Alessandero Del Piero. Source: AP
YOU wouldn't blame Ante Covic if he had gone to bed on Saturday night with the sight of Alessandro Del Piero still seared on his mind.
The Western Sydney goalkeeper must have felt like it was raining bombs after being subjected to a barrage of dead-ball and open-play situations from Del Piero during Sydney FC's historic 1-0 win over the Wanderers in the first A-League Sydney derby at Parramatta Stadium.
Despite jokingly suggesting during the week that he would tell his teammates not to give away silly free kicks within striking range of the Italian football legend, Covic was still forced to endure a number of nervous moments as the Wanderers tempted fate.
Generally, the highly experienced 37-year-old dealt with the danger superbly and it was only bad luck that prevented him from earning the bragging rights from his duel with the highest-profile player in the national competition.
The bad luck came in the second half when Del Piero drew a penalty after making three defenders look foolish. He calmly and precisely slotted home the penalty inside the right post after sending the diving Covic the wrong way, only for referee Strebre Delovski to order it be retaken because a Sydney player had encroached in the area.
This time Del Piero opted to go to Covic's right. While he didn't strike it properly, Covic did well to get down to his right to block it.
Unfortunately for him, the ball rebounded to the Italian and his years of experience kicked in. Where a player of lesser class would have fired off a first-time shot, Del Piero had the presence of mind and coolness to control the ball then put it in the back of the net with his left foot.
Covic said he had already made up his mind which way to go for the retake.
"On the first take I tried to wait as long as possible, but he sold it well and he definitely got me," Covic said. "The second one was more of a mental thing.
"I promised myself I would go the same side again. I just had a feeling he was going to try and shift sides. Having said that, I pushed a bit too hard. His shot was not the best and it came a bit behind me and I couldn't direct it where I wanted.
"I only got the job half done and it went back to him perfectly.
"He finished it off like the class player he is."
Still, Covic was thankful Del Piero had an off day with his free kicks. The Sydney attacker brought the house down last week with a brilliantly taken dead-ball effort against Newcastle and he had about three or four chances to replicate it on Saturday night.
Probably his best effort was a long-range bomb from nearly 40m. His attempt curled towards the left post and was only centimetres over the bar.
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