Juventus, on its official website, remembers the first day of Alessandro Del Piero in black and white. It was June 28, 1993: “
There are moments in every story – capitalized or lowercase, it doesn’t matter – that change the course of events, the pace of the narrative and in part mark indelibly what will happen in the months and years to come. Juventus and Alessandro Del Piero hoped on that 28th June 1993 that things could go like this, but they didn’t think that they would go far beyond their wildest expectations – making the number 10 of Venetian origin the symbol, the Captain, the most representative player in the history of Juventus.
A young talent taken from Padova in a special summer for Juventus – with the newspapers that, looking at Del Piero, initially spoke of a new Paolo Rossi, later realizing that the most fitting comparison was much closer in time and was Roberto Baggio; seven years older than him and the player with whom he was called to do the relay.
In reality, in his early days in 1993, Del Piero also played a lot with the Juventus Primavera, with whom he won both the category championship and the Viareggio tournament in the first Juventus months. In the meantime, however, the window overlooking the first team had already opened several times, paving the way for what later became a great love story.
In hindsight, it was certainly one of the greatest purchases in the history of Juventus, the most significant: Alessandro Del Piero embodied the Juventus spirit well beyond the 705 appearances and 290 goals in black and white (which still remain record numbers and currently unthinkable for anyone to beat).
He was the son, the older brother and the friend that millions of fans followed, appreciated and supported on the pitch for 19 years – loyal as only Del Piero and his talent were able to be towards Juventus.
Remembering June 28 and this special day, the number 10 of Juventus wrote on social media a few years ago: «I dreamed of wearing the Juventus shirt long before Boniperti brought me to Turin: on June 28, 1993, the President made me sign my first contract and reminded me that ‘winning is not important, it’s the only thing that matters’».
It’s difficult to find a better way to be champions, men, Juventus fans.”
