Alessandro Del Piero wins ‘Golden Foot’ award

Alessandro Del Piero receives the Golden Foot 2007 award from Prince Albert of Monaco

The Golden Foot award is handed out by the World Champions Club in Monaco every year, rewarding the best combination of personal and team achievement amid players over the age of 29. A particularity of the award (apart from the age lower limit), is that a list of ten names is put to vote, and it is then the public that selects the winner. As a result, some rather unconventional achievements are rewarded, and some emotional aspects of the game are also considered.

The 2007 award has been won by Alessandro Del Piero for remaining at Juventus after its relegation, and inspiring the club back into Serie A in style, despite being handicapped by a points penalty. Roberto Carlos came in 2nd for winning the La Liga trophy in his farewell season with Real Madrid, David Beckham coming in 3rd for similar reasons. AC Milan skipper Paolo Maldini came in 4th, for lifting yet another Champions League trophy, and was followed by the likes of Luis Figo and Thierry Henry. Other names on the list included Fabio Cannavaro, Cafu, Ryan Giggs and Raúl.

This is the 5th edition of the award, which includes previous winners such as Roberto Baggio, Pavel Nedved, Andriy Shevchenko and Ronaldo, making the domination of Serie A players complete. Gazzetta dello Sport interviewed Del Piero after the ceremony, and I’ve translated part of his statements below:

As a winner of the award, Del Piero was allowed to leave his foot print on the Champions Promenade in Monte Carlo“Ranieri says that we can be the ‘pain in the neck’ of other teams for this season. I say there are at least 4 teams that can win the title: Milan, Roma, Inter, and Juve. Why not believe in our dreams? In addition we’ll also have the advantage of not playing in Europe…”. The Juve captain judges the Serie B exile of last year one of the main motivational factors of Juve’s great start of the season: “Last year we felt like we had to battle the entire world, as if everyone was against us, so we had to insert the word “suffering” into our DNA. We won our game in Cagliari because we were able to suffer”.

You can say what you want about Del Piero, but if there’s one thing that ‘Pinturicchio’ has been able to demonstrate over and over again, is his mental toughness, his ability to keep a cool head, and his undeniable leadership qualities. He is not only an example on the field with his skill & technique, but also off the field. If there’s anybody that deserves this award, it’s him.

Such a shame he never managed to get the Golden Ball.



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Posted in Juventus, Player Profiles |

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  • One Response to “Alessandro Del Piero wins ‘Golden Foot’ award”

    1. arjan zymaj says:

      hehe del piero nr1 ne BOT edhe ylli i BOTES buffon te gjith ekipi i juventusit per mu asht ylli i BOTES