I don’t feel pressure…. I don’t give a toss about it,I spent the
afternoon of Sunday 9 July, 2006 in berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation.
In the evening I went out and won the world cup.
-Andrea
Pirlo
When I see the ball with
pirlo, I always ask to myself ; am I a football player ?
- Gattuso
Pirlo was born in Flero,
Italy, in the province of Brescia on May 19, 1979. He began his career with the
Flero youth side, later moving to Voluntas, and subsequently joining the youth
sector of local club Brescia, where he initially played predominantly as a
supporting forward. In 1995, at the age of 16, Pirlo made his Serie A debut for
Brescia against Reggina, on 21 May, becoming Brescia's youngest player to make
an appearance in Serie A. The following season, he did not appear with the
senior team, although he was able to capture the Torneo di Viareggio with the
youth side. After breaking into the Brescia first team during the 1996-97 Serie
B season, he helped the club to gain Serie A promotion the following season by
winning the Serie B title. He scored his first goal in Serie A during the
1997-98 season, in a 4-0 home win over Vicenza on 19 October 1997.
Due to his performances with
Brescia, Pirlo was spotted by Internazionale coach Mircea Lucescu, who signed
the playmaker. Pirlo was unable to break into the first squad permanently,
however, and Inter finished eighth in the 1998–99 Serie A campaign. Inter
loaned Pirlo to Reggina for the 1999–2000 season, alongside young Inter
team-mates Roberto Baronio and Mohamed Kallon. After an impressive season, he
returned to Inter but was once again unable to break into the first team,
making just four league appearances. He spent the second half of the 2000–01
Serie A season on loan at his former club, relegation fighters Brescia,where he
played alongside his childhood idol, offensive playmaker Roberto Baggio. As
Baggio occupied the attacking midfield role for Brescia, manager Carlo Mazzone
made a ground-breaking decision, becoming the first coach to deploy Pirlo as a
deep-lying playmaker, rather than as an offensive midfielder, a deeper creative
role in which he particularly excelled, due to his long passing ability.
Despite initially struggling against relegation that season, Brescia would
eventually manage a comfortable seventh-place finish in Serie A, also reaching
the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, qualifying for the Intertoto Cup in 2001. A
notable moment in Pirlo's Brescia career was his long pass which assisted
Baggio's late equaliser against Juventus at the Stadio delle Alpi, in 2001.
Pirlo started his
professional playing career as an attacking midfielder. It was the time when
Italian football was known for the extraordinary creative trequartista and any
player that was gifted with ball control was automatically expected to play
that position. Pirlo played some great games during the first two years of his
time at Brescia but it was in 1998 when he made a real impact. In the second
half of the 1997-1998 season, Pirlo played as a central midfielder and that was
when he started giving long accurate passes, which would later become a
trademark of his.
In the summer of 1998 it was
announced that Inter had moved to sign the 19-year-old Pirlo. Many expected big
things from Pirlo during the 1998-1999 season, but Pirlo failed to become a
first-team member and was shipped out on loans to Reggina for the 1999-2000
season and then to Brescia in January of 2001. Pirlo impressed on both loan
spells but was still somehow out of favour in Inter. That led to the transfer
across the city to join the other Milan outfit.
When he was signed by Carlo
Ancelotti, many did not understand the concept behind the move. Questions like,
“How will a second-fiddle Inter player improve our team?” were asked from the
coach, and the answer would soon come.
Ancelotti understood why
Pirlo was not so successful so far—because he was not suited for a central
midfield role that was expected of him to play. At the time, central
midfielders were the engines of a team and did the most work. Pirlo does not
have the physical attributes to match that.
This meant that Ancelotti
started using his new signing as a deep creative midfielder and this was the
start of the legend of Pirlo for Milan and Italy. Pirlo dictated the tempo of
play with his passing. He was constantly creating with his unbelievable vision
from the center of the pitch, keeping his energy by just moving slightly
forward during attacks and almost never entering the box and providing the team
with important goals with his stunning and accurate shots.
It was at Milan, in
particular under manager Carlo Ancelotti, where Pirlo made big strides in
developing into a world class player, and one of the best deep-lying playmakers
and set-piece specialists in the world, as he went on to achieve notable
domestic and international success during his time with the club. After
Mazzone's pioneering decision to move Pirlo into a deep-seated playmaking role
with Brescia during the previous season, Milan managers Fatih Terim and, in
particular, Carlo Ancelotti further developed this role for him at Milan.In
Ancelotti's 4-3-2-1 formation, Pirlo was deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in
front of the defence, which allowed him to play alongside other talented attacking
midfielders, such as Rivaldo, Rui Costa and eventually Kaká, replacing the gap
left by Milan legend Demetrio Albertini in the deep midfield playmaking role.
He would become an integral part of the Rossoneri's midfield, forming a
formidable partnership with Gennaro Gattuso, as well as with Clarence Seedorf
and Massimo Ambrosini, who also supported his playmaking role defensively.
Pirlo was given the nickname the metronome during his time at the club, for the
way in which he set the team's rhythm.
Pirlo made his Milan debut
on 20 September 2001, in a 2-0 win over BATE Borisov in the UEFA Cup, after coming
on for Massimo Donati. During his first season with the club, he helped the
team to a fourth-place finish UEFA Champions League qualification spot, also
reaching the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, the club's best ever result in the
competition. On 30 March 2002, he scored his first goal with Milan in a 3-1
home win over Parma, from a free-kick.
In total with Milan, Pirlo
made 401 appearances, scoring 41 goals. With the club, he won two Serie A
titles in 2004 and 2011, as well as two Champions League titles in 2003 and
2007, also reaching the final in 2005; he also won a Coppa Italia in 2003, a
Supercoppa Italiana in 2004, and two UEFA Super Cups in 2003 and 2007, as well
as playing a key role in Milan's first ever FIFA World Club Cup title in 2007.
During this period, Milan also finished as runners up in Serie A in the 2004–05
and the 2005–06 seasons, as well as finishing second on penalties in the 2003
Supercoppa Italiana, and in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup.
Pirlo was the passing weapon
of AC Milan for nine years and is considered a Milan legend by the fans. During
the 10th year of his career with the Rossoneri, he faced many injuries and was
ruled out of most of the season. These injuries forced the Milan team’s coach
to come up with a system that would work without the Italian playmaker. After
the black and reds won the league, it was obvious that the coach would not risk
another year with a player that was injured for so long and is 32 years old.
Weeks before Pirlo’s
contract finished with AC Milan, the club had announced that they would not
offer him a new deal and that he was free to discuss his future with other
clubs. Juventus, coming off another awful season, had already started talks
with Pirlo's agents and moved to sign him as their first signing of the 2011
summer and as the first player in their rebuilding process. Pirlo signed a
three-year contract with Juventus on May 24, 2011.
On 11 June 2014, Pirlo
signed a new contract keeping him at Juventus until 2016. Pirlo made his 100th
league appearance for Juventus in a 3–2 home win over Roma on 5 October 2014.
On the 1st November, Pirlo scored Juventus's opening goal from a free kick in a
2–0 win over Empoli, on their 117th anniversary; this was his 26th goal from a
free kick in Serie A, putting him two goals behind the all-time record holder,
Siniša Mihajlović. On the 4th November, Pirlo scored once again from a
trademark, curling direct free-kick in a 3–2 home win over Olympiakos in a
group-stage Champions League fixture. This was Pirlo's 100th appearance in the
UEFA Champions League, marking the occasion with his first Champions League
goal with Juventus. On the 15th December 2014, Pirlo was named the Serie A
Footballer of the Year for the third time in his career, and for the third
consecutive year since his arrival at Juventus; he was also named part of the 2014
Serie A Team of the Year. In Juventus's 2-1 home victory over Borussia Dortmund
in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, on 24 February 2015, Pirlo
left the pitch during the first half of the match, after injuring his right
calf, ruling him out for three weeks. Pirlo was called up on 11 April 2015
against Parma following his injury. He returned to the starting line-up on 14
April 2015, helping Álvaro Morata to win a penalty which was later converted by
Vidal in a 1-0 victory over Monaco at the Juventus Stadium, in the first leg of
the Champions League quarter-finals; he was replaced by Andrea Barzagli during
the second half. On 26 April, Pirlo scored from a free-kick in a 2-1 away
defeat to local rivals Torino in the "Derby di Torino"; this was his
28th goal in Serie A from a free-kick, which put him level with Siniša
Mihajlović as the player with the most goals from free-kicks in Serie A
history.On 20 May, Pirlo played apart in both of Juventus's goals as the Turin
club defeated Lazio 2–1 at the Stadio Olimpico in the 2015 Coppa Italia Final.
Pirlo captained Italy to an
Under-21 European Championship in 2000 (wearing the number 10 jersey and
winning the awards for best player and top scorer) and to a semi-final finish
in 2002. Pirlo played for Italy at the 2000 Summer Olympics and helped the
Azzurri to win the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics. With 46 matches and 16
goals, Pirlo is the record appearance holder for the Italian U-21 side, and the
second highest goal-scorer after Alberto Gilardino. Pirlo made his Italy senior
debut on the 7 September 2002 under Giovanni Trapattoni, at the age of 23 in a
2–0 win over Azerbaijan in a Euro 2004 qualifying match; he also appeared in a
friendly match against Turkey that year. Pirlo scored his first goal for Italy
from a free-kick in a 4–0 away win in a friendly match against Tunisia.His
first major tournament with the Italian senior team was UEFA Euro 2004 under
Giovanni Trapattoni, where he made two appearances in Italy's last two group
matches: the first in a 1–1 draw against Sweden, and the second in a 2–1 win
over Bulgaria. The Italian team was eliminated in the first round, on direct
encounters, following a three-way five point tie with Sweden and Denmark.
Pirlo appeared in all of
Italy's matches at the 2006 World Cup. In Italy's first match of the
tournament, Pirlo scored the opening goal against Ghana, and subsequently set
up a goal for Vincenzo Iaquinta to seal a 2–0 victory, as the midfielder was
named Man of the Match. In the second match, he set up a diving header for
Alberto Gilardino from a set piece which proved to be vital in the 1–1 draw
against the United States.
In the semi-final against
Germany, he assisted Fabio Grosso's opening goal in the dying minutes of
extra-time, and was again named Man of the Match, as Italy triumphed 2–0 over
the hosts. In the final against France, his corner kick produced Marco
Materazzi's equalizing header ten minutes after France had opened the scoring
with a Zinedine Zidane penalty. The match went to a penalty shoot-out, in which
he scored, helping Italy to win the title. Pirlo formed a formidable midfield
partnership with Milan team-mate Gennaro Gattuso, and he completed 475 passes
out of 580 attempted throughout the tournament. After the final, he was named
Man of the Match for a third time, winning more Man of the Match Awards than
any other player in the tournament. Pirlo was voted the third-best player of
the tournament, winning the Bronze Ball, and he finished the victorious World
Cup campaign as the top assist provider along with team-mate Francesco Totti,
as well as Riquelme, Schweinsteiger, and Figo. He was named as part of the 2006
FIFPro XI and as part of the 2006 World Cup Team of the Tournament for his
performances, placing ninth in both the 2006 Ballon d'Or and the 2006 FIFA
World Player of the Year Awards.
Pirlo was not able to play
the first two games in the 2010 World Cup for Italy due to recent injuries. He
came off the bench for Italy late in the match on 24 June against Slovakia.
Even with his help in orchestrating a renewed Italian offense, Pirlo could not
prevent Italy from being knocked out of the first round.
Pirlo won three Man of the
Match Awards at Euro 2012, the most awards won by a single player, along with
Andrés Iniesta of tournament champions Spain. Pirlo was nominated for the
Player of the Tournament Award, which ultimately went to Iniesta, and he was
also elected to be part of the team of the tournament.
In the 2014 World Cup, Italy
were placed in Group D, along with Costa Rica, England and Uruguay, in what was
called the "Group of Death". On 14 June, in Italy's opening match
against England, Pirlo wore the captain's armband due to Buffon's last minute
injury. The match ended with a 2–1 win to Italy. Pirlo heavily contributed to
Italy's win, controlling the flow of the game, and setting up several
goalscoring chances, as Italy dominated possession. During the match, Pirlo
made 108 passes in total, only misplacing five, with a pass completion rate of
95.4%, completing the most passes of any other player in the previous opening
matches of the 2014 World Cup. With a 93.2 pass percentage, Italy also managed
to record the highest pass accuracy percentage of any team in a World Cup match
since Denmark in the 1966 World Cup, completing 561 of their 602 passes.
Tactically, Pirlo is capable
of playing in several midfield positions, although he is usually deployed as a
central midfielder, where he functions as a deep-lying playmaker for both his
club and national sides. Pirlo is regarded by players, managers, and pundits as
one of the greatest ever exponents of this position, one of the best
midfielders in the world and of his generation, and as one of the greatest
Italian players of all time. A highly technical and creative player, Pirlo
started his career in a more advanced role, as an offensive midfielder.
Although he was considered a talented, creative, young Italian prospect in
Serie A, even drawing comparisons with former Italian footballing legend and
playmaker Gianni Rivera, due to his technical ability,Pirlo occasionally
struggled in this position, due to his lack of pace, and due to competition
from other talented and more dynamic attacking midfielders. Because of this, he
was later moved to a deep-lying playmaking role by his coaches Mazzone, Fatih
Terim, and Ancelotti, where he was able to excel due to his unique capabilities.
This position best utilises Pirlo's unique attributes, and allows him to
operate creatively from a deeper position, in or even behind the main midfield
line, in a seemingly defensive midfield role, where he is allowed more time on
the ball to create scoring opportunities thanks to his ball skills, acute
vision, and excellent long passing ability. He has also previously played as a
supporting striker on occasion during his time at Inter,as well as on the wing
under Allegri during his final season with Milan, due to his ability to provide
accurate, curling crosses.
Although not gifted with
pace, stamina, physicality or notable defensive or tackling abilities, Pirlo
has been praised for his touch, technique, balance, close control, and
dribbling ability, as well as his flair and creativity in beating players with
feints during one on one situations to create space. As a playmaker, he is also
highly regarded by pundits for his incredible vision, his inventive play, his
wide distribution range, and his accurate passing ability on the ground or in
the air with either foot; he is considered to be one of the best passers in the
sport. He is also known for his accurate long distance shooting ability, which
allows him to contribute further to his team's offensive play with additional
goals as well as assists. Pirlo is a set piece and penalty-kick specialist, who
has been praised by pundits for his versatility and ability to score on direct
free-kicks, as well as his adeptness at creating chances from dead-ball opportunities.
He is extremely effective at curling shots accurately on target from close
range, which he states to have perfected whilst studying Baggio in training
sessions during their time at Brescia together. Pirlo is also capable of
scoring from long-range free-kicks with swerve and power, however, due to his
unique technique, which was directly inspired by Juninho's free-kicks. Pirlo
has scored the highest number of free-kicks in Serie A, alongside Siniša
Mihajlović. He is regarded as one of the best free-kick takers in the world.
In addition to these
characteristics, Pirlo is primarily known for his outstanding vision and his
extremely accurate long-range passing ability as a playmaker, attributes which
have led fellow players on the Italian national team to give him the nickname
l'architetto ("the architect"), because his long passes frequently
set up goal-scoring opportunities. In recent years, Juventus fans also dubbed
him il professore ("the professor") and Mozart, as a reference to the
Austrian composer's prodigious ability. Pirlo was also frequently compared to
fellow former Milan and Italy legend Demetrio Albertini early in his Milan
career, due to their similar characteristics and style of play, such as their
acute vision, accurate and varied passing range, excellent technique, and
adeptness at set-pieces, penalties, and shots from distance. Pirlo was often
thought to be Albertini's heir for Milan and the national side, and also
inherited his nickname the metronome whilst playing at Milan, for the way in
which he controlled the tempo of his team's play.
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