When La Vecchia Signora lifed her first Scudetto in six years, the glory of the immediate things: the trophy; the Italian flag etched upon the zebrette stripes; the manager; the Pirlo, were all reveled in by us all. Not knowing these things were results, not causes. Results, not causes; results, not causes.
The causes lay deep and simply - the cause was a hunger in a stomach, multiplied a million times; a hunger in a single soul, hunger for joy and some security, multiplied a million times; muscles and mind aching to grow, to work, to create, multiplied a million times. This incipient churning stomach, soul, muscles and mind, all belonged to the man who had the honour of lifting the Scudetto trophy on that joyous day; the man who, from the ashes of Calciopoli, went on to become calcio's perpetual conveyance of Manself - Alessandro Del Piero.
Calciopoli emerged whilst Alessandro Del Piero was on the verge of reaching the pinnacle of his international career. Winning the FIFA World Cup in 2006 proved to be Del Piero's greatest achievement as a footballer; but unlike his fellow ItalJuve teammates (Cannavaro, Zambrotta etc.), Del Piero grew beyond his World Cup winner's medal. Rather than taking it for a symbol of a newfound status in football's social scale, Ale strived for more. For Del Piero, unlike Cannavaro and Zambrotta, grew beyond his work, walked up the stairs of his concepts, emerged ahead of his footballing achievements. Whilst demotion was viewed as a full step backwards by other players who believed it was necessary to capitalise on their new "world champion" tag, Ale viewed it as a half step backwards, and felt that it was necessary to help his club stumble forward after Calciopoli.
With eight words, Alessandro Del Piero became the zygote of a new Juventus: "Guys, if you need me, I am here."
By uttering the words, "I am here", Ale united the Juventini, made every person who has ever said, "I support Juventus", realise that Calcipoli was not a full step backwards for the club, it was only half a step; it was never a full step. It was made explicit that the Bianconeri would have to reach, and stumble forward, mistakingly sometimes, but that they would do so together. The Juventini could say this and know it and know it.
This was the beginning - from "I" to "we".
The cell split. Buffon, Nedved, Trezeguet and Camoranesi all declared loyalty to La Vecchia Signora. Del Piero's "I am here", became "we are here". From there the cell split into a still more dangerous thing. From only a little multiplication, the primary cause of Juve's recent success was formed.
In the club's first season outside of the top flight, Juventus took their first step forward. The assistance of Del Piero allowed Juventus to stride forward under a beginning change.
Serie B was the stage on which Ale showed the quality that is the foundation of Manself, the quality which makes Del Piero distinctive in calcio - the willingness to suffer and sacrifice oneself for a cause or a concept.
After winning the Serie B title, and the Capocannoneire; Juventus and Alessandro Del Piero once again strived for the next step. La Vecchia Signora and Del Piero made a triumphant return to the Serie A in 2007, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League and winning the Capocannoneire once again. Whilst Cannavaro and Zambrotta failed to recapture their past successes; Del Piero had bettered himself, become the symbol of the new Juve, and the perpetual conveyance of Manself.
Juventus strode even further forward in 2008, finishing 2nd in the Serie A, and defeating Real Madrid in the Bernabéu courtesy of a masterclass from Ale. Del Piero, unlike in his early years at Juventus, took something from these successes, and ached to create beyond the single need. Due to his circumstances (age, past injury problems etc.), Del Piero's achievements were savored by the Juventini and Ale himself, and clear lines of forming the belief that adversity was little more than a mindset, were taken.
In the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons, La Vecchia Signora stumbled. Two consecutive seventh placed finishes in the Serie A were perceived as being full steps back; however, Del Piero prevented this. The breaking of both the Juventus appearances and goal scoring records in this period proved that the stumbling forward ache was still alive.
"When a fence comes up at ya, ya gonna climb that fence." (Tom Joad)
Every goal Alessandro Del Piero scored was proof that Lo Stile Juve had not died, and that the step was being taken. Alessandro ached to push the club forward in these difficult years; gave the Juventini something to be proud of; and became a beacon of hope that an orgastic future was right around the corner.
Then in the summer of 2011, with the arrival of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal, and Antonio Conte, this orgastic future became plausible.
Everything that Del Piero had worked for since Calciopoli paid diffidence, as Juventus won their first Scudetto since the scandal tarnished his Signora's reputation, and did so without losing a single game. However, the contribution Ale had made over those six years was belittled by the board, through their refusal to offer their captain a new contract. Agnelli failed to see that Pirlo, Vidal and Conte were results, not causes. Results, not causes; results, not causes. And that Del Piero's virtuosic ability to rise above perturbation was a key reason why Juventus were able to recover from Calciopoli.
Due to the recent influx of money in football, Alessandro Del Piero is one of the few players who has instilled the foundations of Manself into their careers over the past number of years. We fear a time when the loyalty in calcio fades while the great owners live - the time when Manself will not suffer and sacrifice for a cause or concept. For now however, we can revel in the glory of calcio's perfect manifestation of Manself, and the sacrifices he made between 2006 and 2012. Grazie Capitano.
Note: language and concepts used in this article were derived from chapter 14 of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath".