Juve and Italy to miss Del Piero
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Article summary
An injury to his right calf has put Juventus FC captain Alessandro Del Piero out of action for five weeks.
Article body
An injury to his right calf has put Juventus FC forward Alessandro Del Piero out of action for five weeks.
Early injury
The Juventus captain received the injury just seven minutes into his side's 1-0 UEFA Champions League defeat against RC Deportivo La Coruña. He was replaced by Fabrizio Miccoli as the Bianconeri suffered a 2-0 aggregate defeat against their Spanish opponents and bowed out of the competition.
Similar injury
Del Piero, who suffered a similar injury last September, will miss several important Serie A games starting with Sunday's meeting with league leaders AC Milan. Juventus are six points behind the Rossoneri.
Friendly campaign
The injury is also a blow for Italy coach Giovanni Trapattoni as the 29-year-old will miss the UEFA EURO 2004™ warm-up match against hosts Portugal. Italy will travel to Braga to face Portugal on 31 March before they welcome Spain to Genoa on 28 April. Del Piero, who has scored 24 goals in 62 matches for Italy, should be available for this second friendly.