Losing Italian Title Zidane's Worst Memory
BOURG SAINT-MAURICE, France (May 18, 2000 11:57 a.m. EDT
http://www.sportserver.com) - Juventus playmaker Zinedine Zidane said on Thursday losing the Italian title last weekend was the worst memory of his career.
"My morale is getting better now, but it still hurts my feelings when I think about this match," Zidane said at a French national team training camp, recalling the 1-0 defeat at Perugia that cost Juventus the title.
"When I go to bed at night sad images come into my mind, he said. "This was the worst moment of my career and I'm trying not to think too much about it."
Juventus entered the last round with a two-point lead over second-place Lazio, but the Rome team beat Reggina 3-0 while Juventus lost at Perugia in a game marred by rain.
The match was stopped at the interval for nearly an hour and a half, but referee Pierluigi Colina decided the pitch was playable.
"I'd never played on a pitch like that," Zidane said. "We were not keen to come back and play, but the Perugia players insisted and the referee decided we had to finish the match.
"But what I hurts me most is the way it all happened. We had led the championship from the start of the season and we lost the lot at the last minute."
Zidane said the defeat was even worse than when it lost the 1998 European Cup final against Real Madrid.
"That was just one game, and anything can happen in one game. But there the whole season disappeared in a few minutes," he said.
Zidane said Juventus was physically exhausted at the end of the season and should not have lost games at Verona and Perugia.
"I tell myself it's only football and sport, but the disappointment is no less," he said.
