Brave Del Piero sets an example

Schwarzer, who plays for Fulham in the English Premier League, said that high-profile Socceroos become easy targets for the knockers if they choose to terminate their careers in the A-League.

The goalkeeper cited as an example striker John Aloisi's experience in his first season for Sydney FC when he was crucified by fans and the media after a series of indifferent performances.

Basically 100-cap Schwarzer said that Socceroos stars had too much to lose by coming home.

Fellow Socceroos star Tim Cahill recently declared that playing in the A-League had never crossed his mind because it would have been a step backwards after quitting Everton to sign for New York Red Bulls.

Interestingly, Socceroos stalwarts Harry Kewell, Brett Emerton, Craig Moore, Jason Culina and Tony Popovic did not share these views and all played in the A-League.

Schwarzer and Cahill nonetheless are to be respected for their stance, mainly because what they said was predominantly true.

They probably had different circumstances or priorities to those of the above and quite frankly where they choose to play is their business, no pun intended.

Their views, however, make Italian striker Alessandro Del Piero's brave decision to trade the bright lights of European football for Australia all the more extraordinary and commendable.

Del Piero is a genuine superstar of the world game and the finest player to grace the A-League if you disregard Brazilian striker Romario's brief guest appearance for Adelaide United in 2006-2007 which was a blatant publicity stunt.

At 37, "Il Pinturicchio" is past his peak but he was good enough to help his club Juventus win the Serie A championship undefeated only a few months ago before he was cut loose by the Turin giant when his contract was up.

His reputation, stature and popularity are still as high as ever yet he had no qualms about risking everything by going to the other side of the world to play in a league he knows very little about and alongside players he probably has not heard of, except Emerton.

The carrot of a reported salary of two million dollars a season would have been quite appealing even for a man of his wealth.

But in the stratosphere that the likes of Del Piero live in, money is never the be all and end all. It's mainly about image.

Del Piero knows that he faces a stiff challenge to be successful in Sydney's colours and must realise that questions will be asked and comparisons will be made if he has a couple of disappointing displays.

Yet he is courageous enough to undertake this journey into the unknown when he has a lot to lose by coming here.

Australia could become his fatal shore.

One sincerely hopes that Del Piero's two-year stay among us will be remembered and cherished for a long time by one and all.

There's a lot riding on Sydney's sensational coup.

If Del Piero's stint is successful and the club recoups its considerable outlay, the whole episode would prove beyond doubt that it is not fanciful any more for Australian football to have wild dreams.

A Del Piero bonanza might encourage reluctant club owners to dip into their pockets and bring other big stars to the A-League.

Who knows, it might also entice more high-profile Aussies abroad to follow Del Piero's example and come home.