Del Piero pays tribute to fellow veteran Totti

Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero paid tribute to Roma counterpart Francesco Totti ahead of the pair's meeting in the Italian Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday. Totti broke the single club Serie A scoring record at the weekend when his two goals in Roma's 5-1 demolition of Cesena took his tally to 211 for the Giallorossi. That surpassed Swede Gunnar Nordahl's 210 mark for AC Milan set in the 1950s. Del Piero himself is Juve's all-time leading goalscorer, although he is a little way behind Totti in the Serie A scoring charts with 185. "What Francesco has done is extraordinary, 211 goals with the same shirt, he deserves it," said Del Piero before looking forward to the game. "We expect an important commitment in the Italian Cup against Roma. We all want to do well and to give our maximum because it's an important objective for us." Juventus are top of the league and unbeaten this season at the halfway point, giving Del Piero hope of adding a sixth Scudetto to his trophy collection. "Being winter champions doesn't mean anything, what matters is being ahead at the end," he said. "We're all agreed on this but we can say that it's better to be top at the halfway stage rather than behind. We're satisfied with what we've achieved but we won't be letting up."