Former Juventus Star David Trezeguet Talks His Favourite Teammates And Hardest Opponents

Ex-Juventus striker David Trezeguet has claimed his spell with the Old Lady made him ‘mentally stronger’ and helped him to become a ‘winner’.

The Frenchman recalls the fact former teammates would continue to train after sessions played a crucial part in him becoming a complete player further down the line.

During his ten seasons in Turin between 2000 and 2010, the French international trained alongside some of the games greatest in former players Pavel Nedvěd, current Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero. He also shared a dressing room with Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon, both of who remain at Juve to this day, and the latter is set to put pen-to-paper on yet another new deal.

Surprisingly, Trezeguet started his career with Argentinian-based club Club Atlético Platense. His parents being Argentinian, he moved back to South America from France before joining the club aged eight. He progressed through their youth academy and eventually made just five appearances for the senior side before moving back to his homeland joining Monaco in 1995.

It was from the French giants he made the move to Juventus and became a prolific goalscorer, netting 123 goals in 214 Serie A appearances. Trezeguet even continued at the club when they were relegated to Serie B following the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal in 2006.

“At Juve, I learned to always want to win and be a protagonist. The Italian one is the toughest league of all for the attackers. I was impressed to see many players of the highest level, such as Del Piero, Zidane, stopping after training to improve”, he said in an interview with Sky Calcio Club.

During his time with the Old Lady, the World Cup winner with France on home soil in 1998, recalled some of the toughest battles he had faced with opposing defenders, especially from rivals AC Milan and Lazio.

He stated: “In Serie A there were people like [Paolo] Maldini and [Alessandro] Costacurta, who were certainly very aggressive defenders, but the worst pair was that of Lazio with Fernando Couto and [Sinisa] Mihajlovic.

“I worked a lot on the mental approach of the defenders, I was talking so much with [Ciro] Ferrara, [Paolo] Montero and [Mark] Iuliano. They told me where the defenders could be wrong and their suggestions fueled my growth”.

On the international stage, Trezeguet scored 34 goals in 71 appearances, which included his all-important goal against Italy in the final of Euro 2000 which helped his nation to the international double.

He did, however, miss his sides spot-kick in the 2006 World Cup in Germany as his nation were knocked out by Italy, who managed to get revenge. That year was also Calciopoli, and Trezeguet revealed it was a difficult time in his stellar career.

“Until then, it had not been a very fun World Cup for me. This is the year when Juve was relegated to Serie B.

“I took my responsibilities. Each penalty has its own story. The one against Buffon, I hit it well, but unfortunately, that’s how it was. These difficulties made me stronger, more mentally strong.”

Now 42, the Frenchman eventually hung up his boots in 2014 after finishing his career in the Indian Super League with Pune City. Before his brief stint in India, he headed back to Argentina, where his career started, featuring for both River Plate and Newell’s Old Boys. 

Trezeguet continues to follow Juve closely and will be continuing to rally his team on when the Serie A season returns after the coronavirus pandemic. He will be hoping his former employers can not only claim a ninth successive Scudetto but also overcome Lyon in the last-16 of the Champions League to progress to the quarter-finals.