Alessandro Del Piero, top of the class: book review

The evening of semi-final of the 2006 World Cup, the one in which Marcello Lippi’s Italy defeated the hosts Germany – to go, as is widely popular, to Berlin and become world champions – I danced twice around the only home fan. The first at Grosso’s goalthe second to goal by Del Piero; yes, both are dances of exultation, but as far as I’m concerned they differ from each other.

When Grosso scored, I was an explosion of joy due to the beauty of the goal, the fact that that goal would have made us win, the thought of Italy in the final. When Del Piero scored I felt another type of happiness, different, more intimate. I was happy for the footballer, who I had always admired, because I thought he deserved something, he deserved a joy with the blue shirt. He had to patch things up from the disappointment of France ’98 – where Baggio did much better than him – and by the two missed goals in the final of the 2000 European Championships. He certainly had a bright career, but he also had some downfalls. I am someone who becomes attached to those who fall, especially if they are talented. That beautiful goal from Del Piero put things right, crowning an action in which all the players who enjoyed my admiration had participated.

The beloved Cannavaro who went to take the ball with his head, after his own clearance – he launched himself -, Totti who had arrived at the World Cup after the serious injury, Gilardino who played a little, a little not, a little it was strong, a little not. Around the fan, that evening, with the time almost up, I danced for Alessandro Del Piero and it was that crazy dance, merry-go-round, that I remembered as soon as I started reading the beautiful Alessandro Del Piero, top of the classby Patrizio Ruviglionipublished by 66thand2nd.

«His hairline is growing higher and his pace is slow, almost tired. But she put a strange, serene smile on her face, as if a part of him after this hell had taken the measure of the time and was simply happy to be there.”

When reading a story about a great sportsman – whether you loved it or not – you are confronted with it our memory. What we did during that match, who we hugged in case of a goal, which goal made us hold our heads in our hands, why the champion scored it against our favorite team and so on. A Milan fan friend of mine always talks about the girlfriend who left him the evening of van Basten’s brace, she says he forgot her, which she didn’t do with the Dutch center forward. For Del Piero, beyond the elusive dance, I remember the dinner at a friend’s house after his brace at the Santiago Bernabeu – complete with an ovation upon leaving the pitch, among those applauding was Diego Maradona – I remember being happy because Juventus’ 10th was decreed the end of his career, match after match and each time, despite everyone and his club first and foremost, the player moved the horizon a little further. He’s right, Ruviglioni, somehow, ad Many of us loved Alessandro Del Piero, even supporting other people, even supporting Napoli like me. But I support football and so Del Piero will always be something that concerns me.

«Something has turned on, and it will never go off again. You have just finished crossing the desert, now you start scoring again and find the serenity of playing.”

Patrizio Ruviglioni is very good, he stays away from hagiography, he tells the story of Del Piero from Padua at the end, from Conegliano Veneto, to Juventus, to Berlin, to Australia, to the times he appears at the stadium among the public, to those in which he comments on matches on TV. He draws a parallel between the Del Piero of his early days, of his first exploits (who doesn’t remember the goal against Fiorentina?), of the invention of the “Del Piero-style” goal, of the first championships, of the 1996 Champions League and the one that came after the events of doping, the serious injury, the disappointments with the national team. We have learned to love, according to the author (and I agree), the man who falls, the man who fails, destined for a sad ending, the man who however – without saying a word, in silence, in humble way – he started playing well again, scoring, enchanting, winning. We didn’t become fond of the boy prodigy but of the one who came after him, a simple extraordinary footballer.

«[…] he closed his 2006 drawing rainbows and collecting applause and thanks on the pitches of Albinoleffe, Rimini, Mantua. There, where this story began, with the spectators in the stands in disbelief at finding themselves in front of a world champion.”

Alessandro Del Piero, top of the class

Alessandro Del Piero, top of the class

Alessandro Del Piero, top of the class.

Ruviglioni uses the archive, uses the images, has watched and re-watched the actions, the goals (although I think most remembered them by heart), but then he writes in his own way, and knows how to be rigorous and lyrical, the prose is very flowing, just like a spinning shot fired from Alessandro Del Piero’s tile. The author then interviewed Di Livio, Lippi, Ravanelli, making the story even more focused, in short, certain events seem to be narrated from the locker room, just before the teams enter the pitch. In the book we read about goals, traumas – of Del Piero but also of fans – about ups and downs, about things that happen on the football pitch but which have to do with numerous other issues: wonder, imagination, dreams and , of course, with poetry. It is no coincidence that, in the first pages of the book, Ruviglioni uses one of Raymond Carver’s most famous poems (and what we do with poems is that we take them and make them our own), the one that speaks of the desire to be loved, and that Alessandro Del Piero He has made.