New Delhi: Italy World Cup winner and Delhi Dynamos 'marquee' player spoke Monday of his eagerness to face former Juventus teammate Frenchman David Trezeguet in his team's first match of the inaugural Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament against FC Pune City.
"It will be fun to play against him. We have played for so long together in (Italian football club) Juventus and we were one of the best strike partners," he said at a press conference ahead of the match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here Tuesday.
"Now we will be playing face to face. I can assure you I will fight till the end for my team,"
Trezeguet is FC Pune City's 'icon' player.
Del Piero and Trezeguet forged a formidable strike partnership for the Serie A giants during their 11 years together at the Italian club.
Del Piero has scored 208 goals in 513 appearances for Juventus in a 19-year span while Trezeguet netted 108 goals in 245 matches in a 11-year period for the club.
Del Piero expressed his confidence about his team's performance saying that they have prepared well and the squad is "looking forward to the challenge".
"I have really enjoyed my stay in the country so far. I will need more time to understand the culture here. But I am the brand ambassador of the tournament and it is big honour for me. My team is upbeat about the challenge we face," the 39-year-old said.
He rubbished scepticism regarding his fitness even though he has played in only one of his team's warm-up games.
"I have been training for the last four weeks and though I have played just one practice match it will be okay Tuesday. I am ready for the challenge," the Italian said.
His Dutch coach Harm van Veldhoven also spoke on the same lines, drumming up the buoyant mood of the team.
"For the last five to six weeks, my team has trained rigorously. As this is an entirely new tournament we have hardly any idea about the strategy of the opponent team, but they also have no idea about us. The practice matches have been good and we have build our coordination well. Hopefully we will execute what we have practised in training so far," he said.
The Dutch coach was also dismissive of questions regarding his plans for rival attacking spearhead Trezeguet.
"I have no special plans for him. I would rather tell my players to think about the other players. We know David's style of play but we have no idea about the others, so we are not bothered," he said, with a straight face.
