Andrea Pirlo is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is the head coach of Serie A club Juventus. He is considered to be one of the greatest deep-lying playmakers of all time for his vision, ball control, technique, creativity, passing, and free-kick ability. He began his career with the Flero youth team, later on moved to Voluntas. In 1994, he joined the youth sector of the local club, Brescia. On 21 May 1995, at the age of 16, Pirlo made his Serie A debut for Brescia against Reggiana. In 1997, he helped the team to win the Serie B title to gain promotion to Serie A. In 1998, he was sold to Internazionale where he struggled to make it into the first team due to tight competition. Going on loan at Reggina and Brescia, in 2001, he was finally sold to Milan. At Milan, he was helped by his manager Carlo Ancelotti to discover his real position, which is playing as a deep-lying playmaker. He was able to master the position and soon became one of the best midfielders in the world. He also helped Milan to win two Serie A titles, two UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup, a Coppa Italia, and a Supercoppa Italiana. In 2011, he joined Juventus on a free transfer, where he won four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Supercoppa Italiana titles, and another Coppa Italia. In 2015, he joined the MLS club New York City, with whom he played for two years before retiring in 2017.
On an international level, he has represented the Italian national team at various age levels. He made his national team debut in 2002, where he has played 116 matches for his national team, which is the fifth-most of all time. He was part of the team that won the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship, where he won the Top Scorer and Golden Player award. He also won the 2006 World Cup and others several trophies with the national teams and individual awards.
What is Andrea Pirlo Famous For?
- Being one of the finest deep-lying Playmakers.
- His Superb free kicks and long shots.
- Won the 1996-97 Serie B with Brescia.
- Won the 2002-03 Coppa Italia with Milan.
- Won the 2003-04, 2010-11 Serie A with Milan.
- Won the 2004 Supercoppa Italiana with Milan.
- Won the 2002-03, 2006-07 UEFA Champions League with Milan.
- Won the 2003, 2007 Super Cup With Milan.
- Won the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup with Milan.
- Won 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 Serie A with Juventus.
- Won the 2014-15 Coppa Italia with Juventus.
- Won 2012, 2013 Supercoppa Italiana with Juventus.
- Won the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship with Italy.
- Won the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship Gold Player.
- Won the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship Top Scorer.
- Won the 2006 World Cup with Italy.
- Won the 2006 World Cup Top Assists Provider.
- Won the 2011-12 Serie A Top Assists Provider.
- Won the 2012 Serie A Midfielder of the Year.
- Won 2012, 2013, 2014 Serie A Footballer of the Year.
- Won the 2015 Globe Soccer Awards Player Career Award.
- Won the 2016 Major League Soccer All-Star.
- Won the 2018 Golden Foot Award Legends.
- Won the 2019 Italian Football Hall of Fame.
Where is Andrea Pirlo From?
Andrea Pirlo was born on 19 May 1979. His birthplace is Flero, Italy. He was one of the three children of Luigi Pirlo and Livia Gatta. He has a brother named, Ivan Pirlo and a sister named, Silvia Pirlo. He belongs to the white ethnicity. His religion is Roman Catholic. His horoscope sign is Taurus.
Andrea Pirlo Football Career Timeline
- He began his career with the Flero youth team.
- After spending a couple of years at Flero, he joined Voluntas academy.
- In 1994, he joined the youth sector of the local club, Brescia.
- Following his impressive performances, he graduated to the senior team at the age of 16.
- On 21 May 1995, he made his Serie A debut for Brescia against Reggiana, becoming Brescia’s youngest player to make an appearance in Serie A.
- After breaking into the Brescia first team, he helped the team to win the 1996-97 Serie B title to gain promotion to the Serie A.
- On 19 October 1997, he scored his first goal in Serie A during the 1997-98 season, in a home win over Vicenza.
- Due to his performances with Brescia, in 1998, he was signed by Internazionale where he struggled to make it into the first team due to tight competition.
- Inter loaned Pirlo to Reggina for the 1999-2000 season and 2000-01 season on loan at his former club, Brescia.
- On 30 June 2001, he was finally sold to rivals A.C. Milan for 33 billion Italian lire.
- On 20 September 2001, he made his Milan debut in a win over BATE Borisov in the UEFA Cup, after coming on for Massimo Donati.
- On 30 March 2002, he scored his first goal for Milan in a home win over Parma, from a free-kick.
- At Milan, he was helped by his manager Carlo Ancelotti to discover his real position, which is playing as a deep-lying playmaker. He was able to master the position and soon became one of the best midfielders in the world.
- He served as a central midfielder for Milan and helped the team to win two Serie A titles, two UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, a FIFA Club World Cup, a Coppa Italia, and a Supercoppa Italiana.
- In 2011, he left Milan after coming to a mutual decision with the club. He joined Juventus on a free transfer.
- His debut with Juventus was in a friendly match against Sporting CP, which they lost. His first competitive match with Juventus was the 2011-12 Serie A opening match against Parma at home, in which he tallied two assists and completed 110 passes in a 4-1 victory.
- On 18 February 2012, he scored his first goal for Juventus from a free kick in a win against Catania.
- Before Pirlo came to Juventus, the team had been trophy-less since 2003. He helped Juventus by winning them four consecutive Serie A titles, as well as two Supercoppa Italiana titles, and one Coppa Italia.
- In total, he made 164 appearances for Juventus in all competitions, scoring 19 goals (15 of which were scored from free-kicks).
- Over 20 seasons in Italy, he made 493 appearances in Serie A.
- On 6 July 2015, he completed his move to Major League Soccer (MLS) expansion franchise New York City as their third Designated Player. His annual earnings were $8 million, becoming the highest-paid Italian player in all leagues at the period. The record was broken a year later after Graziano Pelle moved to the Chinese League.
- On 26 July 2015, he made his debut with the club at Yankee Stadium in New York against Orlando City, coming on as a substitute in the 56th minute, where he was involved in his team’s third and fourth goals and was booked in the 88th minute as New York won the match 5-3.
- Following his performances, in November, he became the first MLS player in history to be nominated for the FIFPro World XI.
- On 18 June 2016, he scored his first MLS goal from a free kick in a home victory over Philadelphia.
- On 8 October 2017, after struggling with persisting physical problems. He announced that he would retire from professional football at the end of the season.
- On 5 November 2017, he made his final professional appearance, coming on as a 90th-minute substitute in a home win over Columbus Crew.
- At the end of the season, he officially communicated his retirement from professional football the football, on Twitter.
- On 21 May 2018, a testimonial match was played at the San Siro Stadium in Milan in honor of Pirlo’s retirement from professional football.
Andrea Pirlo International Career
- He has represented the Italian national team at various age levels.
- He captained the Italy U21 team in the 2000 European Championship and won the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship for the team. He won both the best player and the top scorer awards at the competition.
- He was also in Italy’s 2000 and 2004 squadrons to Summer Olympic Games, winning the Bronze medal at the latter edition.
- Following his impressive performances, he was called up to the senior national team.
- On 7 September 2002, at the age of twenty-three, he made a senior team debut in the win over Azerbaijan in Euro 2004 qualifying match.
- He scored his first goal for Italy from a free kick in an away win in a friendly match against Tunisia.
- The UEFA Euro 2004 was his first major tournament for the Italian National Team.
- He was named to Italy’s 23-man squad for the 2006 World Cup and helped Italy to win the 2006 World Cup in the final match against France.
- In the 2006 World Cup, he won three matches of the match tournament and won bronze as the third-best player of the tournament.
- He played in the 2008, 2012 UEFA Euro, 2014 World Cup, and the 2016 Euro despite announcing his retirement from international competition after the 2014 World Cup.
- He made a total of made 116 appearances for Italy, scoring 13 goals, making him the fifth-most capped player in his nation’s history.
Andrea Pirlo Managerial Career
- In August 2019, he enrolled in the UEFA Pro License courses at Coverciano.
- On 30 July 2020, Pirlo was appointed head coach of Serie C club Juventus U23.
- Nine days later, following the dismissal of Maurizio Sarri, he was appointed head coach of the first team, signing a two-year contract.
- On 16 September 2020, he received his UEFA Pro License.
- On 20 September 2020, in his first competitive match as a head coach, Juventus won at home in a league game against Sampdoria.
- On 20 October 2020, he made his Champions League debut as a manager, leading Juventus to an 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.
Andrea Pirlo Wife and Family
Pirlo married Deborah Roversi in 2001. They have two children together, their son Niccolo was born in 2003, and daughter Angela was born in 2006. In 2014, after 13 years of marriage, the couple got divorced. Later on, it was reported that Pirlo had an affair with the real-estate agent Valentina Baldini whom he had met at his golf club. After a year, Pirlo and Baldini got married and in July 2017, they welcomed their twins Leonardo and Tommaso. Pirlo also wrote the autobiography PensoQuindiGioco (I Think. Therefore I Play), which was published in 2013.
Andrea Pirlo Body Size and Hair
Pirlo stands at a height of 1.77m i.e. 5 feet 10 inches tall. He has an athletic body build. He has a bodyweight of 68kg. His eye color is hazel and his hair color is light brown. His sexual orientation is straight.
What is Pirlo worth?
Pirlo is a retired player. He was one of the successful footballers of his generation. He earns from his professional career as a football manager. His income is from contracts, salaries, bonuses, and endorsements. He has also a long-running endorsement deal with sports goods and wears companies. He has also a stake in his father’s metal trading company Elg Steel in Brescia. Being a lover of wine, he owns a vineyard in Italy from where he may earn a good amount of income. As of 2020, his estimated net worth is around $50 million and his salary is about $3.5 million.
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