Fates Change for Del Piero, Ventola
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
ROME (Oct 23, 1998 - 11:56 EDT) - Alessandro Del Piero and Nicola Ventola, two of the most gifted young talents in Italian soccer, have already learned the hard lesson that footballers can master their craft but rarely their fate.
A year ago 20-year-old Ventola, now an Inter Milan player, feared for his career after snapping knee ligaments, while the in-form Del Piero was starting his most successful season for Juventus.
In a matter of months soccer's gods of fate have turned the tables.
Del Piero, 23, was injured in Juventus's Champions' League final defeat by Real Madrid, had a dismal World Cup and found himself the unwitting victim of a doping scandal. He has scored just four goals in six months.
By contrast, Ventola scored on his comeback for Bari last May before joining Inter in the summer. He is now the club's top scorer with seven goals -- a rate of one every 50 minutes.
"I understand now what life's all about. There are no dreams, you have to fight to get to the top," said Ventola after scoring one goal and making another for Ronaldo in Inter's 2-1 Champions' League win over Spartak Moscow.
The early careers of Del Piero and Ventola gave little evidence of the rollercoaster life of a professional footballer.
Like the Juventus player, Ventola was a soccer genius plucked from the church playing fields where so many of Italy's footballers start their careers.
At the age of 20 Del Piero led Juve's youth team to the prestigious Viareggio title, while in 1993-94 Ventola won the national youth league championship with Bari.
Ventola, like Del Piero before him, earned caps at under-16, under-18 and under-21 level for the Italian national side.
Both found their feet early in one of the toughest leagues in the world -- Del Piero at the age of 18, Ventola immediately after his 16th birthday.
And in a strange twist of fate both fought off the competition of Roberto Baggio, formerly of Juventus but now with Inter, to earn first-team football at the highest level.
Ventola made his league debut for his home town club Bari in 1994. "Without doubt, for his age, I never saw anyone like him," admitted Eugenio Fascetti, Bari's respected coach.
Inter had already placed Ventola under observation when he was injured in Bari's match at Empoli last November.
Close friends describe how Ventola came close to giving up the game during his long convalesence at a Bologna clinic. Aware of the fagility of a soccer career, he continues to study law a the University of Bari.
However, with tremendous strength of character, Ventola made a comeback for Bari's final two matches of the season to demonstrate he was still worthy of a transfer to Inter.
Ventola's physique, techique and pace on the ball have led to comparisons with Croat Alen Boksic -- except, unlike Boksic, Ventola can also score goals.
Although he started the season as understudy to Ronaldo and Ivan Zamorano, Ventola's form has forced coach Luigi Simoni to find him a regular place next to the Brazilian.
The only concern about the young striker is burn-out with Italy Under-21 coach Marco Tardelli suggesting he stop chasing so many lost causes on the pitch.
Many Italians thought Italy coach Zoff was chasing a lost cause when he persisted with Del Piero against the Swiss earlier this month but his two goals proved the talent was still there.
Del Piero's rapid fall from favour started with a hamstring injury in the European Cup final which dogged his preparation for the World Cup.
He never recovered his confidence in France, as Cesare Maldini's decision to persist with the out-of-form player rather than Roberto Baggio brought a nation's expectations to bear on young shoulders.
The abiding image of Italy's World Cup remains the sight of Del Piero exchanging handshakes with Baggio as he repeatedly trudged off the pitch on his way to the substitutes' bench.
The personal nightmare continued into the summer break when AS Roma manager Zdenek Zeman claimed doping was practised among Serie A clubs, citing Del Piero's increased muscle mass as an example.
Del Piero took legal action against Zeman but the damage was done. When the new season started, the Italy player was the victim of terrace chants and his form dipped again.
"I will usually beat my marker eight times out of 10. Right now I can manage two in 10," he said recently.
Now, after his two goals against Switzerland and another last Sunday at Vicenza, Del Piero, together with Ventola, can look ahead to Sunday's match confident that the soccer gods are finally back on both players' sides.
