The Day I Met My Footballing Hero, Trezegoal | #KaranganBolaSepak
The Day I Met My Footballing Hero, Trezegoal | #KaranganBolaSepak by Balamoorali
In May 2006, Juventus were relegated to Serie B, as part of the five clubs that were linked to Calciopoli, a match fixing scandal that has rocked Italian football. Back then, all hopes and dreams just perished in front of my eyes. Rubbing salt in what was already an injured wound, saw many great Juventus players decide to leave the squad in the following season.
The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gianluca Zambrotta, Patrick Viera, Fabio Cannavaro (World Cup 2006 Winner, Italy Captain), Lilian Thuram & Emerson to name a few left Turin to join Real Madrid, Barcelona & even to rivals Inter Milan in search of European & Domestic honors.
There were some notable gentlemen who didn't want to abandon the sinking ship. Why? As Alessandro Del Piero has mentioned before, “A True Gentleman Will Never Leave His Lady”.
These Gentlemens were Juve evergreen captain & goalkeeper, Gigi Buffon, Del Piero one of the great Italian striker in Serie A, Pavel Nedved the left foot midfielder known for his hard work ethics, Mauro Camonaresi, the Argentinian born Italian who amazes us with trickery & great crosses, Giorgio Chiellini the warrior & last but not the least, David Trezeguet, the Argentinian born Frenchman who along with Del Piero have ruled in Serie A for years. If loyalty has a name, then those 6 stars will surely be among them.
When I got to know, Trezeguet was coming to Malaysia for the Dashing promotion, I was so happy, over the moon & was excited to see him in real life. I told my wife & children that we must see him & get his signature to comrade for all the greatness he has given to my life.
To make it special, I decided to write a banner in French that says “Merci de rester avec la Juventus en Serie B….vous etes une legende” which means thank you for staying with Juve in Serie B, you’re a legend. On the eve night, my wonderful wife helped to write this for me in a drawing paper.
As for my sons, I took the opportunity to show them some of Trezeguet’s footage during his time playing for Juventus and the French national team. I also told them a wonderful story of why he is a symbol in terms of loyalty, hardwork & persistence.
Both me & my sons were eagerly waiting to see him & were still talking about him on our journey to the IOI Mall in Putrajaya, where he was expected to attend the fan session schedule for 1.00pm. The moment we reached the shopping complex, we immediately went & standby at the area for his signature. There wasn’t much of a crowd since Malaysia is not known for Serie A fans. Nevertheless it didn’t deter me from taking these moments away from me.
I was standing first in the row & was waiting anxiously for 30 mins before he came for his promotion activity & meet the fans session. When they called me to go up for his signature, I felt goose bumps across my body which I felt when I first saw my wife when I was 17 years old. I gave him the french letters paper for his reading. He took it, read it & gave a smirk smile perhaps reminding him the very thing which made him a legend in that black & white jersey. He handshake me & I took a picture with him.
My sons followed behind & they also handshake him before taking a photo with him. After the session, I felt very happy, joyful that not only am I able to see him but share these experiences with my wife & sons. Football has always taught us the values of professionalism, passion for glory and determination but rarely there is a story related to loyalty in the modern games.
I’m glad that I was able to witness loyalty in the flesh and introduce an example of these values to my sons as well. Even back in 2006, when a couple of radio deejays of a local football talk show mocked me on air when I told them that I support Juventus (even offered me RM10 to change my club), it didn't deter my love for the La Vecchia Signora.
Once again, thank you David Trezeguet for everything. God bless you.
Note from padangbolasepak.com: During the Restriction Movement Order 2020 Malaysia to combat Covid19 - Padangbolasepak.com encourages you from home to write essays about our beloved game of football. Can be anything. Why you fell in love with it? Your first game watching or playing? Friendships forged? Etc. Stars the limit.
500-1,000 / more words.
The objective is simple. Sharing the joy of football. Challenge you to write about the joy you may want to share. As well as keep you occupied and encourage to write. Provided that you have nothing else to do. Email us your essay with a photo attached at contact@padangbolasepak.com & we’ll post on the website as well on social media.
Thank you and take care brothers and sisters.