Tuttosport 02/08/99
Mark Iuliano responded to Carlo Ancelotti's comments on the defensive unit. Iuliano said that it is true that they are physically behind and that shows on the 3-men defense, since you need an exceptional good form to play it. Iuliano, though, defended the module, since, ever since Marcello Lippi began using it in 1997, it has worked fine.
After Thierry Henry's probable departure, it will be Ronnie O'Brien's turn. According to Ancelotti, O'Brien needs more experience and will either find it in a Serie B or Swiss first division team.
Yesterday, Roberto Bettega visited the team in Ch�tillon. Together with roughly 1,000 people, he watched a mini-tourney with four teams playing each other once in a half-sized field. The teams:
GREEN
Isaksson
Conte
Inzaghi
Pessotto
Mirkovic
Zidane
YELLOW
Van der Sar
Davids
Amoruso
Henry
Birindelli
Montero
PINK
Tacchinardi
Del Piero
Iuliano
Rignoi
Esnaider
Zambrotta
BLUE
Rampulla
Oliseh
Bachini
O'Brien
Kovacevic
Ferrara
The standings:
Green 3 victories
Yellow 2
Pink 1
Blue 0
Both Gianluca Zambrotta (slight sprain on his left ankle) and Edgar Davids (sore right knee) were again fully fit. The only player not training is Daniel Fonseca.
Today, Juve will have two training sessions, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.
For its match against Rostselmash, Juve will leave Ch�tillon Wednesday morning for Cesena and return to Turin the same night.
Juve will play August 10th the eventual Intertoto final (likely against Rennes who defeated Austria Vienna 2-0). The players not used will have a friendly game the following day in Turin. Ancelotti will then dismiss the troops until August 16th.
Juve players were very excited about Eddie Irvine's win in Hockenheim. Although all Ferrari fans, they prefer Irvine to Michael Schumacher.
According to Tuttosport, this should be Alessandro Del Piero's timetable:
04/08 Juventus-Rostselmash 2nd half
10/08 Juventus-Rennes/Austria Vienna 2nd half
17/08 Milan-Juventus 60 minutes
24/08 Rennes/Austria Vienna-Juventus 1st half
29/08 Juventus-Reggina starter
According to Ancelotti, Giampiero Ventrone, Riccardo Agricola (team doctor), Alessio Tacchinardi (his roommate), and Sergio Giunta (team masseur), Del Piero is both physically and mentally fine and only needs to get playing time. Tacchinardi, though, says that Del Piero has to improve on his Playstation skills.
