A letter to Andrea Agnelli from a saddened Juventino

Dear Agnelli,

May 2006. It is over 5 years to the day when we were wrongly convicted for an alleged involvement in a matchfixing scandal. The whole of Italy was shaken, the fans were stunned. A month later, the best player in Italy’s World Cup winning triumph left us. We were demoted to the second division, great players left. There was one player who stood by the club, our captain Alessandro Del Piero. We have gone 4 years without winning a trophy, our captain is still at the club. Yesterday, the club announced that this will be the last year for Alex to play in a Bianconeri shirt.

Hurt, shocked and saddened, here we are left with an attempt to dream of Juventus without our captain. A beautiful bond has finally come to an end, a bond between Juventus and Alex. Do we thank you for permitting our captain to play in our new stadium or plead you to let him end his career in a better manner?

Alessandro Del Piero with the uncle of Andrea Agnelli – Gianni Agnelli.

Nearly 10 years after we had won our first European Cup, Lippi helped us achieve the same stature. Juventus won their second European Cup. We had a great team to have won the most supreme competition in Europe. A young lad was one of the top goalscorers in that tournament. He was Pinturicchio, our legendary captain whom you have decided to part ways with. After a year precisely, in Munich we were in the final again but this time trailing 2 – 0 to Dortmund. Every cloud has a silver lining, we were inspired and brought back into the game. Our legendary captain brought us back into the match with a cheeky sideheel. Despite most of his efforts, you are making an effort seeking alternatives to offload him.

After a series of triumphs domestically and internationally, we were a dominant force in Europe. We had the likes of Zidane, Inzaghi and many technically gifted players. When Ancelotti took over Lippi, we were still a competitive team. October 1998, Alex picked up a career threatening knee injury and he never featured in the rest of the season. We were struggling domestically and continentally without him. We finished 6th in the league, from Champions to failing to qualify for the European Cup. There was a sense of dependency on a player whom you’ve decided to bid farewell to.

Il Grande Capitano with our second European Cup.

A year later we were back from the ashes and amidst the series of false doping allegations, our captain rose like a phoenix. The fans endorsed his banners, named him ” Il Fenomeno Vero “. The real phenomenon was continuously helping us to regain our glory. Unfortunately, the great Ancelotti with our legendary captain could not help us add another to our coveted trophy cabinet. Lippi returned to Juventus after 2 years, helping us to restore our winning principles. The principles on which our legendary captain was the focal point. But, the club presently feels it is better to let him go!

European Cup 2003, a revolutionised Juventus were in the semi- finals. We were trailing Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid 2 – 1 after the first leg. After taking the lead, we were put two ahead of the Spanish giants through our legendary captain. A goal that was so beautiful to watch and hard to forget.  We knocked the 9 time European Champions out of the Champions League. We had won the Scudetto and were in the finals against our Italian compatriots Milan. Sadly, we lost to Ancelotti’s Milan in a game that was eventually decided in penalty shootout. A legendary team led by our legendary captain won the hearts of the world. Yet, you have had your say without consulting our captain on his retirement.

May 2006. We were demoted for the first time in Italian top- flight courtesy the “Calciopoli scandal”. Many worldclass players left a month later, our captain stood by us. He had made his decision to stick by us through our bad times when many jumped our sinking ship. With the memories of scoring a beautiful goal against the hosts Germany in the semi- finals and scoring a crutial penalty against France in the finals, he decided to gracefully continue with Juventus. On one hand he had the FIFA World Cup and on the other the armband of Juventus that would be playing in the Serie- B. He stood like ” The Colossus ” beside us through that struggle to get back into Italy’s top flight again. Still, the club feels it is good for both the parties that he retires.

Alex Del Piero leads us into another trophy winning campaign.

Juventus were no more a team it was after returning to Italian top- flight, but the sight of our legendary captain in our team still instilled hopes in us. We were back in Europe and were drawn in the same group as European giants Real Madrid. We were not scared, we had our legendary captain in our team. Juventus beat Madrid in both the ties with our legendary captain scoring 3 goals. On scoring a brace in the Bernebeau, the Spanish fans warmly gave him a standing ovation. A year later, Pavel Nedved retired and we were in despair to his retirement. We were still optimistic that our club will do well because we had our legendary captain. Will we have the same optimism after his departure?

A year later, David Trezeguet left the club. We never gave him a proper sending off and the legend still remembers us. We sold him because he was not getting young, but 6 months later we bought a player who was never young. Did we even say goodbye to Mauro Camoranesi? So, a year later Juventus has decided to say “Ciao” to our legendary captain. Perhaps, we should have paid more heed when Mr Berlusconi expressed his desires to sign our legendary captain.

One year after another, Juventus plan to offload a legend while the likes of Amauri are still at the club.

Can we expect the world to remember our legendary captain as a champion on and off the field, when we are trying to ship him out? We will wish our legendary captain all the success in his future endeavours and hope we will do well without him. Although, a sincere request to the management to make sure our legendary goalkeeper is at the club a couple of years later.

Always wishing the best for the club,

A loyal Bianconero for life.