Juventus extends Del Piero's contract to 2010 07:55, October 18, 2007

ROME: Juventus has extended captain 's contract by two years until 2010, the club announced on Tuesday.

"Today we have achieved an important result for the future of Juventus," chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc told the club's Web site (www.juventus.com).

"The agreement with Del Piero confirms our ambition and our faith in the absolute value of a player who will continue to put his experience at the service of the team and millions of fans."

The new deal with the Turin club comes after lengthy negotiations. At one stage, the club's sporting director Alessio Secco said Juventus risked losing its all-time top scorer.

It rewards the striker, whose contract was due to expire at the end of this season, for sticking with Juve when they were relegated to last year because of a match-fixing scandal and helping them bounce straight back to the top flight.

"Today I made a key choice for my career and my life," Del Piero said. "Juventus have given me a lot and I want to continue to win here".

Del Piero made his Serie A debut with Juventus at age 18 in 1993 after joining the club from Padova.

Since then he has won five Italian titles and the Champions League with the team.

The forward, who turns 33 next month, was a member of Italy's World Cup-winning squad and has scored 27 international goals.

But he is not the player he once was and was dropped by Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni after a lackluster performance in the goalless Euro 2008 qualifying draw against France last month.

"Source: China Daily/Agencies"