“Do we have three or four hours so I can tell you what happened in the 35, 40 seconds?”
I just asked Alessandro Del Piero, the legendary former striker of Juventus and Italy, what goes through his head when he is about to kick a penalty in the 2006 World Cup final.
“This walk from the center of the field to the mastery of penalties is a long walk. One looks to concentrate, but a lot of things come to mind, that is, this is the peak of his life,” said Del Piero, who scored a record 289 points in 705 matches with Juventus, he told me in an exclusive interview.
“This heavyweight, I tried to turn it in a laughing way. I tried to say ‘well, there’s only, what, 2. 5 billion more people watching this moment?You play for a country that, of course, won’t if you want to. ‘A penalty fails, you know that in Italy they are not at all passionate!So what happens if you fail? Nothing. ‘
“Then I tried to laugh at myself in this situation.
Del Piero can sweetly communicate the “most emblematic moment” of his career: he scored the penalty and Italy lifted the World Cup for the fourth time.
Del Piero’s life has been faithful since he retired from the game in 2014.
“As a footballer, you focus 100 percent on what you have to do. Your life is focused on training, recovery, play,” explains Del Piero.
“When you’re done, you replace everything. You replace your habit, you start to miss the costumes, the teammates. I will never be 100 percent satisfied (retirement) because I love playing football, however, that’s the good look of life.
“In my career, of course, I did the most productive thing, with mistakes, but the most productive thing. I did not walk away from my day-to-day work or make a new and greater effort to achieve the result.
Now founded in Los Angeles, the fifa list of the 125 most important live footballers is busy with media commitments and commercial investments. He owns an Italian restaurant, number 10, in Los Angeles and Milan, and invests in the AirDP brand.
He is also an investor and member of the advisory board of STADS, an Israel-based virtual sports marketing platform that aspires to be the world’s leading online sports advertising network. Del Piero brought CEO Yoav Shalmor to the company after the assembly in Tel Aviv.
“As soon as I retired as a footballer, I looked for new opportunities and of course it’s bigger if it looks something like my game,” says Del Piero.
“I have noticed the transformation of media and advertising in my career. When I started, there were 3 or 4 major sponsors for a club, now there are many sponsors for a club. So it’s going up tremendously and, of course, STADS has caught my eye.
Founded in 2018, STADS was created with the project of solving “inefficiencies” in an advertising industry “in search of virtual transformation,” Shalmor told me.
Corporate must be an exclusive platform for the entire media purchase process, connecting brands and rights holders to succeed in public perimeter advertising in sports stadiums. STADS uses a data-driven technique with a set of rules that suggests the most productive matches to succeed in an advertiser’s target audience, providing more effective advertising investment.
“We are the ‘shoot in the dark’ facet of advertising on sports sites,” Shalmor says.
“Advertisers can make decisions based on research and forward-looking exposure of the game in other territories around the world. “
The company, which runs in a commission style for transactions on the STADS platform, has renewed contracts with European heavyweights Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan.
Currently basically aimed at European football, Shalmor has big plans.
“Our long-term ambition is to give brands access to promote it at any stadium in the world,” he says.
On his own technique for investing, Del Piero says he will have to “believe in the concept” and accept it as true with the other people involved before committing to a business.
“I am fortunate that in my career I have been lucky enough to make a lot of money. There’s a time when you’re looking for how and how to invest money,” he says.
“Sometimes it’s a little tricky when you enter markets like food or restaurants. . . but most of the time, I’m sure how to make the investment. I’m not looking for the big prize, the big jackpot. But sometimes you do, you play at the casino and you see how you’re doing.
As to whether he would ever spin the wheel again in world football, Del Piero does not rule out a long-term role as a coach or technical director. His former teammate, Andrea Pirlo, coached Juventus’ first team this month.
“Of course I have in mind to become technical director and coach,” says Del Piero.
“I am very surprised (by the appointment of Pirlo) because it is too early for him to be in this position. I am surprised because I think Juve would happen differently. It is a great challenge for everyone, but the club is very strong and the team he’s very smart and Andrea is a wonderful guy.
“I don’t know what he needs to do on the field, but I know him personally, so I think he’ll be well prepared and in a position to seize this opportunity and turn it into success. “
For now, Del Piero is firmly focused on the good luck of his investments.
“When it becomes business, it’s business. I take it very seriously,” he says.
“Would you like to play a friendly with me? It’s not that cute. Yes, he laughs (before), but the moment the referee whistles, I need to win. That’s my mentality . . . it’s herbal to have a challenge and take a look to win.
“It’s (the same with) business because you’re in them, you spend time with them, you work hard, you have a team with you. So you have to be very serious and focused on what you’re doing.
As a lead contributor to Forbes, I write about the gaming industry with a specific theme about the world’s most popular game: football(football).
As a lead contributor to Forbes, I write about the gaming industry with a specific theme about the world’s most popular game: football. My articles cover everything from monetary advances and analytical advances to interviews with the most productive players, club owners and managers. , investors and other attractive personalities of the game. I have written for publications such as BBC Sport, The Guardian, The Independent, FC Business and SBS The World Game. Also paintings for La Liga TV, Canopying Valencia, Levante UD and Villarreal. on Twitter on rob_kidd1 and see examples of my paintings on www. robertkidd. net