Partner still waiting for his call-up

Forget learning anything - the highlight of a trip by Berwin Leighton Paisner partner Ian De Freitas to the Union Inter-nationale des Avocats conference in Turin the other week was playing in a football match between a Juventus XI and a UIA team, held at the Stadio Comunale, Juve's old ground and now its training stadium.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view, the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedved and Lillian Thuram were away on international duty, which probably explains why the UIA team only lost 3-1 in a 60-minute game (although, curiously, the official Juve Web site bumped up its team's win to 5-0).

Mr De Freitas, a defender, marked 1970s Italian legend Roberto Bettega, now vice-president of the club, and says that 'even at that age, he was pretty good'.

But not so good that Mr Bettega was able to score, we should point out.

Like any football fan under 40, Mr De Freitas, who is 33, still harbours hopes of being thrust on to the global football stage, but his plan to impress current Juve manager Marcelo Lippi failed abysmally.

'I couldn't get near him,' he sighs.

Oh well, if he doesn't manage to make it to the World Cup, there's always the firm's five-a-side competition.