Pirlo can do even better than Zidane as manager, says Del Piero

Turin, Aug 9 (IANS) Former Italy forward Alessandro Del Piero believes compatriot Andrea Pirlo can go onto become even a better manager than Zinedine Zidane, who is currently at helm at Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Pirlo was named as new Juventus manager after Maurizio Sarri was given the boot following team’s UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon in the Round of 16.

Del Piero, who won the World Cup with Pirlo in 2006, stated he was initially surprised when the latter was asked to take over the senior team but gave his vote of confidence to his former teammate.

Zidane, meanwhile, boasts of an illustrious trophy cabinet as manager which includes to LaLiga title and three Champions League trophies. Del Piero, however, believes Pirlo is capable of doing better that former French World Cup winner.

Pirlo is being compared with Zidane because like the Frenchman, he too has retuned to take charge of his former club after spending sever trophy-laden years as player.

“It’s not a fair comparison, because Zizou had already worked with the Real Madrid youth team and then was Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant manager, but Pirlo has everything it takes to do even better than Zidane,” Del Piero told Sky Sport Italia.

“He already knows the club, the players, the directors, so I think they communicated in a very clear way. To be honest, I wouldn’t have bet on him becoming the coach. It’s a surprise for me too.

“I was already pleased for him taking the Under-23 role and thought that was the right move for him, but he’s skipped ahead, so I can only wish him luck,” he added.

Juventus was the last club Pirlo played for in Italy after a highly successful 10 years at AC Milan. He won two Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups, two Serie A titles, a FIFA Club World Cup, a Supercoppa Italiana, and a Coppa Italia before joining Juve on a free transfer in 2011.

With the Turin giants, Pirlo won four more consecutive Serie A titles alongwith two Supercoppa Italiana titles, and a Coppa Italia. His final game for Juventus and in Europe was a 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in the 2015 Champions League final.

–IANS

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