Western Sydney Wanderers marquee signing Shinji Ono has revealed that he has already come across Alessandro Del Piero on the football pitch.
The Japanese midfielder recently joined the newest A-League franchise and is gearing up for the 2012/13 season which pits the Wanderers against Del Piero and his new Sydney FC teammates in round three later in October.
Ono met Del Piero in UEFA Champions League action a few years back and says he respects the Italian great so much he even asked for his playing shirt.
"I play against Alessandro when I played for Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League," he revealed. "I think the first game was 1-1 and away we lost 3-1.
"I remember because after the game I changed shirts with him. I respect him. He's a fantastic player."
