Andrea Pirlo

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…

Pirlo is a silent leader. He speaks with his feet. To pass the ball to Andrea Pirlo is like to hide it in a safe. Is he the best player of his generation? Not quite, but he is the most important.

Under-21 and Olympic career, senior team debut, and Euro 2004

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 of the tournament with three goals; he scored both goals – one from a penalty and the other from a free kick – in Italy's 2–1 victory over Czech Republic in the final. He also led the Italy under-21 team to a semi-final finish in the 2002 edition of the tournament. Pirlo played for Italy at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, scoring a goal in Italy's 1–0 opening win over hosts Australia on 13 September; he also helped Italy win the bronze medal as overage players at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. With 46 matches and 16 goals, Pirlo is the record appearance holder for the Italian under-21 team, and the second highest goal-scorer after Alberto Gilardino. Under Giovanni Trapattoni Pirlo debuted for the Italian senior squad at the age of 23 in a 2–0 away victory against Azerbaijan in a Euro 2004 qualifying match; he also appeared in a friendly match in Pescara against Turkey on 20 November, later that year, which ended in a 1–1 draw. 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…

Pirlo is a genius. Together with Baggio, I think he's the greatest talent that Italian football has produced in the last 25 years. Pirlo spots a pass in a split-second that lesser players could spend a whole lifetime waiting to see. Pirlo can make his feet do whatever he wants. He's a genius.

Position and reception

Tactically, Pirlo was capable of playing in several midfield positions, but was usually deployed by his club and national teams as a central midfielder, in the role of a deep-lying playmaker, due to his vision and passing accuracy. A technical and creative player, Pirlo is regarded by players, managers, and pundits as one of the greatest ever players in his position; throughout his career, he was considered one of the greatest midfielders in the world and of his generation, and as one of the greatest Italian players ever, and is regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time by several pundits, managers and players. Pirlo started his career in a more advanced role, as an attacking midfielder, and also played as a supporting striker on occasion. Although he was considered a talented young prospect, even drawing comparisons with former Italian footballer Gianni Rivera, Pirlo occasionally struggled in this role, due to his lack of pace, and competition from other talented and more dynamic players in his position. Because of this, he was later moved to a deep-lying playmaker role by his coaches Mazzone, Terim, and Ancelotti, where he was able to…

In August 2019, Pirlo enrolled in the UEFA Pro Licence courses at Coverciano. On 30 July 2020, Pirlo was appointed head coach of Serie C club Juventus U23, the reserve side of his former club Juventus. Nine days later, following the dismissal of Maurizio Sarri, Pirlo was appointed head coach of the first team, signing a two-year contract. Pirlo received his UEFA Pro Licence on 16 September 2020. Pirlo received 107 out of 110 after his oral validation of his 30-page thesis, entitled "The football that I would like" (Italian: Il calcio che vorrei). Pirlo cited the teams that "inspired [his] idea of football" as "the Barcelona of Johan Cruyff and then of Pep Guardiola, the Ajax of Louis van Gaal, the Milan of Carlo Ancelotti, and the Juventus of Antonio Conte". In his first competitive match as a head coach, on 20 September 2020, Juventus won 3–0 at home in a league game against Sampdoria. He made his Champions League debut as a manager on 20 October, leading Juventus to a 2–0 away win over Dynamo Kyiv; as a result, he became only the third Juventus manager after Lippi and Capello to win his first away game in the competition. On 20 January 2021, Pirlo won his first trophy as manager with Juventus, beating Napoli 2–0 in the 2020 Supercoppa Italiana. On 9 March 2021, Juventus were eliminated from the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League by Porto in the round of 16 on the away goals rule, drawing 4–4 on aggregate. On 2 May 2021, Juventus' run of nine consecutive titles was…