Andrea Pirlo

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wouldargue that thereis no analysts thanPirlo. element moreimportant to Withall due respect suchas Baggio, Alessandro Piero Del and Roberto it is at leastarguable thatJuventus have playmaker the of has quality, not hada genuine really means if a player real is, quality Pirlo since mid{980s days the it of then, real substance, intheend, will of Michel Platini. Fittingly, goalwhich the through. show point sentJuve theirwayto a 2-0 winover on reached midway the AsJuventus on Serie title contest out Atalanta matchday19 camefromyet A of thisseason's as Pirlo'assist" he laidon his in frontat the top of the tableanda point another precision for Swiss pass champions Milan there stock-in-trade clearof reigning Lichtsteiner s that was defender Stephan waseveryindication Pirlosclass goal. opening and shining through, strong bright. aspect Pirlo's to manyfactors Oneextraordinary There obviously are proofthat not career that he is living is in the currentJuve success storymidfielder Claudio justone,but rathertwo,of the biggest Conte, coachAntonio goalkeeper Buffon, can clubnames worldfootball get it in Gigi even Marchisio, wrong. aretalking We aboutthe Milan newstadium but most the club's expression f everthat curious ltalian "La closse d acqua',literally non "class notwater", could is meaning well to it be applied a footballer might Whatthe saying be to Andrea Pirlo.

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Pirlo Andrea
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Inter Internazionale Milan. cousins, and got it wrong ago morethan10years Pirlo when theyletthe 21-year-old leave, heading frrstly Brescia ultimately for but for Milan a decade success. and of that Many would suggest, howevel Milan gotit wrong summer last also forJuventus when theylethimleave on an out-of-contract transfer. free season that Afteran injury-interrupted

just sawhimmake 17appearances that in Serie it wasunderstandable A, about Milan mighthave hadreservations have won Pirlo. might He 32-year-old League two a World Cup, Champions in A titles twoSerie titles histime and and at the SanSrrobutinluries age rightfrom wereagainst Howeve; him. game theseason early in of theopenrng beat Seotember, Juventus Parma when

thatMilan had it 4-1 at home, wasclear mistake. madea serious 'A player hislevel ability, he of and Juve wasthe slgning the centur/'said of goalkeeper witha laugh after Buffon "watching play I today, him thatgame. it because issimply thought exists God I embarrassrng goodhe is.When met how Adriano] Galliani director managing IMilan to I thanks him durino summensaid the

with FilippoInzaghi Mar 30, 2002 - celebrates (right) after scoringhis flrst goal for Milanin a 3{ win againstParmaat the San Siro.
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Ar gpod6 itgBts... holdingthe World Cupafter beating in France 2006

whichMilan were length a nq,vcontract of or werenot willing offerPirlo. to that It is possible, course, if Pirlo of more wasa different, moreflamboyant, playe[ then more'sexy" media-friendly, Milan wouldhavehada lot moredifftculty letting him go astheywouldhave The fan encountered serious resistance. pointaboutPirlo, is though, thatfor all hisremarkable he success, hasdonea job veryeffective of keeping low profile. a he Basically, he is off the field, is when no off the radar. latenights, drugsor No marriage betting scandals, high-profile no break-up, controversial interviews, TV no no involvement politics. football. in Just room "l restrict to myself the dressing andto the pitch, thosearemy boundariesl he toldLa Stompo oneof hisrare in "l'm interviews summen not interested last

else. don'tlikedoing I in anything I don'tlikegoingon TV interviews, programmes. not havea Facebook I do pageand I do not chaton Twittendon't I evenif thereare people have website, a one in my name, who haveopened with my photo..l complete List of priorities would Backin the dayswhenreporters Milanello training descend uponMilanb featured highon their centre, Pirlonever listof priorities. wasnot that Pirlowas lt playen wasrather it not an important knewalltoo wellthat,in his everyone way, seemingly taciturn, understated Pirlo TV wouldnot makefor exciting footage. admits Notfor nothing, Pirlohimself made that one of the few comments likes one is abouthimthat he actuallv

id*i*&i*rld+*,t'i$ andtold himthat he really tryingto is evenuDthe titlecontest: Morerecently, England manager Fabio himself formercoach both a Capello, of expressed same the Milan Juventus, and of Afterwatching 2-0 the sense disbelief. winoverAtalanta, Capello observed of Pirlo:'l'm amazed Milan himgo. that let I stilldon'tunderstand it. 'Youcan always it wrong get when you're a buying playefbut not whenyou one gol areletting ButformerInterand ltalydefender Giuseppe Bergomi seesit differently, believing evenif halfof ltalynow that, of it seesthe departure Pirloasa mistake, playmaker is alsotruethathisdeep-lying roledid not fit easily the Milan into scheme things, envisaged coach of as by Massimiliano Allegri. topof that,there On maywell havebeenproblems aboutthe

May28, 2003 - collects trst Champions his League trophy aftera 0-0 draw asMilan beatJuventus penalties on Final Manchester. in in the all-ltalian ?. ir. ' y c I f I ? o o : ? . i -T

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was significant inthatit saw a one Marcello side LippiS consolidate their qualifying 5, hold European on Group smoothing path the through the to Germany finals summer 2006 next get When if ltaly there, it is and too, alltooprobable noplayer that Totti, Buffon, NesA Zambrotta and included, willbemore crucial theltalian to cause Pirlol than The of course, history.until rest, is ll then, allfootball worldwide not fans had registered low-profile hewas the Pirlo, hard ignore Germany. of the to in Man match ltaly's in opening against win Ghana, semi-final their against Germany andinthevictorious against Final France, Pirlo oneof thekey was elementsthat in World triumph. Cup game The against Scotland the previous had year served convince to Lippithat could he build midfield his around creative of Pirlo. the skills Yet theremarkable about isthat, thing Pirlo prodigiously although talented,took it himsome time to establish his position. ideal Even before he made Serie his A debut May in 1995 for Brescia,a 2-0 in years byhisWorld just fromseven ago away defeat Reggiana twodays by Cup-winning coach, ltaly Marcello Lippi, after 16th his birthday, news the about 'Pirlo whotoldLa Repubblico: is a silent Pirlo already This had was out. boy two great andcould theball put leader the pitch. feet do the on His feet wherever talking himl for hewanted, hewas average but of height Lippi made comment that andnotvery Howeve[ was fast. such his immediately a 2-0 World after Cup reputation in November Inter that, 1995, qualifying over win game Scotland the at invited to play a training just him in San in March Siro 2005,inwhich both to geta good at him. look goals come Italy had fromhallmark Inter clearly thelook what liked of years Pirlo free-kick. Analysing particular they butit took that saw them three to performance, Soccer World concluded: buyhimfromBrescia.hindsight, In Pirlo's 'ltaly's victory Scotland have over may move thesummer 1998 in of could not been alltoopredictable butit an result, have come a worse at moment. first That

June 2004 - PirloandChristian 22, Vieri(right)are dejected ltaly crashout of Euro2004 in Portugnl as despite winning their lastgroupmatch agninst Bulgaria.

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year season Interwasthe infamous at whenfour coaches cameandwentin quick fashion: Gigi first Simoni, then Romania's Mircea Lucescu, reserve then coachLuciano Castellini, finally and Roy Hodgson. roundmattersoff,by the To beginning the following of season, there wasa fifth manin charge, with Lippi drafted to replace in Hodgson. In the chaos the firstseason, of Pirlo just got a littlelost,making 18 first-team appearances.the second In season, it got worsesinceLippicouldseeno role for him andadvised to accept him a loanmoveto Reggina, wherehe hadan excellent campaign. Backat base the for 2000-01 season, Marco with Tardelli now

in charge, wasagainloaned this he out, timeto hisold clubBrescia. loan The wasmadeeventhoughTardelli knewhim well,having coached ltalysidewhich, the muchinspired Pirlo, just wonthe by had 2000 European Under-2lChampionship. Themove, though, turnedout to be a luckybreak Pirlo. for Brescia's coach in thosedays wasCarlo Mazzone. He already Roberto had Baggio histeam in position so he needed findanother to for Pirlo. a March In 2001 Serie game A at hometo Lazio, played as a central Earlyrcward...a he him European Under-2| defensive midfielden in frontof the right Championship defence withthe mandate make but to winner in 2(XXl position. the playfromthat deep-lying Even thismighthavebeenthe if

beginning whatBrazilian of coachCarlos Parreira memorably defined Pirlob as "Zico-in-f ront-of-the-defence" Inter role, werenot convinced. the endof the At season, for reasons and bestknown to themselves, optedto tradePirlo Inter for Milan's Argentinian midfielder Andreas Guglielminpietro. Whenhe got to Milan, Pirlosoon realised with players that suchas Portugal's Costa, Rui Brazil's Rivaldo and Clarence Seedorf Holland of around, therewasalready glut of a talented, attacking midfielders. During pre-season training, coachCarlo Ancelotti wasstruggling the sameconundrum with whenPirlohimself cameup witha solution. Whynot try out the Brescia tactical solution, usedso successfully alongside Baggio? Namely, drophim deep in midfield, frontof the defence still in but withthe playmaking brief. It workedbetterthanAncelotti had everimagined. positional The switch playPirlodeep, allowed Ancelottito with

May25, 2005 - a nre penalty miss Milan as loseto Liverpool penalties the Champions on in League Finalafter being3-0 up at half-time.
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Seedorf theright Gennaro on and Gattuso theleft,andwithRuiCosta on or playing Rivaldo behind front the men. Not surprisingly,Seedorf-Pirlo-Gattuso the trioremainedquintessential a element in winning sides thenext Milan over decade. Pirlo often Untilthen, had been labelled a'luxury item", playmaker a to bediscarded hisside introuble. when was Never again. Years looking on latet back hisinitial difficulties, could Pirlo afford to bephilosophical, LaStompo telling last 'They summer: canplay wherever me theylikebutI feelthatI ama N010, the man whocontrols allthetraffic, if even I have never actually thatshirt. worn I started the21at Brescia I have with and stuck thatl with Curiously, now in his long-established 'stopper'for role, tends a vital Pirlo be his

go, As i team. centrddeftnge players he isnotyour brute, but ardge hrlking bg not effective , thisdoes rnalctin my less for reasors rirEelt mce explained, he saying:'To 6frdh defence, win to be yul have I back ball, don'talways to go the your into about sliding thetaclde. also ltb positioniry allyouhave do to Ssretimes isake a sEpbacf The rnost of aspect the obvious Pirlo ftough,isthatit allows role, him to dictate tempo bothof hisown the 'The for and 1side of thegame. secret I someone myposition to keep in is it

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