If Del Piero goes to Euro 2008, he’ll equal a record

By: Francesco | May 1st, 2008

Interesting article today from goal.com. It says that if Alex Del Piero’s name is on Donadoni’s 23 man final roster this May, he will equal a record. What is this record? The number of final tournaments played by an Italian player. Of course, it’s no surprise that the man that holds the record right now is none other than Paolo Maldini. Maldini played for Italy seven times at final tournaments: Euro ‘88, World Cup 1990, World Cup 1994, Euro ‘96, World Cup 1998, Euro 2000, and World Cup 2002. It could’ve been 8 if Italy had qualified for Euro ‘92.

Del Piero is the only current player with six tournaments to his name, making appearances at Euro ‘96, World Cup ‘98, Euro 2000, World Cup 2002, Euro 2004, and World Cup 2006. So if Del Piero goes to Euro 2008, he will tie the great Paolo Maldini as the Italian player who has played the most tournaments. (by the way, if you didn’t click the links, they contain pictures of the players at each tournament.)

This is when I go on my rant:

Now, I’m not doubting that Del Piero is a great player who will go down as one of the best Italian players of all time and most probably the best Juventus player of all time, but does anyone else think that Del Piero potentially being the Italian player who has been to the most tournaments as a little sad? I guess this is when I go into my Baggio nostalgia. The Great Divino Codino only got to play for Italy 56 times, scoring 27 goals. Del Piero has played for Italy 85 times, scoring 27 goals. There is no doubt that Baggio was the best Italian fantasista of the modern era, and the fact that he only played in 3 tournaments with the Azzurri was a crime. OK, in Euro ‘96, Sacchi had it out for him. In Euro 2000, Zoff blamed it on his lack of playing time with Inter (thanks Marcello Lippi). In World Cup 2002, Trapattoni blamed it on his fitness. In Euro 2004, Trapattoni blamed it on his age. I still believe that if Baggio had been a different nationality he would’ve been treasured by managers and would’ve been a protagonist with the national team until he retired. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Even Juventus fans can agree with me that Del Piero has never been the same since the injury suffered vs. Udinese in 1998. Before that, he was pretty amazing. And let’s add he has always been hyped up before tournaments before doing nothing at the actual torunament. (The goal against Germany in 2006 was probably the best thing he has ever done with the Nazionale). Baggio on the other hand, was always clutch. World Cup 1990- did great but was unfairly benched vs. Argentina. World Cup 1994- we know the story, single-handedly brought Italy to the final, but idiots around the world just remember him for the penalty. World Cup 1998- Started out great, but then Cesare Maldini succumbed to pressure and started to play an unfit Del Piero. I guess we can’t do anything now though, now I can only console myself by watching Baggio compilations all day.

Go ahead Juventus fans, rip me apart.