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Home  » Sports » Trezeguet gives Juventus hope

Trezeguet gives Juventus hope

January 20, 2003 15:36 IST
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Juventus striker David Trezeguet put his injury-plagued season behind him as he struck a hat-trick in the Italian champions 4-1 win at Chievo in Serie A on Sunday.

French international Trezeguet was joint top scorer in Italy last season but has struggled with a knee injury for most of this campaign.

His return to form has boosted Juve who move back into the thick of the title race with a win over Chievo, who they were level on points with before the clash at the Bentegodi stadium.

"It was a great match, a great performance from us," Trezeguet told reporters after the game.

Trezeguet had opened the scoring from close range in the 11th minute and then scored Juve's third with a confident, powerful strike in the 68th minute before a late penalty completed an impressive personal and team performance.

"It was a very important win for us. Important to find our faith in ourselves. We were up against a good side who were level with us in the table and we put them in difficulty straight away with two early goals," said Trezeguet.

"The coach (Marcello Lippi) has asked us to be more attentive and have a bit more bite about our play and I think we showed that here. We need to keep that in our mind.

"Personally I am feeling much better. I am still a bit short of my best physically as I felt very tired towards the end of the game and I know I need to work hard to get back to 100 percent.

"I have been out of action for practically six months but I feel calm now. There is no pain in the knee anymore and that is reassuring,"

Lippi said he was pleased with his team's position at the halfway stage of the season.

"We have more points than we had this time last year, when we won the scudetto" said Lippi. "And we have had to play half the season without players like Trezeguet and (Croatian utility man Igor) Tudor.

"Now we will start to see the real Juventus".

Juve were awarded three penalties in the game with Del Piero converting one and then missing another before Trezeguet's late spot-kick.

But Chievo coach Luigi Del Neri declined to comment on the performance of referee Salvatore Racalbuto, who also sent off Chievo's German striker Oliver Bierhoff for dissent.

Del Neri said he did not see the first two Juventus goals due to the heavy fog that descended on the pitch during the first half but was pleased with the way his side performed.

"We lost in the right way. It is a heavy defeat and it is hard to judge a game like that. We conceded two early goals in the mist and it is hard to come back against a team like Juventus.

"They played better and we suffered from their strength," said Del Neri.

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Source: REUTERS
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