Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro said Tuesday he was sure he would win over the fans who have protested against his return to Juventus from Real Madrid.
Cannavaro, 35, upset the Juve faithful when he left for Madrid in 2006 when the Turin giants were relegated after the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.
Other 2006 World Cup winners like Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi, as well as Czech star Pavel Nedved, stayed in Turin and helped Juve straight back to the top flight.
A small group of supporters have booed Cannavaro's name at recent games after his imminent return was announced.
On Monday it became official that the 2006 European and World Player of the Year was joining Juve on a one-year contract starting July 1.
''I'm sure I'll be able to convince even the most sceptical with the hard work, professionalism and passion with which I will tackle this new adventure,'' Cannavaro said in a statement Tuesday.
''I'm sorry that hard feelings (still) predominate among a section of the fans over appreciation of the glorious seasons we spent together''.
Cannavaro, the only defender to be named FIFA World Player of the Year, spent two seasons at Juve from 2004 to 2006 and won two Serie A titles but they were revoked because of Calciopoli.
Juventus Sporting Director Alessio Secco rejected criticism of Cannavaro Tuesday, saying: ''He's a world champion, a European Footballer of the Year and a tremendous leader in the dressing room''.
''We are sure his contribution will make Juventus more competitive''.
As well as Cannavaro, third-placed Juve are expected to shortly sign Werder Bremen's Brazil playmaker Diego in an effort to compete more closely with steamroller Inter.
RANIERI SACKED.
On Monday the club sacked coach Claudio Ranieri and appointed youth team manager Ciro Ferrara, a former defensive standout for the club, as caretaker for the last two games of the season
Juve have suffered a seven-game winless run that dropped it behind second-placed AC Milan and allowed fourth-placed Fiorentina to close to within a point of the last automatic Champions League place.
Ferrara, a former Italy defender who was also coaching assistant to World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi, quipped on getting the job: ''I'll be asking the players for seven points but I'll settle for six''.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti and Bari coach Antonio Conte have been linked to the job for next season.
Ranieri was only the third coach sacked in Juve history, and only the second in 40 years.
His axing has been widely criticised as betraying the so-called 'Juventus style' which was seen as marking the club out from rivals.
Ranieri took over the club on its return to Serie A in 2007 and was widely praised after it notched an unexpected third place.
It went on to compete closely with champions Inter Milan for most of the season, while beating Real Madrid twice in the Champions League and meeting Ranieri's old club Chelsea in the last 16, where some observers thought it unlucky to lose.
But performances fell noticeably in the last two months amid injuries and rumours of locker room rumblings.
The club issued sometimes conflicting statements about Ranieri's future but as recently as Sunday, after a 2-2 home draw with 11th-placed Atalanta, the coach said he was ''99% sure'' of keeping his job.
Inter's recent clinching of the scudetto put it level on 17 titles with AC Milan, ten behind Juve.
