Andrea Pirlo

Andrea Pirlo (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa ˈpirlo]; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of UAE First Division League club Dubai United. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Pirlo was known for his vision, technique, creativity, passing, and free kick ability. He is the all-time Italian top assist provider in the...

Andrea Pirlo (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa ˈpirlo]; born 19 May 1979) is an Italian football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of UAE First Division League club Dubai United. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Pirlo was known for his vision, technique, creativity, passing, and free kick ability. He is the all-time Italian top assist provider in the UEFA Champions League (15). Pirlo began his club career in 1995 as an attacking midfielder with his hometown club Brescia, winning the Serie B in 1997. He signed for Serie A club Inter Milan a year later, but limited game time and loans away from the club saw him transfer to cross-city rivals AC Milan in 2001. There, Pirlo matured into a world-class player in a deep-lying playmaker role, winning two Serie A titles, two Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup, a Coppa Italia, and a Supercoppa Italiana. He departed for Juventus in 2011, where he won four consecutive Serie A titles, two Supercoppa Italiana titles, and another Coppa Italia. In 2015, Pirlo joined Major League Soccer (MLS) club New York City FC, where he played for two years before retiring in 2017. At the international level, Pirlo played 116 matches for the Italy national football team, which is the fifth-most of all time. He made his senior debut in 2002 and captained his nation to a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics. Pirlo was instrumental in Italy's triumph at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, winning the Bronze Ball and being elected to the Team of the Tournament. He repeated similar success as he led Italy to the UEFA Euro 2012 final. Pirlo also represented his country at the 2004 and 2008 UEFA European Championships, the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, and the 2009 and 2013 FIFA Confederations Cups. Pirlo finished in the top four five times in the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker award between 2006 and 2015. He placed fourth for UEFA Best Player in Europe in 2011, and seventh in 2015. He was named Serie A Footballer of the Year three times and voted to the Serie A Team of the Year four times. Pirlo was elected to UEFA Team of the Year in 2012, the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season in 2015, and was part of the FIFPro World XI in 2006. He also placed seventh for the 2007 FIFA World Player, finished in the top ten three times for the Ballon d'Or, and was named an MLS All-Star in 2016. In 2019, Pirlo was elected into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Club career Brescia, Inter Milan and Reggina 1992–2001: Early years and realisation of role Pirlo was born in Flero in the province of Brescia. He began his career with the Flero youth team, later moving to Voluntas, and subsequently joined the youth sector of local club Brescia in 1992, 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 Reggiana, on 21 May, becoming Brescia's youngest player to make an appearance in Serie A. He was promoted by his coach Mircea Lucescu. The following season, he did not appear with the senior team, although he was able to capture the Torneo di Viareggio with the youth team. 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 Inter Milan and signed in the summer of 1998, reuniting with former Brescia coach Lucescu in his first season when the Romanian replaced Luigi Simoni in December. 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 fellow youngster 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 season on loan at his former club, 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 2001 Intertoto Cup. 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, on 1 April 2001. AC Milan 2001–2004: Domestic and European success After three seasons on the Inter books, Pirlo was sold to rivals AC Milan for 33 billion Italian lire (€17,043,078) on 30 June 2001, the last day of the 2000–01 financial year. The transfer fee was partially funded by the movement of Dražen Brnčić in the opposite direction for an undisclosed fee. In the same window Inter swapped Cristian Brocchi (25 billion lire; €12.9 million) for Guly (undisclosed fee; €8.537 million profit) and Matteo Bogani for Paolo Ginestra. The deals were later reported by the Italian press to have been undertaken to create "false profit" by inflating the players' values in the transfer fees in the swap deal. The exchange involving Ginestra and Bogani created an approximate €3.5 million "profit" for both clubs, but this actually manifested itself in terms of useless registration rights. 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. Pirlo later recalled the period he has spent in Milan with Ancelotti: "He changed my career, putting me in front of the defence. We shared some unforgettable moments. We had a magnificent past together." 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 4–3–1–2 and 4–3–2–1 formations, 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. Pirlo led Serie A in the 2002–03 season in four categories – passes played (2589), ball possession (123 hours played and 39 minutes), successful balls (661), and successful passes (2093); he averaged almost 90 passes per game throughout the season. During this season, his second with the club, he also managed a career-best of 9 goals in Serie A, as Milan finished the league in third place, also winning the Coppa Italia over Roma, and the UEFA Champions League, beating out Italian rivals and 2003 Serie A champions Juventus in the final 3–2 on penalties, following a 0–0 draw after extra-time. The following season saw Pirlo win the 2003 UEFA Super Cup with Milan over Porto, although the Rossoneri lost to Juventus on penalties in the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana following a 1–1 draw after extra time; during the match, Pirlo scored on a penalty in extra time, and once again in the shoot-out. Milan would also miss out on the 2003 Intercontinental Cup, losing out on penalties once again, to Boca Juniors, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time; on this occasion, Pirlo missed his penalty in the shoot-out, after previously setting up Milan's opening goal of the match. Pirlo would celebrate winning his first Serie A title with Milan during the 2003–04 season however, following up the scudetto with the 2004 Supercoppa Italiana over Lazio. 2004–2006: Struggles Milan finished as runners-up in Serie A to Juventus in the 2004–05 season. In the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, Pirlo finished as one of the second-highest assist providers with four assists, as he helped Milan to reach the final. In the 2005 UEFA Champions League final against Liverpool, on 25 May, Pirlo assisted Paolo Maldini's opening goal, after 50 seconds, from a free kick, and combined with Kaká before the Brazilian unleashed Hernán Crespo with a long pass for Milan's third goal before halftime. In the second half, however, Liverpool made a three-goal comeback, sending the match into extra time. After a 3–3 deadlock, the match went to penalties, and Milan were defeated by the English team in the shoot-out. Despite Pirlo's performance throughout the competition and in the final, Pirlo had missed his penalty kick during the shoot-out in the final when it was saved by Jerzy Dudek. Pirlo would later state in his autobiography that the 2005 UEFA Champions League final defeat on penalties was the worst moment of his career, and that he had considered retiring prematurely following the match. The following season, Milan once again finished in second place behind Juventus in Serie A (before their 30-point deduction due to their involvement in the 2006 Calciopoli scandal), also reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League, only to be defeated by eventual champions, Barcelona, and the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. In 2006, Pirlo placed 9th in the Ballon d'Or, which was won by his Italy teammate Fabio Cannavaro, and was elected to the 2006 FIFPro World XI. 2006–2009: Second UEFA Champions League title Andrea has demonstrated all his great talent and worth. When we played together, everything started with him. He always had the great gift of being able to visualise and anticipate plays before everyone else. His vision, what he can do with the ball, and what he's able to create, make him a true superstar. Andrea has something which you don't see very often. Pirlo led Milan in minutes played for the 2006–07 season with 2,782 across 52 appearances, as he went on to win his second UEFA Champions League title with Milan, also helping his team to a fourth-place finish in Serie A, and another Coppa Italia semi-final. In the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Manchester United, Pirlo set up Seedorf's goal, as Milan progressed on to the final. In the 2007 UEFA Champions League final in Athens, Pirlo assisted Inzaghi's first goal from a free kick, helping Milan to defeat Liverpool 2–1, avenging their 2005 final defeat in Istanbul. During the 2007–08 season, Pirlo won his second UEFA Super Cup with Milan, assisting Milan's second goal in the final, and winning the Man of the Match award; he also contributed to the club's first ever FIFA Club World Cup title in 2007, once again setting-up Milan's second goal in the final. In October 2007, he was nominated for the 2007 Ballon d