LEGENDS: Alessandro Del Piero

After 19 trophy-packed years, Alessandro Del Piero left Juventus last summer, despite fans around the globe asking for the club to keep him.

Yet, Juve’s magical number 10 will not get that luxury, he is going to have to end his career elsewhere, as he was not offered a new contract.

He is now plying his trade in Australia, and whilst the A-League is not Serie A it is much more competitive than it once was, and ADP has proved he has still got it.

Since his move in the surprise move he has scored 12 games in 22 starts and in January of this year he netted FOUR goals for Sydney FC when his side hammered Wellington 7-1.

Many felt that he should have followed ex-colleague Pavel Nedved’s career path and be given a position on the board but it was not to be.

The moment the legend ended his affiliation with the club was an emotional one, with Juventus having already won the league, he was replaced by Simone Pepe in the 57th minute.

As ADP left the field, every Juve player shook his hand, after finally getting to the bench, he was called to his feet again by the 40,000 fans who wanted to thank the man who they regard as a God.

He started at Padova, having come through the youth team, before being signed by Juventus in 1993. He scored 289 goals in 704 games, on the 6th April 2008, he became the club’s all-time highest capped player.

He has won the World Cup, Uefa Champions League, six Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia once.

It has not been all high points though, two Scudetto titles were taken from the club after the Calciopoli in 2006.

The following season also saw the club playing in Serie B after being demoted, whilst Fabio Capello left for Real Madrid and players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Fabio Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram all left, yet ADP stayed at the club he loved.

His 20 goals in 35 games helped Juve to an immediate return to top flight football, but in the following four seasons failed to challenge for the Scudetto, but they changed this season when they went through the whole season undefeated and got the hands back on the title.

It is such a shame that the legendary number 10 is not given the chance to end his career at the club, a true star and a real gentleman.

By Scott Balaam

Twitter @scottbalaam