Zambrotta Fired Up By Juve Resurgence
Monday 7th January 2002
Gianluca Zambrotta has reaffirmed his commitment to Juventus after scoring in his side's 3-0 win over Udinese on Sunday.
With Juventus thought to be considering a swap rather than straight cash deal for Udinese striker Roberto Muzzi, Zambrotta was looking to distance himself from speculation that he might be in line to leave the Turin club.
"I'm feeling great here," he said. "I have a contract until 2005 and I want to respect it until the last day. This is a good place for a player to win a lot of trophies. I'm not interested in all the rumours about me."
Zambrotta, who signed from Bari in 1999, has enjoyed a solid season on the right side of the Juve midfield and underlined his fine form with his side's opening goal on Sunday his first of the season.
It was Juve's second straight victory, taking Marcello Lippi's side to within five points of leaders Roma and, with unsettled pair Pavel Nedved and Edgar Davids, also on the scoresheet, Zambrotta is convinced that it is the start of an important run for the club.
"I'm happy about my goal and especially about the team performance," he said.
"For the first time all the midfielders scored together. That is a good sign because it means Juventus are a threat even when Del Piero and Trezeguet are not having a good day.
"Coach Lippi changed our tactical system for this match, insisting on a 4-4-2 formation but with Pavel Nedved tucked in behind the forwards and with Antonio Conte in front of the defence.
"In this system I'm asked to play more of a central role, but it's not a problem for me to play there.
"Since I've been at Juve I've always played slightly inside so it's fine. I've also always been a regular and I want it to continue like that."
The Italy international was also delighted with the way his side have bounced back from the disappointment of conceding a late goal in a 1-1 draw away to Fiorentina to record impressive back-to-back wins against Brescia away, then Udinese.
After the draw in Florence, Juve old-boy Angelo di Livio had questioned the Bianconeri's willingness to battle out results, but Zambrotta believes that the old steal is now back in evidence.
"After the game in Florence we looked at each other and said it was not possible to continue like this.
"Against Brescia [a 4-0 win] we never gave up and against Udinese we continued to show improvement.
"For the title race, Roma are still the favorites, but Inter, Chievo and even Milan could all compete to the last day.
"We play our next match at Venezia and it won't be easy because every team plays the best match of their lives when face Juventus."
