1.)This is from La Gazzetta dello Sport. June 29, 1999. Here is the interview of him.
Q: journalist A: Del Piero
Q: Were you moved when you've put your signature on the contract?
A: "It wasn't a signing like the others, this is for sure. The heart was beating, out of happiness... This is the most important contract of my life. It links me to Juve for the next five years, those of the full maturity".

Q: Is there any shadow in this happiness?
A: "No. I really wanted to stay at Juve and this was the most important thing. I'm always a juventino, I know what this club represents to me".

Q: Will your responsibilities increase?
A: "They'll remain the same. One doesn't make an effort when he gets hundereds and another effort when he gets thousands: at least I have always given what I could give".

Q: It's a contract record: does it make you proud to be the world's best paid player?
A: "I don't know if I'm the best paid. I don't have the habit of seeing the other people's pockets. And then every contract is son of its time. Maybe in a couple of years contracts like mine will be much more frequent".

Q: The figures that are made are outside the norms, you'll admit it...
A: "They're determined by the market laws".

Q: Has Vieri's appraisal helped the conclusions of the negotiations that regarded it?
"I don't think so. And then, it's two different situations, for Vieri, it was an acquisition, for me it was a contract renewal".

Q: In Tokio, Intercontinental, you've reached the sporting apogee. Is this contract your economic Tokio?
A: "In a way, yes. But the most important thing is the will to play. After Tokio, I could've said 'well, here I am' and even let go. I didn't do it, I won't even do it now. the wish to play has completely remained. Indeed, it's grown after so many months of forced inactivity".

Q: By the way, how are you? (V:or course he's fine!)
A: "Well, very well. Now I play everything, tennis, basketball, beach volley, after eight months where all I've played was cards... I don't do physiotherapy ir re-education anymore, I coach myself. Sure, the workloads are progressive, but my closest objective is to get to July 10 and be able to work like my mates or almost like them".

Q: You could be ready to get on the pitch by the beggining of the championship.
A: "It's realistic to think of it. It's too early to the Intertoto, by the end of August I might be ready".

Q: Haven't you ever feared not to get completely recovered? (V: hey he will definitely recover)
A: "Never. I didn't have reasons for that, the indications of the doctors and physiotheraphists were all of certainty on my complete recovery".

Q: If everything happens as it should, you'll stay at Juve for 11 years or more. Is it the rebirth of the symbols?
A: "I don't know. Maybe I go in an opposite tendency, but I don't make me a problem. I wanted to stay here, here I am successful, so here I'm happy. To Juve I've lived wonderful years, I've won so much and I am ready to repeat those experiences".

Q: The Juve you will find has changed a lot: are you satisfied with the market?
A: "I've always had a lot of confidence on the clubs I work (from Moggi comes "Bravo, Ale"). I'll meet the new ones, I'll salute the old ones. For sure it's nothing but unpleasant for me the fact that mates and friends (Di Livio and Peruzzi, in particular, note from the writers) have gone. I'll stay united to them in spite of the different shirts".

Q: With Di Livio leaving you must find yourself a new roommate...
A: "It will be the most important problem on the beggining of the season...".

Q: In these months of inactivity have you spent hard moments?
A: "I'll say no even because the friends have constantly been very close. They've always made me feel the protagonist even if I didn't play and that's very important".

Q: Have you already spoken to the lawyer?
A: "No. (Giovanni Agnelli has put out in the evening his opinion on the negotiation with one phrase of his: "We're all happy for Del Piero's contract, but I believe the happiest one is himself...").

Q: Do you have in your plans giving any gift to celebrate such an important event?
A: "To my mother. But not only for her...".

Q: And the gift you'll give yourself?
A: "To be on the pitch in August, 29, before the championship. The contract is very important, for charity: but you knew that it wants me to play a real match...".

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2.)This is from the official Juventus homepage.
Q: journalist A: Del Piero
Q: You're almost ready to get back on the pitch. What are your objectives for the season?
A: The first has been reached - to train with my team-mates and see the fans' enthusiasm and receive their encouragement again. The knee's getting better and better but I've been off for almost a year. I'd like to get back to the Del Piero of two seasons ago. As soon as possible.

Q: Have you got the patience to wait or are you afraid of wanting to overdo things?
A: I am patient. I've always had faith. In the last two months I've had difficulty holding back because I could see that the knee was responding well, that I was finally managing to do things that I'd almost forgotten I could do. I felt I was close to perfect form, but have also been asked not to overdo things. The fact that I'm in reasonable shape for the beginning of the pre-season is comforting. I'd come to terms with last season,but I knew that for the new season I would be OK again.

Q: It was a disappointing season for Juve. How did you spend those months?
A: Alternating between working on my injury and being a team-mate on the sidelines. I was often away and it was difficult to give constant moral support. I felt helpless, frustrated both at the injury and at my team-mates' poor season. I tried as soon as possible to come to terms with the new reality I was experiencing, that of an injured person,endlessly travelling between operations, check-ups, therapy and rehabilitation.

Q: What do you think of your new team-mates? Who will surprise us?
A: I couldn't say. I've played against many of them and they're all quality players. Some have come from great teams but they'll all have to quickly get used to a new world, that of Juventus. It'll be important for them to manage to adapt to this new reality quickly, with the highest targets and considerable pressures both on and off the pitch. We'll have to give them a hand so they fit in quickly. And then it'll be up to them on the pitch.

Q: What's the identikit of your ideal team-mate? One who finds you in space with effortless passes or one who lends a hand to ease the pressure from your markers?
A: Difficult to say. Above all it's a person who knows how to help you on and off the field. Someone who will reproach you in the right way and advise you when necessary. Someone who encourages you and supports you when you need it. In any case it's necessary to help one another when you're part of a team. You need to understand outbursts, accept excuses, live with friction and celebrate together. These are all important in creating a winning group. Perhaps the perfect team-mate is one who best interprets the team concept on and off the field. It's the group that wins. The individual helps, perhaps drags others along, but it's the group that counts. It often happens that it isn't the best team that wins but the strongest one, the most team-like squad. A bit like Milan last season.

Q: You'll be playing again soon. Will it be like a debut?
A: Absolutely, yes. I'll have goose pimples, but even in Chatillon, the fact of being with the squad and already having so many fans coming to watch the training sessions has made me very excited. I'm trying to stay calm and quiet, to work well and to get back into the best shape soon. I'm rediscovering the joy of touching the ball, of being with myteam-mates, of finally feeling able to play football. All this moves me, brings me joy.

Q: Have you got a message for the fans who can't wait to see you play again?
A: I hope their expectations, which are the same as mine, are fulfilled, that Del Piero can return to the field in the best possible way and the best possible shape.

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3.)This is interview by Stefano Agresti (Tuttosport 04/08/99)
Q: journalist A: Del Piero
Q: ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO, SOCCER PLAYER: WELCOME BACK.
A: Thank you.

Q: YOUR INJURY OCCURED 269 DAYS AGO. NOW, AN OFFICIAL MATCH. DO YOU THINK OFTEN OF THE 8TH OF NOVEMBER?
A: It happens sometimes. Usually, though, I look forward. I prefer it.

Q: AND WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK FORWARD?
A: For now I see the stadium in Cesena and a very important step for my return: the match. Even though that fever...

Q: YES, THE FEVER: IT WENT AWAY, YOU WILL PLAY.
A: Let's say that there is optimism because I feel better, the temperature is back to normal and the aches are completely gone. If there won't be any last-minute complications, I'll play.

Q: WHAT DID YOU THINK MONDAY, WHEN YOU SAW THE MERCURY IN THE THERMOMETER RISE TO 38 DEGREES?
A: I didn't panic. I told myself: I've waited 8 months and 26 days, this means that I will wait 9 months and 2 days. Then the doctor said a good word to the thermometer...

Q: THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF YOUR FEVER KILLED THE PRE-SALES: NOT EVEN SIX THOUSAND TICKETS. BUT EVERYBODY, IN CESENA AND ON TV, WILL ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU. ARE YOU ANXIOUS?
A: I know that my performance will be examined in each little detail and from every angle, by experts and non-experts, from fans and from non-fans, from people that care about me and non. Each will give his judgement, I'm ready to accept them all. I couldn't do otherwise.

Q: WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM YOURSELF?
A: To start again. Nothing particular, because it would be out of place. I feel well with the way I've trained so far and the improvements I've made. If I'm then able to play 30 minutes, maybe 45, then it's right that I'll only be used for that amount of time.

Q: YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO RETURN TO TOP FORM FOR THE BEGINNING OF THESEASON. DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU WILL MAKE IT?
A: There are four games, 3 Intertoto matches and the Trofeo Berlusconi. I don't know if they will be enough, but they will help in getting used to the length of a match. This is what I'm missing, because I feel fine physically: I do everything that my teammates do on the field, I do the same stuff in the gym, even though I use slightly lighter weights. It's all part of a timetable worked in the every detail, we even broke up the vacations in order to give continuity to the exercises. Now, here weare. I even took free kicks, with both feet, without feeling anything.

Q: THE INJURY TOOK AWAY A LOT FROM YOU. DID IT GIVE YOU SOMETHING?
A: A lot, because every experience, even a negative one, a dramatic one for a sportsman, it helps you grow up as a man. It was an important period of my life and of my career. I'm richer now. And let's not make jokes on my contract: I meant richer inside...

Q: LET'S LOOK AT THE FIELD, JUVENTUS, AND THE FUTURE. ANCELOTTI SAID THAT, IN CASE OF NEED, HE COULD PLAY YOU IN A ZIDANE ROLE.
A: We are going too fast here.

Q: INZAGHI SAID, THOUGH, THAT YOU WON'T ACCEPT IT.
A: (smiles) Let's just say that Pippo isn't 100% wrong... It's obvious that it will depend on the situations: it could happen. But that position it's Zidane's.

Q: DEL PIERO, ARE YOU EXCITED?
A: A little bit. Although the last period of time, with the preparation, the friendly, helped me mentally to get back into a reality that it's what I used to be in up to November. It's obvious that the tension before a match are something different and it's good to live them again.

Q: NOW YOU EVEN LIKE THE TRAINING CAMP.
A: When you don't have some feelings, you miss them. If, OTOH, they are yours every week, they become a nice habit.

Q: DO YOU HAVE SOME PRE-GAME RITUALS?
A: I always say that you are superstitious until something bad happens to you, then you aren't one anymore. I've never had rituals, only small contrivances, but temperary ones.

Q: HAVE YOU EVER TALKED TO ZANCHI, THE UDINESE DEFENDER AGAIN WHOM YOU BLEW YOUR KNEE?
A: I talked to him right after the injury. He was truly sorry. I told him that it wasn't his fault at all, considering the way it happened. He didn't have any faults, even though he had one: he was right there...

Q: WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO LISTEN AFTER THE GAME AGAINST ROSTSELMASH?
A: I hope not to hear someone give me a slap on the back and telling me that I did alright in any case.

Q: WHAT DO YOU NEED TO FEEL HAPPY?
A: If I feel well and play bad, I will be angry; if I feel bad and play bad, no.

Q: DEL PIERO, AREN'T YOU AFRAID?
A: No.

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4.)Q: THE TRUE DEL PIERO WAS MORE WITH THE ASSIST TO INZAGHI THAN WITH THE GOAL.
A: "They are moments that give you more self-confidence. I did the right thing by dribbling the goalkeeper in the logical way and giving the ball to Inzaghi as I was supposed to do."

Q: BEFORE ENTERING ON THE FIELD, YOU BROUGHT YOUR HAND ON YOUR HEART WHILE THE FANS WERE CALLING YOUR NAME AS IF TO SAY THAT YOUR HEART WAS BEATING FAST. WERE YOU VERY EMOTIONAL?
A: "I was feeling a strange emotion, something completely different from my debut in Serie A or in an European Cup."

Q: EVERYBODY WAS NICE WITH YOU, FERRARA GAVE YOU THE CAPTAIN'S ARMBAND. WILL IT BE ALSO IN THE FUTURE?
A: "Ciro was extremely nice, but, just like Ancelotti said, he is Conte's second in command and will continue to be."

Q: DID YOU EVER DOUBT OF YOUR PHYISICAL FORM?
A: "Even though everybody was saying that I was fine, I still had some doubts.It was nice to feel that nothing was wrong."

Q: IS DEL PIERO IN AN HURRY?
A: "After nine months, yes. But I didn't risk anything, the doctors were reassuring. The fever tried to stop me, but my desire to play was stronger than the virus."

Q: EVERYBODY UNDERSTOOD THAT YOU WANTED TO PROVE THAT YOU WOULDN'T FEAR ANYTHING.
A: "I played the way I was supposed to. The fear of the tackles was already overcome. The game was rough from the first minute and I played accordingly."

Q: SOMEONE TRIED TO CHALLENGE YOUR FEAR WITH ROUGH TACKLES.
A: "Fortunately, he hit the good knee. Even though it was a special game for me, it couldn't be for the opponents who rightly didn't give me any special consideration."

Q: DID YOUR RETURN AS A PLAYER CHANGE ANYTHING?
A: "No. The goal is to be prepared for the full 90 minutes for the season opener. For now I have a limited autonomy, at the end of the game I was beat. I expect a lot from myself, but I'm happy to have achieved something important."

Q: WILL DEL PIERO BE JUVE'S BEST BUY?
A: "Only time will tell."

Q: TUESDAY, AGAINST RENNES, IT WILL BE ZIDANE'S TURN. WITH ITS STARTS BACK, WHAT CAN JUVE ACHIEVE?
A: "Wednesday's second half gave a lot of positive results. I saw a concrete team, strong, feeling fine about playing official games in a delicate situation such as during training camp."

Q: AT THE END OF THE MATCH, A ROSTSELMASH PLAYER ASKED YOU FOR YOUR JERSEY, BUT YOU REFUSED.
A: "I told him that I was sorry, but how could I give him something that I'll treasure for the rest of my life?"

Interview by Fabio Vergnano (La Stampa 06/08/99)

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5.)This is done after the game which Juve lost 4:0 to Celta Vigo.

Q : Can we speak of an entirely disastrous night?
A : "Yes, and thereīs not much I can add. We made a lot of mistakes and were rightly punished by a great side who clearly had prepared for the game right down to the last detail."

Q : Where did Juventus go wrong?
A : "Our psychological approach to the game was wrong. In Europe you pay for your mistakes as you do in the League, except that you donīt get any second chances. There are no appeals. It will be a useful lesson for next year."

Q : In theory, there should be a big difference of quality between Juventus and Celta Vigo. Do you agree that sometimes theoretically weaker sides are better motivated?
A : "We canīt justify some of our errors, which came mainly because we were too on-edge. But they played with real grit and determination and they rightly went away with the victory."

Q : How do you explain the fact that all the Italian clubs have now gone out of the UEFA Cup?
A : "The explanation is simply that our League is so demanding that in order to progress on two fronts you needs to be very solid mentally."

Q : What message do you think your Scudetto rivals should take from your defeat in Vigo?
A : "They can each think what they like: either that weīll press harder now that we have no cup distractions, or that having been defeated once weīve proved that weīre not unbeatable. But all that is by the by. We have to show everyone that Vigo was a one-off, and we must turn errors into lessons learnt, because we donīt have many matches left before the end of the season."

Q : So will you be putting what you have learnt into practice immediately against Piacenza?
A : "Of course, there are some of us who donīt even like to lose practice games. We are ready for Piacenza because all games in Italy are difficult. Donīt forget Lecce. They are the only side in the League to have defeated us, and we drew a valuable lesson from that experience."

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A) ALEX R)REPORTER

A : Turin - Alexander Del Piero Says: " When You walk, you don't know how long is the road. It's exactly like if I have screen of a computer, with all the programs, but I wouldn't have the admittance key. If I find it, I find myself again. In an easy way, automatically. Perhaps I have it under my eyes and I don't see it. And perhaps it jumps outside from itself; there's no need that I worry myself to try it. It's sure that it's better to watch ahead, to watch behind it's not useful".

R : A little behind, or a lot, perhaps yes. Since Sunday evening, at least to begin. Budapest. We have to begin in some way, I say to me. Also to contrast an uneasiness: I can't be the executioner on Sunday (I gave the lower mark to him, 4,5) and the confessor on Wednesday.
I can try to do it, seated at the table's corner, in a zone in which Turin is still beautiful, Parisian. But before speaking about his situation, We have to clarify a fact. If who he criticizes is in bad faith, like I have read in many interviews, I make part of the bunch and it's better to say goodbye to each other, and Ninetta goodbye, as the Trap would say. But he is conciliating.
A : " About bad faith I meant other things, like the doping accusations. If one criticizes me for what I do or I don't do on the field, nothing to say, it's a part of the game. There are judgments more peppered, that I can't like, but a professional man have to accept these things".

R : In the Budapest's match what mark would you have given to yourself?
A : " the pass mark, 6. In the first time I have not played badly. And if a sod had not made me to raise the sight, it is true that Italy would have won and now I would not be considered as the traitor of my country. It's funny ".

R : What's funny?
A : "Two months ago, Inzaghi was on the grill, I had scored with my left foot against Sweden and they had considered me like born again, like revived ".

R : Perhaps to much hastily.
A : "Perhaps yes. Of course yes, seen where I find myself now. He never scored, they accused him. Now it is my turn. The funny thing is that in the meantime it has not happened anything: we have made the holidays, twenty days of training, few matches. And we changed our roles".

R : About the roles, what's your role? Is it possible that you have been cheated, and we have been dazzled by you, by the season of the 21 goals?
A : "I feel to be a forward, indeed I believe to be a forward, not a three-quarter player (playmaker). And you have to judge a forward by his goals, and if he doesn't score any goal it is right to criticize it. However, the true Del Piero is that one of the 21 goals, and I want to arrive there".

R : There are at least two attitudes on your case: one is of who have played soccer and they say that Del Piero has to exceed it by himself. The other attitude is of persons that say: "we have talked too much about Del Piero , let him fight his own battle".
A : "All right, with the difference that I am not alone. The persons who are by my side for job's reasons are close to me with sincerity and they help me to find me again. And many messages of encouragement arrive to me from my fans, and not only the Juve's fans. There's an episode that I will never forget, in one home's game, I guess Juve vs. Lecce, the last Italian championship. I have entered in area from left and I have hit the ball badly, worse than in the Budapest's match. And all the curve in chorus has sung my name. When I will score many goals again, and I feel it in the air, and it will be a first push with the shoulder to the wall that I feel around me, it will not be only for me ".

R : Another funny thing: Do you ever think about Baggio?
A : "I estimate him very much, but his situation is different from mine. I wish him to unblock it soon, as he has wished me ".

R : You play and good part of the critic would want that you wouldn't play, in the national team, at least. He wants to play but no society takes him. Have you ever asked where the soccer is going to, or you're too much busy for the searches of the admittance key?
A : "I often ask me about it. Sometimes in the same day. During the holidays, far away from Italy, to the sea, I had many thoughts. When you lose a Italian Championship as Juve has lost it, and an European championship as Italy has lost it, you have a lot of material to think about".

R : We have lost for my fault, you said in the evening of Rotterdam. Have you ever repented of this phrase?
A : " No, Why?".

R : It's like signing the execution decree.
A : "They would have said it however. It seemed an act of sincerity to me, I took my responsibilities. I would do it again, but I hope that it wouldn't repeat it again".

R : We were speaking about how the soccer is changing.
A : "It changes to a crazy speed, and I'm not talking only about Twenty years ago but in connection with my experiences, I'm talking about my beginnings. It's faster and more aggressive, but I believe that every age has its difficulties and for this reason we can't compare different ages, like Coppi-Merckx or Pel?Maradona ".

R : When you were a child, who is you hero?
A : "Platini', because I was Juve's fan. And then Maradona, Van Basten. Another characteristic of the soccer that it changes is the haste, or the refusal of the natural times. I want to say: the trophy Berlusconi seemed already one issue of within or outside".

R : Before we talked about how the perspectives are changing in two months. I can make a resume of your last two years?
A : "Just for the reader, I know them to memory ".

R : Sure, just for the reader: drugged, broken, done for, homosexual, apple of mother's eyes, traitor of your country and perhaps done for again. Have I forgotten anything?
A : "Nothing. A good cargo, eh, also for who he who earns billions ".

R : I just was thinking about it.
A : "Well, now let's talk about the things in order. Traitor of my country, it is a tag that burns to me, but is also a dialectic forcing. Drugged, it continues to indignant me and I guess that nobody can criticize me for this reaction. Apple of mother's eyes, as I have said when I heard it for the first time, it's the not so tender formula for confirm a right and sacrosanct concept, that is only the player, who deserves it, can play. Homosexual, I am not. I'm not adverse to them, but I am not a gay. Done for, we will see it. To my first goal that I'll score, everything will change".

R : It's a problem of serenity, they say.
A : "Sure it's so, but the resume of my last two years isn't the perfect mate of road of the serenity. I had to find it. It's like a tunnel, don't you? And this block of darkness, it's the first time that I face it in my life, perhaps also this fact should be bear in mind when someone says his judgments. Against an adversary, on the field, you can fight him, you can win him or lose. Against the accusations without evidence, how can you fight it? Around to the field, before this accusations , I was applauded from the Juve's fan and ignored from the others. Already at the first match of championship, in Perugia, there were choruses and banners for me. And then steady!".

R : In the first match of championship, in Naples, you'll see Zeman again.
A : " It was already happened and it'll happen again. But I didn't have anything to say to him and I will not have anything to say to him. For me, a person as he is, a person that blinks to you in a hole with a pair of groundless phrases, I can't find one word in order to define him".

R : What kind of image, in general, do you think to give of yourself?
A : "The image of someone who has made something in soccer, someone that never exit from the lines because it's not his character. The imagine of someone who is reserved and tries not to break off the balls to the other people. The imagine of someone who believes in his job and his dreams. Indeed, the imagine of someone who had had a most modest family, but he realized his dream ".

R : What do you mean about most modest family?
A : "I mean that we had to pay attention to the thousand Liras. I was talking about the realized dream: I arrived in Juve, and Juve returned to win something special after nine years. I went in the national team. I had many fans. Just about another funny thing: in my worse championship, the last one, I have done 14 assist. On one side I talk too little about myself, from the other side, it's true that they (the critics) talk about me too much. But what can I do about it? ".

R : The last news about you it's on Today's newspapers, Have you read them? (signal negative). The usual survey to the Italian women, the usual survey that we miss so tremendously. Result: first Francisco Rutelli, second Alexander Cecchi Paone, third Kim Rossi Stuart, and fourth Alexander Del Piero. The question of the survey was: which is the Italian man that you would want to see naked? Make a comment.
A : "Who is fifth? Just to know who I have won. Not, the true comment is: I really don't mind about it".

R : The words are a serious thing: in your opinion is it right to talk about Del Piero's tragedy?
A : "Tragedy seems a word too much strongly to me, the tragedies are others things. Hard moment isn't enough, because it's a too long period to be only a moment. Nevertheless, many doctors could confirm it, I have to consider me as fortunate guy if still play, I play so so but I still play. It's a negative period, is said that the life is made of high time and low time but the low time lasts too much and if I escape, If don't admit it, it doesn't help me to solve this situation. There is something, a sort of mental lightness that I have to find again. Nevertheless in the Budapest's match, I have entered in field and I felt serene myself. And I know that I have put order in my life, I talking about friendships, collaborators. And I know that I have all the necessary attendance on the job. No distresses, therefore, but a sort of restlessness, because a soccer player has to be stand and I have fallen, I'm down on my knees, I'm bent, and this is not a pleasure, not of course. But I think about the future, I think about it with joy and anger. I think that as soon as I score, the dream will fly again with the dream, the true life".

(02/10/00)

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