Juventus' Zidane Trying to Get Up to Speed Against Parma
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
TURIN, Italy (Sep 25, 1998 - 13:19 EDT) - Zinedine Zidane is aiming to bring back his old, World Cup-winning self when the Juventus ace takes on Parma this weekend.
Zidane, the two-goal hero of France's World Cup final victory, has struggled with injury and a lack of training since rejoining his teammates.
But the midfielder has promised to put those obstacles behind him for Juventus' first outing this season against a potential title rival.
"I'm not yet in top form, but that's because of starting the preseason preparations late," he said. "Then I had a knee injury. It took a knock against Perugia and then another in the same place against Cagliari.
"There's been some internal bleeding and it still hurts. It's annoying, but not enough to stop me from playing and I hope it passes off soon.
"But don't worry, the real Zidane is on his way and I want to prove that as soon as possible -- starting on Saturday," he said.
"So far, I've never been able to show what I can really do at Parma, but this time I hope I will. Alessandro Del Piero has said he just needs one goal to get going again and I need one too. Perhaps even two goals."
Parma, who will probably be fielding his World Cup teammates Lilian Thuram and Alain Boghossian, have so far only garnered two points from two games.
"I am surprised that Parma haven't been able to do better," Zidane admitted. "Two points doesn't seem right. But the team has changed a lot and it's always difficult at the beginning.
"Every team struggles at the start of the season, but the fact that we've taken all six points so far is important because they'll be all the more precious later in the season.
"In fact, this match comes just at the right time," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "We can take three points off a direct rival in front of their own fans."
