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Euro 2008 was not to be. After an exceptional 2007-08 season with Juve, Alessandro Del Piero’s Euro campaign finished (once again, alas) with lack of luster. Pinturicchio’s really been unlucky with the Azzurri shirt during his career: ever so much a protagonist at Juve, but never really taking the reins of the Italian national team as he should have. This Euro, his performance record includes two appearances as a substitute (vs. Netherlands and vs. Spain), one match as a starter vs. Romania, and not much else.

At 33 years of age (soon 34), this very well may have been Del Piero’s last important tournament with the Italian national team. Sure there’s the Confederations Cup next year and sure, Marcello Lippi is now back at the helm (he always liked ADP, so who knows… fingers crossed), but odds are that Italian 36 year-old strikers will have to watch World Cup 2010 in front of their TV sets.

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Until then, time for Del Piero to enjoy his holiday.

According to Gazzetta and excite.it, the next destination of ADP & family (Sonia and newborn baby Tobias will also come along) will apparently be New York City. Not only that but Christian Panucci, Marco Materazzi, and Marco Amelia are also headed that way so if you live in the area, keep your eyes open. ;]

As for myself, I will be leaving for Italy very soon (Salerno and Marina di Camerota to be precise, two cities south of Naples) so I am afraid that this will the last post on the ADP blog for quite some time. I expect to be back posting (sporadically) around August maybe, and to be back in Canada (with daily full time internet access) around September.

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Before I go though, a few words from the man himself at alessandrodelpiero.com:

Dear Friends,

The time to enjoy my holidays came a bit earlier than I expected (one week earlier to be precise).

As usual during the last month I’ve gotten a lot of messages, wishes and congratulations for the football season we played, for my victory as a leading goalscorer in the Serie A and for the European Championship.

Once again I would like to thank you all for you support and affection that you give me, and also to say goodbye. I’ll be away for a few weeks (holiday time is never too long…) but we will keep in touch during this period.

See you soon,

Alessandro

Buone vacanze a tutti!!

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P.S. For those who are wondering about that little image above, yes that is indeed Del Piero with (then-girlfriend) Sonia Amoruso. The picture was taken in 2000, during ADP’s post-injury holiday in Miami beach. It’s from the book “Semplicemente Del Piero” published by the photographer Gianni Giansanti, that relives years 1999-2001 (+ some pictures from before too) of Del Piero’s life through plenty of photographs. Pictures that not only portray his life as a footballer (with Juventus and the National Team), but also during his free time, with his family, friends and teammates.

If you get a chance to go to Italy, I highly recommend you buy that book. It’s a must-have for any self-respecting ADP fan! :] Alternatively you may try to buy it online at Libreria dello Sport or La Feltrinelli. The price is €25.00.

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After a pretty rough week of group stage games (resolved in extremis only on the last matchday), the Italian team was given a day of rest today. Time for Roberto Donadoni, Alessandro Del Piero, and Mauro Camoranesi to practice their swings. :]

Donadoni played in a threesome with goalkeeping coach Ivano Bordon and team physician Andrea Ferretti, while Alessandro Del Piero and Mauro Camoranesi played in another group at Fontana Golf Club, site of the recent Austria Open and just down the road from Italy’s hotel.
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Cue another disappointing performance by Italy. Cue more doubts being cast on the Azzurri’s Euro 2008 chances. Cue waiting one more day to finally see Alessandro Del Piero take the reins of this team and put in the ball in the net (”alla Del Piero” hopefully).

The Juve forward was (confirming expectations from the match’s eve) selected as the Azzurri’s “man with the armband” on Friday, a recognition for ADP’s true leadership qualities and international experience (with Fabio Cannavaro out injured, Del Piero is currently the player with most caps on Italy’s roster). All that was not enough however, as Italy struggled to get their first points at Euro 2008 and could only muster a draw against a tough Romanian side.

In truth, this match could have taken a whole other turn had Luca Toni’s first half goal not been disallowed for an inexistent offside. Italy would have gone to break with a 1-0 lead but luck doesn’t seem to be helping Italy lately, and in the second half a dangerous backpass from Gianluca Zambrotta was intercepted by Adrian Mutu, who hit it one time to beat Buffon and put Romania in the lead. A few minutes later, Italy tied the game as a Pirlo corner-kick was redirected by Giorgio Chiellini towards Christian Panucci, and the Roma man tapped in for 1-1. Alessandro Del Piero was trying whichever way he could to make an impact (obtaining but missing a free-kick from good position), but the attentive defensive work of Tamas and Goian kept Pinturicchio’s creativity in check. After a tiring game, he left his place to Fabio Quagliarella in minute 77.

Things could have gone from bad to worse for Italy, when an 80^th-minute shirt-tug by Panucci on D.Niculae inside the box gave Romania the chance to clinch the victory and send the Azzurri home. Super Gigi Buffon made a monster save on Adrian Mutu’s spot-kick however, keeping the hopes of an entire nation alive. France vs. Italy on Wednesday will be decisive for Group C but it may not be enough for the Azzurri, as they look to the other match hoping Romania will not beat Netherlands.

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Final statistics for ADP:
1 shot on target
2 shots wide
1 foul committed
3 fouls suffered
2 offsides

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Here’s what Del Piero had to say after the match (Channel4):

Euro 2008 Zurich - Letzigrund Stadium
June, 13th 2008
Italy 1-1 Romania

Alessandro Del Piero has faith Italy can still qualify, as they have rediscovered the attitude that was lacking against Holland. The 1-1 draw with Romania may not have garnered full points, but it was a considerably stronger performance than the 3-0 debut thrashing.

“We have decidedly changed mentality compared to the Holland game and that goes for all of my teammates, not just those who came in for this match,” said the captain. “We were missing something in our opener, but have rediscovered it now. Unfortunately we were a little exposed to counter-attacks and shots from distance, so at the end of the day we could have even lost. We tried to impose our style of play and push them back into their own half, so nobody can complain about that.”

“I hope the penalty save can be a positive sign for the future of our European Championship campaign” concluded Del Piero.

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Odds are that for their decisive match vs. France, Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni will field Antonio Cassano from the start. Whether it is Del Piero that makes way for him still has to be seen, but I have a strong feeling we’ll see the much anticipated Del Piero-Toni-Cassano “tridente” on Wednesday.
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You can read my full review of Italy vs. Romania in the following post:
Euro 2008: Italy 1-1 Romania - Azzurri Hopes Now Hanging by a Thread…

To find out what results would favor Italy on matchday 3, read:
Euro 2008: Group C Qualification Scenarios

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	ITALY-ROMANIA 1-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 10’ Mutu (R), 56’ Panucci (I)
ITALY (4-3-1-2): Buffon – Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso – Pirlo, De Rossi, Perrotta (58’ Cassano) – Camoranesi (85’ Ambrosini) – Toni, Del Piero (77’ Quagliarella). (bench: Amelia, De Sanctis, Gamberini, Barzagli, Materazzi, Gattuso, Aquilani, Borriello, Di Natale). Coach: Donadoni
ROMANIA (4-4-1-1): Lobont – Contra, Tamas, Goian, Rat – Radoi (25’ Dica), Petre (60’ Nicolita), Codrea, Chivu – Mutu (88’ Cocis) – D.Niculae. (bench: Popa, Stancioiu, Marica, Sapunaru, Ghinea, Moti, M.Niculae, Cristea, Dica, Radu). Coach: Piturca.

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ZURICH (Switzerland), 12 June 2008 - Alessandro Del Piero will go to sleep tonight relaxed and pumped up. Tomorrow he’ll be on the pitch as part of the starting eleven AND he’ll wearing the team captain’s armband! Woo hoo!

It has really been a while since the Juventus forward had any kind of certainty with the Azzurri national team shirt, but Roberto Donadoni revealed it on Thursday. The Don’s words surprised everyone a little, especially after months of speculation, hints and line-up requests from the press that have almost always gone unanswered. However, the coach went all out Thursday afternoon and even added other names.

“I will make three or four changes in regards to the line-up I chose against Netherlands. Ale and Giorgio [Chiellini] will be on the pitch,” said Donadoni. “I have to give those who played the most a break”, especially because Friday will be about facing a motivated team with an optimal line-up. “[Romania are] a technical and strong team that defends very well,” added Donadoni, looking to be ready to tackle the world. His eyes made his willingness to win tomorrow fairly evident, perhaps in order to dedicate the win to his critics. Unlike in Bern it will be critical to remain calm and to think straight. “We have ninety minutes to score. We must be patient, dominate the opponent and pace ourselves because a lot of running will be involved.”

As a good Bergamese, the Don plays his cards close to his heart: if an emotion explosion is to take place, he will do it at the right moment. For now, he just confirmed that three or four changes would take place: “I will make my final choice tomorrow morning,” he added, proceeding to explain that the 3-0 still hurts and because of this, the team is eager to win. According to La Repubblica, the formation “hinted” by the Don’s distribution of blue/yellow pinnies on Thursday, is the following:

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Buffon
Zambrotta, Panucci, Chiellini, Grosso
Camoranesi, Pirlo, De Rossi, Perrotta
Toni, Del Piero

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Going back to our opponents however, Romania is not just pace & fitness: the Don is also afraid of the team’s technical ability and this is the reason behind his strategy redesign. Starting from Del Piero: “I see Ale much farther back from the front and more to the middle. What do I expect from Ale? Tomorrow everyone will have to give his best.” In other words, ADP will have to provide the passing, ideas and creativity, players like Luca Toni will have to put the ball into the net.

“We have to focus and show optimism against Romania,” said Del Piero. “We need to think about playing like we know how to so that we can give a response to ourselves and everyone else. It’s crucial that we take that will to win onto the pitch.”

Del Piero will take the captain’s armband from goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, who led the team against Holland. “There was the chance that I wouldn’t play and instead I am starting as captain, but I’m not thinking about proving a point,” the Juve star continued. “I am keeping a clear mind and I will try and play as I did in the League. I want to be in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. You always feel responsibility, even when you aren’t playing. It doesn’t scare me that I will be wearing the captain’s armband.”

Donadoni concluded that tomorrow, Italy must play with the will to show the rest of the world we are still the champions, even if the fear is setting in. Fear that, as per Donadoni’s words, is no reason to be ashamed. “Fear” he says, “is not always negative. Being afraid is human, otherwise we would all be robots. No one can be absolutely fearless in certain situations, but some of these feelings must be exploited to the best. A “healthy” fear is okay, but we must avoid the kind of fear that puts you in a slump or slaps cuffs on your wrists”.

However, Donadoni doesn’t charge ahead but doesn’t hang back either, showing a side of him never seen before. “My feeling? I see a vibrant, eager and energetic team. But let’s make one thing clear: this is not an absolute guarantee that we will get the 3 points, because I had the same feeling on the eve of the match against the Netherlands. There’s no mathematical certainty.” The only certainty the Azzurri have for tomorrow, is that a loss will mean it’s time to go gome and a draw will force them to starting packing their bags.
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FORZA AZZURRI and FORZA ALE!!!!

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Read my full preview of Italy vs. Romania here:
Euro 2008 - Italy vs. Romania Preview: Time for the Azzurri to Bounce Back
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Boy, that was a rough Monday for everyone huh? Well… not everyone… not anyone wearing orange certainly. For the people wearing blue though… ouch!

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ADP came on in minute 64, replacing Antonio Di Natale at a time during which Italy were 2-0 down, with their morale and play down the gutter. He immediately got into the match and re-invigorated the Azzurri’s spirit with his technique & dribbling skills, getting a good shot on target (saved by van der Sar) and hitting a curling shot narrowly wide of the right post. However, it wasn’t enough and Italy suffered yet another goal to lose the game 3-0.

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Final statistics for ADP: 1 shot on target, 1 shot wide, 2 fouls suffered, 2 offsides.
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Here’s what Del Piero had to say after the match (from alessandrodelpiero.com):

Euro 2008 Bern - Stade de Suisse Wankdorf
June, 9th 2008
Netherlands 3-0 Italy

Bern. It was a bad start, a match which we played negatively under many aspects. However, just like we stick together to celebrate our victories, we must also be united in times of defeat.

Maintaining this fighting spirit, we have to gather energy and concentration to do our best in the match on Friday, wich we must win at all costs.

See you soon,

Alessandro

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Based on the extent of the damage (coupled with Di Natale’s poor performance), it wouldn’t be too big a surprise to see ADP get a start vs. Romania on Friday. Forza Capitano!!!

You can read my full review of Netherlands vs. Italy in the following post:
Euro 2008: Netherlands 3-0 Italy - Azzurri Crushed in their Tournament Opener, Or: Cannavaro Where Art Thou?

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	NETHERLANDS-ITALY 3-0 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 26’ Van Nistelrooy (N), 31’ Sneijder (N), 79’ van Bronckhorst (N)
NETHERLANDS (4-2-3-1): Van der Sar – Ooijer, Boulahrouz (77’ Heitinga), Mathijsen, van Bronckhorst – de Jong, Engelaar – Kuyt (91’ Afellay), van der Vaart, Sneijder – van Nistelrooy (70’ van Persie). (bench: Timmer, Stekelemburg, de Zeeuw, Robben, Melchiot, Bouma, de Cler, Huntelaar, Vennegoor). Coach: Marco van Basten
ITALY (4-3-3): Buffon – Panucci, Barzagli, Materazzi (54’ Grosso), Zambrotta – Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini – Camoranesi (75’ Cassano), Toni, Di Natale (64’ Del Piero) (bench: De Sanctis, Amelia, Chiellini, Gamberini, De Rossi, Perrotta, Aquilani, Quagliarella, Borriello). Coach: Roberto Donadoni.

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As many of you know, Del Piero’s got a huge sponsorship deal with Italian mineral water Uliveto (which also sponsors Italy’s national team). In fact, many people in the old boot made fun of him because he used to talk to… a sparrow in those commercials a few years back. Since then, he traded the little bird with 2004 Miss Italia Cristina Chiabotto and.. well, it’s kinda hard to make fun of him after that.

Anyways, Uliveto released their latest TV commercials featuring ADP a few weeks ago, and here’s where their marketing genius came in. You see, at the time of filming Italy manager Roberto Donadoni had not made his final Euro 2008 call-up list yet, so there was still a (small) chance that ADP wasn’t going to be part of the SwissAustria Azzurri adventure. Hence, the marketing department of the mineral water company decided to make… TWO separate TV commercials: one in case ADP went to Euro 2008, and one in case he did not.

Here they are: :]
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Translation:

Version 1
Nun: Scudetto?
ADP: Check
Nun: World Cup?
ADP: Check.
Nun: Euro?
ADP: Eh well we’ll see.
Nun: Drink Uliveto and live healthy.
Announcer: The World Cup champions drink Uliveto.

Version 2
Nun: Scudetto?
ADP: Check
Nun: World Cup?
ADP: Check.
Nun: Euro?
ADP: (sad) I’ll watch it on TV.
Nun: Here, drink Uliveto. It helps your digestion.
Announcer: The World Cup champions drink Uliveto.

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I just love the part where it “helps your digestion”. Undoubtedly ADP’s non-convocation would have been a very hard thing to swallow, both for ADP and Uliveto’s marketing heads. ;D
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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…

Tuesday morning in a press conference in Rome, the Azzurri coach announced his pre-selection for Euro 2008: 24 players (4 less than what everyone anticipated, and 1 to be trimmed down before May 28) which will be representing Italy in this Summer’s great European tournament:

Goalkeepers:	Club:
Marco Amelia	Livorno
Gianluigi Buffon	Juventus
Morgan De Sanctis	Sevilla
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Defenders:
Andrea Barzagli	Palermo
Fabio Cannavaro	Real Madrid
Giorgio Chiellini	Juventus
Fabio Grosso	Lyon
Marco Materazzi	Inter
Christian Panucci	Roma
Gianluca Zambrotta	Barcelona
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Midfielders:
Massimo Ambrosini	Milan
Alberto Aquilani	Roma
Mauro Camoranesi	Juventus
Daniele De Rossi	Roma
Gennaro Gattuso	Milan
Riccardo Montolivo	Fiorentina
Simone Perrotta	Roma
Andrea Pirlo	Milan
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Forwards:
Marco Borriello	Genoa
Antonio Cassano	Sampdoria
Alessandro Del Piero	Juventus
Antonio Di Natale	Udinese
Fabio Quagliarella	Udinese
Luca Toni	Bayern Munich

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ADP is going to Euro 2008!!! ;D

So yeah, as you can see the never-ending “Del Piero vs. Cassano, which one to pick?” issue ended with the Don… selecting both. For Italy, I guess that can only be a positive thing: more talent to spare. We can only hope that the Sampdoria forward will keep the potential “Cassanata” locked in a drawer.
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Here’s what Roberto Donadoni had to say in his press conference (source: Gazzetta):

“Ale hasn’t surprised me. I already know the abilities of each individual player. Del Piero had a period of physical problems, and once these were overcome he was back to displaying the qualities he has.“

Discuss Donadoni’s picks on the Italy blog here.
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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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