We can’t think of many other footballers with same cool-factor and class as Andrea Pirlo.
The Italian midfielder is well remembered for his wonderful range of passing, his awesome ability from set-pieces and that ridiculous Panenka penalty against England at Euro 2012.
We’re sure Joe Hart will always remember that, too.
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But having played out his final season at MLS side New York City, Pirlo announced his retirement back in November.
And with the season over, the 39-year-old finally got to bow out in style in his testimonial match at the San Siro – with virtually every single one of our favourite players from Football Italia on display.
On the pitch, the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, Dida, Rui Costa, Francesco Totti, Leonardo Bonucci and Christian Vieri lined-up in white shirts up against a blue team of Cafu, Andriy Shevchenko, Carlos Tevez, Clarence Seedorf and Gianluigi Buffon, among others.
Former England and Chelsea favourite Frank Lampard was also on the field – having befriended Pirlo during their time together in New York – while Blues boss Antonio Conte was in the dug-out along with Roberto Doadoni and Carlo Ancelotti.
Seriously, check out some of these names.
And the scoreline didn’t disappoint either, with the match finishing 7-7.
Shevchenko, Fabio Quagliarella, Alexandre Pato and Luca Toni all netted, while Gennaro Gattuso – Pirlo’s long-time midfield partner – stole the show with a trademark crunching-tackle on former Inter and Atalanta striker Nicola Ventola.
Hasn’t lost that fire, clearly.
And in the final moments of the match, Pirlo left the pitch to a standing ovation as he was replaced by his son Nicolo.
What a guy, what a send off.
DREAM TEAM WORLD CUP Click here to pre-register for this summer’s brilliant game
READ MORE:
- Gianluigi Buffon’s final match for Juventus will hit you in the feels
- We’ve pinpointed the exact moment Joe Hart’s career started to go up in flames
- Andrea Pirlo would play hilarious pranks on Gennaro Gattuso when the pair were teammates
The greatest show on Earth just got that bit more exciting.
That’s because the Dream Team World Cup game is coming ahead of this summer’s tournament.
Dream Team World Cup
- Completely free to enter
- £50m budget and 20 transfers throughout the tournament
- £175k total prizepot (for UK players only)
- PRE-REGISTER FOR DREAM TEAM WORLD CUP NOW
The game officially launches on June 1 – but you can pre-register for the game now.
If you’re an existing Dream Team customer the World Cup game now appears in the app or you can enter here, but if you’re not follow these simple steps:
- Download the Dream Team app
- Create an account
- Click on the World Cup banner below in the app and follow the pre-registration instructions
From Russia with a whole lot of love.
