Man Of Honor: Alessandro Del Piero
By Hadi Harakeh, Staff Writer

Beirut, Lebanon - Although Alessandro Del Piero has probably infiltrated Juventus’s long list of living legends for a long time, he continues to show his faith and loyalty to his club, country, fans, and most importantly, football. This exemplary footballer has not only stayed at Juventus in Serie B, but continues to show how dedicated he is to his team and this beautiful professional sport that is proud to include a player of his caliber and professionalism.

Born on November 9, 1974 in Conegliano, north of Italy, Alessandro Del Piero left his home and family at the age of 16 when he joined Padova, where he used to live alongside ten other boys. Two years later, Juventus and AC Milan scouts discovered him, but Alex decided to join Juventus back in 1993 when he was only 18 years old.

Fourteen years have passed since that day. During this period, Juventus won a lot of honors including seven Italian championships, the last two of which were revoked, four Italian Super Cups and a single trophy of each of the following: Italian Cup, UEFA Champions League, Intercontinental Cup and European Super Cup. It was indeed a very successful period in which Juventus excelled in the local as well as the international scene. However, only one player participated in all those successes and is still with Juventus: Alessandro Del Piero. The Juventus captain always led the team’s attacking line alongside a generation of elite attackers: Baggio, Ravanelli, Vialli, Boksic, Zidane, Vieri, Inzaghi, Di Vaio and Salas. These are some of the famous names that played beside the Juventus captain and left the team afterwards.

When you mention the word Juventus today, you cannot but think of or link it to ‘Del Piero’. He is not only the team’s most supported and loved player but also a symbol to all Juventus players, to the city of Turin and to fans around the world.

Even though he received a lot of criticism, especially after the difficult knee injury he suffered from against Udinese in 1998, he never complained. On the contrary he kept working harder and harder until he proved himself worth again. Nevertheless, in his absence, during the 98/99 season, Juventus never found an alternative player they could rely on. Coach Marcello Lippi couldn’t find any solution to this critical situation, leading to his exit. During this period the team suffered and finished the season in 6th place.

It is also worth noting that even though Del Piero isn’t a pure striker, he is Juventus’s all time leading goal scorer, with over 200 goals scored in all competitions.

Regardless of whether Juventus deserved to be demoted to Serie B or penalized that way, Del Piero was the first one to assure the fans again and again of his loyalty to the club by stating that he wouldn’t go away. This was also done as a show of respect to the club, the city of Turin and the supporters who brought him fame, fortune and success. His actions tempted many players to follow this role model forward and stay in Serie B. After all, the most important thing in football is nothing but loyalty, professionalism and character, on and off the pitch.

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