Alessandro Del Piero's freekick wizardry is now so intimidating it brings a pre-kick hush to stadiums like Brazil legend Zico did in the 1980s, Juventus Chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli said Monday.
''I can only remember silence like that before Zico stepped up to the ball,'' Cobolli Gigli said, describing the atmosphere in Chievo's ground before Del Piero opened the scoring with a top-corner bender like the one he scored against Real Madrid in midweek.
After the match, Del Piero, 34, was asked how long he planned on playing.
''Another 20 years? That would be nice. But I definitely intend to be around another six or seven''.
Del Piero has now scored 249 goals for Juventus, 40 of them from free kicks.
On Sunday he equalled Italy legend Gaetano Scirea's tally of 377 appearances for Juve and now only Giampiero Boniperti stands before him on 444.
Coach Claudio Ranieri said: ''Alex does things that are out of this world.''.
The 2-0 win at Chievo lifted Juve to 21 points, joint fifth with Udinese who lost at Inter Milan thanks to a last-minute goal from Argentina striker Julio Cruz.
Inter are top again on 24 points, a point ahead of AC Milan, who were pegged back 1-1 at the last minute at Lecce, and Napoli, who beat Sampdoria 2-0.
Lazio are a point ahead of Juve and Udinese after beating Siena 3-0.
The top eight, down to Genoa and Fiorentina in joint seventh, are separated by four points.
