Del Piero reveals Italy focus during 2006 World Cup win amid Calciopoli tensions | OneFootball

Alessandro Del Piero has looked back on Italy’s 2006 World Cup victory, the Azzurri’s most recent triumph on the game’s biggest stage, reflecting on both the joy of that summer and the turmoil that swirled around it.

Speaking to Sky Sport to mark 20 years since the success, the former Juventus forward described a campaign coloured by emotion.

“That goal against Germany has a special flavour, it was everyone’s World Cup,” Del Piero said, with quotes via TuttoMercatoWeb.

“Of those who lived it, dreamed it and wanted it: there’s always so much emotion. Now that I no longer play, it’s much easier to celebrate trophies, this one in particular. We keep the chat of that World Cup group alive.”

His reflections carried a note of realism about the present, too.

“Watching these World Cups, you understand that certain national teams have made great strides forward, and qualifying today is no longer so guaranteed,” he added, a pointed acknowledgement, given Italy have now missed three tournaments in a row.

BERGAMO, ITALY – DECEMBER 10: Former football player Alessandro Del Piero looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD6 match between Atalanta BC and Real Madrid C.F. at Stadio di Bergamo on December 10, 2024 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Del Piero recalls staying ‘isolated’ from Juventus turmoil

The context in which Italy triumphed in 2006 was anything but straightforward. The Calciopoli scandal was engulfing Italian football that summer, with Juventus, Del Piero’s club and that of several teammates, at its centre, ultimately stripped of titles and relegated to Serie B in its aftermath.

“What was happening in the Juventus world was inexplicable, even for us inside it,” Del Piero recalled.

“Back then it was essential to stay focused. Within the group we lived very well, we were all focused and we didn’t want external news to harm our serenity. There was enormous tension, that World Cup was at times disarming for everything that was going on. But we were good at staying isolated from it, yes.”

That ability to compartmentalise, as Del Piero tells it, was central to one of the most remarkable triumphs in the country’s footballing history, a feat that looks all the more distant against the backdrop of the Azzurri’s current struggles.