Andrea Pirlo,
Ufficiale OMRI[3][4] (born 19 May 1979) is an Italian professional
footballer who plays for American club
New York City FC[5] and the
Italy national team. Pirlo is a
free-kick specialist, who is usually deployed as a
deep-lying playmaker in
midfield for both his club and national sides, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever exponents of this position, due to his vision, ball control and passing ability.
[6][7][8]
With
Milan, he won two
UEFA Champions Leagues (
2003 and
2007), two
UEFA Super Cups (
2003 and
2007), two
Serie A titles (
2004 and
2011), a
FIFA Club World Cup (
2007), a
Supercoppa Italiana (
2004), and a
Coppa Italia (
2003). After joining
Juventus in 2011, he added four more Serie A titles (
2012,
2013,
2014, and
2015), as well as two Supercoppe Italiane (
2012 and
2013), and a Coppa Italia (
2015).
Pirlo is the fourth-most
capped player in the history of the Italian national team with
116 caps. He has played for the Italian youth teams at
U15,
U18 and
U21 level,
captaining and leading the latter to victory in the
2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship as the Golden Player and Top Scorer of the tournament. He joined the Italian senior side during the qualification round for the
2002 FIFA World Cup and captained the national team to a bronze medal in the
2004 Olympics. Later, he was instrumental in their victory in the
2006 FIFA World Cup. He was named
man of the match three times, including the
final, more than any other player in the tournament, and ultimately won the Bronze Ball (third best player in tournament) also being elected to be part of the
Team of the Tournament. He was also elected as part of the
UEFA Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament, after leading Italy to the
final, winning three man of the match awards in the process, the most of any player along with
Andrés Iniesta. He has also represented
Gli Azzurri at the
2004 and
2008 UEFA European Championships, the
2010 and
2014 FIFA World Cups, and the
2009 and
2013 FIFA Confederations Cups, finishing third in the 2013 edition in Brazil, where he was elected part of the
Team of the Tournament.
Pirlo came in third, second and fourth in
IFFHS World Playmaker of the Year awards in 2006, 2007 and 2012, respectively.
[9][9] He placed fourth in the
2012 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award,
[10] and seventh in the
2015 edition.
[11] He placed 7th in the
2007 FIFA World Player, 5th in the
2007 Ballon d'Or and 7th in the
2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or award. He was also named as part of the 2006
FIFPro World XI and the
2012 UEFA Team of the Year.
[12] In 2012, 2013, and 2014, Pirlo was also elected as
Serie A Footballer of the Year, and was also named as part of the
Serie A team of the Year.
[13] After helping Juventus to the
2015 UEFA Champions League Final, he was named to the
squad of the season. In 2012, Pirlo was named the eighth best footballer in the World by
The Guardian,
[14] and in 2013,
Bloomberg ranked him the fifth best player in Europe.
[15] In 2015,
France Football rated him as one of the 10 best footballers in the world who are over the age of 36.
[16]
(VIA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Pirlo)
