Alessandro Del Piero: game for the challenge.Former Italian international and World Cup winner Alessandro Del Piero received a rapturous welcome when he arrived in New Delhi early this evening to take up his assignment in the Hero Indian Super League. The Juventus legend has been signed up by Delhi Dynamos FC as their marquee player for the eight-city league which will commence on October 12. The 39-year-old player was mobbed by fans, football officials and the media soon after his Emirates flight landed at Terminal 3 of the international airport. Dressed in a dapper light grey suit and accompanied by his brother and a photographer friend, Del Piero radiated star presence as he told reporters, “I want to start training and am eager to meet my coach, teammates, staff and everyone involved. I am very excited to have come to India.”Del Piero also tweeted: “Just landed in New Delhi, I’m well prepared for a new beginning…Ale.”Delhi Dynamos later tweeted: “Del Piero joins team at training ground, straight from the airport.”The Italian had spent the last two years of his career with Sydney FC in the Australian A-League and was also their marquee player. He struck a great rapport with Aussie fans and admitted that his sojourn Down Under was a “great experience”. He would similarly like to enjoy his time in India and possibly come back again. “I’m very enthusiastic about this adventure. It fits perfectly with the way I chose to move forward since I left Juve,” Del Piero had said earlier. The dazzling forward and No 10 is a legend at Juventus and has played over 700 games for the club and scored a record 289 goals in his 19 year stint with the Italian giants. He has also scored 27 goals in 91 appearances for the Azzuri and has won almost everything there is to win in the beautiful game. This includes the World Cup, eight Serie A titles and a Champions League and Coppa Italia each. He has participated in four European championships and three World Cups.
