known at the beginning of the season, I would have bet that, once at the top of the league table, my first thought would have been:” I told you so…”. Dedicated to those who didn’t believe…. to those who have never believed.

However when I reached this goal for real, I realised that the first thing that crossed my mind was: “You told me so…” I dedicate this topscorer title to those who believed in me. To those who have always believed in me. To those who have never stopped inciting me. To those who have supported me and who have worked for me. To those who were always there for me, who have shared my passion and my difficult times, my joy and my will to keep on winning.

All of you told me so, yes, and I have told myself so. In the end I scored 21 goals in the league and a total of 24 in the season. But what really counts more than anything is that, together with all my teammates whom I will never thank enough, these goals helped us each our most important objective: the comeback to the Champions League and to complete a great season in the Italian Serie A. I’m satisfied with Juve’s season as well as with my own season, and not only for the goals I’ve scored, because they are not and will never be everything for me.

Now we have to take all the experience we have accumulated and use it, as a starting point to improve more and more. And also to improve myself. In other words, this is not the end. And don’t say I didn’t tell you so…

Alessandro

Grazie capitano!

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Del Piero-Trezeguet in front of everybody (Juventus.com)

Motivation was the key in making Juventus finish the 2007/08 season on a high. Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet’s desire to win the top scorer award made all the difference and the golden duo gave plenty of excitement at Sampdoria too.

In the Saturday game of Day 38, the last round of Serie A, Del Piero scored two and ended with 21 goals, while the Frenchman “only” got one and closed with 20. With Genoa’s topscoring rival Marco Borriello drawing blank Sunday, the two Bianconeri have scored more than anybody in Serie A this year, and Pinturicchio obtained yet another record in his career: topping the goal-scorers list in both Serie B and Serie A in consecutive seasons!! Here is a video of all 21 goals (special thanks to Francesco from the Italy Offside for the link).

Meanwhile, Juventus’ League run finished in spectacular fashion. It ended 3-3 at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, and there was joy for everybody: vice-Buffon goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi saved an Antonio Cassano penalty, but the Bari-born talent still scored one and set up the final equalizer by Vincenzo Montella. Christian Maggio scored the other Sampdoria goal (in quite spectacular fashion I might add).

Juve’s 2007/08 season (at least in terms of official games) ends here: Tuesday the tour of China and Australia kicks off, while the summer camp in Pinzolo begins in July. And in August, it will be at last time to play the Champions League again, but not before a certain Euro Cup in Switzerland/Austria in June, one that our beloved nº10 is more and more certain to be a part of.
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Capocannoniere title aside, Saturday’s performance by ADP was once again highlighted by his upteenth gesture of class: fouled by Palombo inside the box and with the score already 1-0, the Juve captain left the penalty-taking task to his buddy David Trezeguet. Indeed, with Del Piero already on the scoreboard both ADP and Trezegol’s objective was to finish joint-topscorers of Serie A this year.

“The gesture toward David came naturally to me” commented Del Piero as he was interviewed by Juventus Channel. “Over the years it happened many times to exchange roles, it’s something that goes beyond this current season. The League top scorer award? It would confirm a positive season for me. So I take the chance to thank all my team mates for their commitment. We all know the hard part comes now, we’ll be expected to improve and it won’t be easy. We’ll have to work hard from day 1 of summer camp“.

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2007/08 Serie A, Day 38 – Saturday May 17, 2008, 3pm
Genoa, Stadio Luigi Ferraris

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Del Piero shines in last home game (Juventus.com)

If one of Juventus’ objectives this Sunday was to chase the top scorer award, we could say mission accomplished. Being mathematically assured of their 3^rd spot in the final standings, the Bianconeri nonetheless honoured their league commitment in full: their draw against Catania (who was sure of avoiding relegation up to a few minutes from the end) keeps the fight for Serie A survival open, all the while captain Alessandro Del Piero got his 19^th goal of the Serie A season.

ADP thus catches up with teammate David Trezeguet (and Genoa forward Marco Borriello) on top of the goal-scorers’ list, and sets the mood for a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary “ADP vs. Trezegol” theme in Juve’s last league match at Sampdoria. The game will have no meaning in terms of the final placements of the two teams, but may very well determine who earns the title of “Capocannoniere” this season (a title which in 15 years of Serie A still eludes our beloved nº10).

How will I prepare myself? – the Captain remarked to Juventus Channel –

Like the other weeks, to give my best for the team. If I score too, I’ll be happy. Today’s goal wasn’t easy, I have to thank Chiellini for making a great pass, I saw the ball at the last moment and it was just enough to touch it and put it in the back of the net. The League has been re-opened? Sunday there’ll be two exciting matches, when Inter Milan and Roma face Parma and Catania. It’s great that the League title is awarded on the last day and at the moment it’s impossible to tell what will happen.

In their last home match of the season, the Bianconeri also bid farewell to their fans, whose support never dwindled during the whole of this exciting 2007/08 season. And in August, the Champions League will be back in Turin! :]

2007/08 Serie A, Day 37 – Sunday May 11, 2008, 3pm
Stadio Olimpico di Torino