Andrea Pirlo was one of the best midfield players in the world and probably one of the most successful.
The list of trophies is long:
Scudetto: 2003-04, 2010-11 (with Milan), 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 (with Juventus)
Coppa Italia: 2002-03 (Milan), 2014-15 (Juventus)
Champions League: 2002-03, 2006-07 (Milan)
UEFA Super Cup: 2003, 2007 (Milan)
FIFA Club World Cup: 2007 (Milan)
Super Coppa: 2004 (Milan)
World Cup: 2006
European Under-21 Championship: 2000
Olympic Games: Bronze 2004
Serie B: 1996-97
He was born on May 19, 1979, in Flero near Brescia. He began playing in the Brescia youth sector and debuted in the first team in 1996-97 under Edy Reja contributing to the Rondinelle’s promotion with 17 appearances and two goals. He then played his first season in Serie A but Brescia were relegated.
In 1998 he signed for Inter and made 32 appearances that year. The next season he was loaned to Reggina and did so well that he went back to the Nerazzurri for the 2000-01 season. But he got very little playing time so he was loaned to Brescia in January. In the summer Inter sold him to Milan (and they have been kicking themselves ever since) and this is where he blossomed and became a world class player. In ten years, he made 401 appearances with 41 goals, winning everything possible.
In 2011 Milan thought that he was too old to continue playing with that quality and did not renew his contract. Mistake. He signed for Juventus and continued to win everything possible. In four years, he made 164 appearances with 19 goals.
Before retiring he spent three years playing for New York City making 62 appearances with one goal. In November 2017 he retired.
With Italy he played 116 games with 13 goals, winning a World Cup in 2006, scoring a goal in the opening match against Ghana and the first penalty in the final shootout. He played in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. He also holds 9 caps and one goal for the Olympic team and 37 games with 15 goals with the Under-21's.
After he retired, he became a manager. He was surprisingly chosen by Juventus as head coach in 2020-21, in place of Maurizio Sarri, the Bianconeri did not do too well but they did win the Supercoppa and Coppa Italia. He was not confirmed. In June 2022 he signed for Fatih Karagümrük in the Turkish Super League but quit three games from the end of the season. In June 2023 he became manager for Sampdoria in Serie B. The Genoese finished 7th and qualified for the playoffs where they were eliminated by Palermo. He however was confirmed also for the 2024-25 season but after three games he was sacked.
Often seen as a new Gianni Rivera, when he started playing he was a number 10, but then Carlo Mazzone had the brilliant idea of placing him in front of defence and this is where he built his career. He was a free-kick specialist and is the second player with most goals scored on free kicks in the history of Serie A (26), behind Sinisa Mihajlovic.
A fantastic player. A privilege to have seen him play.
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