You did not have to be fluent in body language to discern the torments Alessandro Del Piero underwent in the aftermath of Italy's Euro 2000 Final despair.

	Alessandro del Piero: Devastated by his two missed chances in Rotterdam (GChadwick/Allsport)

Crushed and crestfallen, the golden boy of Italian football slumped to the ground in Rotterdam's De Kuip stadium, mortified at the consequence of his own incompetence.

The two chances that Del Piero squandered to allow France's astonishing comeback triumph will haunt him for the rest of his career, and the tirades that rang down from the ever-demanding Italian media yesterday are just the beginning.

What is unclear is how, at 25, the Juventus striker will respond. His words last night suggested he may find it difficult to exorcise the demons of his own mind.

'We all feel pain, but mine is so much greater than my teammates because I was the one who had the two chances to score the second goal,' he said.

'I am gutted by what happened. I know that I should've scored at least one and that if I'd taken one of them the outcome of the match would've been totally changed.

'The second one (when he was played in by substitute Massimo Ambrosini five minutes from time) was even more clear- cut and I know I should've scored.

'I tried to keep the ball on the ground and as low as possible, because I could see (Fabien) Barthez was coming out. He made a great save with his boot but I know it was my fault.'

The personal nature of Del Piero's anguish was clear, even though coach Dino Zoff and his team-mates refused to condemn him.

He added: 'We have done some great things in this tournament but nobody can think about that now. The disappointment is just too great for all of us.

'The truth is that we switched off at the death and paid the price. I simply cannot forgive myself.

'At the end Zinedine Zidane tried to console me. I appreciated that from a club-mate and it was good of him.

'But the truth is that, every time I close my eyes, all I see are the two chances I failed to take.'

The brutal simplicity of Del Piero's words encapsulated his heartbreak but it seems that this is a defining moment in the previously ever-upwards path of his footballing life.

Since he emerged on the Serie A stage as a teenage prodigy, everything at Juventus and with the Azzurri has revolved around him, with the Turin club happy to spend a staggering £70,000 per week to make him the highest-paid player in the world.

But money cannot buy everything, certainly not form, and he has demonstrated only glimpses of his best since returning from the major knee operation he had in the 1998-99 season.

Last term, despite being billed - alongside Zidane - as the key man for Juve, he was able to contribute only one Serie A goal from open play. With the poor performances have come a sustained criticism that he had never been subjected to previously and, given the unforgiving nature of Italian football, the only certainty is that it will now intensify.

Del Piero's agent and friend Claudio Pasqualin conceded last night that the pressures were set to grow - and that even he was unsure of the player's response.

Pasqualin said: 'Now Alessandro will have to learn how to get through the criticism. He must accept that everybody will put him on the spot, and it is up to him to cope.'

Del Piero is strong-willed, as evidenced by the desire within him to return after the operation.

Yet there was a fatalism about his response to the latest downturn in his career, coming on the back of Juventus surrendering the Serie A crown to Lazio on the final day of the Italian domestic season in May. The feeling persisted that the pre-injury Del Piero would have taken the chances without an instant's hesitation.

Del Piero said: 'For now, all I can think about is the European Championships, although I still can't forget how we lost the Scud-etto.

'They said we were a lucky team but everybody saw our luck in the final.'

Fate does play cruel tricks and on Sunday night Del Piero had reason to believe the gods were deliberately conspiring against him. What they give, they also take away.

It is a moment of truth and only Del Piero can provide the answers. Now he must dig deeper into his character to prove to himself that he is able to recover. If not, he may never be the same player again.