Maryam Al Shamsi
ABU DHABI // They may be outsiders tonight to take down Barcelona, but UAE-based Juventus fans are hopeful their side can cause an upset and win the Uefa Champions League.
Hesham Badri, 24, who has supported the Italian club since he was eight, believes the performances of Arturo Vidal, Claudio Marchisio and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will be vital to the Serie A champions’ hopes of a first Champions League crown since 1996 in Berlin on Saturday.
“Vidal is great at intercepting balls and he can be crucial when stopping Messi,” he said. “I think he is the guy that has to mark Messi. Marchisio is our back bone of our midfield without him it wouldn’t work.
“Buffon’s performance has been really good for the team as well.”
Badri’s love affair with Juventus began after seeing Alessandro Del Piero in action at the World Cup finals in 1998 playing for Italy in France.
Del Piero was a Juventus player and Badri said: “If it wasn’t for Del Piero I would not have supported Juventus.
“I saw Del Piero with the Italian team, he amazed me, I liked him a lot, then I saw which team he plays for and decided to support Juventus.”
Badr Al Saeedi, 23, who is such a passionate Juventus fan that his friends affectionately call him “Juve” as his nickname, said he is not focused on the threat of Barcelona, rather on his own team.
“I am not worried about Barca, I am worried about my team,” he said.
Juventus surprised Real Madrid in the semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate last month, something that ensured Al Saeedi was in for a sleepless night.
“I did not sleep, I stayed online on social media such as Twitter, reading and discussing about the match,” he said.
“I was too happy not to stay awake, I did not even attend my University the next day.”
Being a Juventus fan has not always been easy in recent years, with the club having been demoted to Serie B in 2006 after being found guilty in an investigation into the rigging of matches in Italy of influencing Italian football officials to give them favourable referees in games.
But Tariq Falaknaz, 30, said he had never any intention of abandoning the Turin side and quoted former French and Manchester United forward Eric Cantona, who had once said: “You can change your wife, your politics, your religion, but never, never can you change your favourite football team.”
malshamsi@thenational.ae
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