Andrea Pirlo is one of the finest footballers of his generation - a
World Cup and Champions League winning playmaker who has redefined his
position at the base of midfield, and one of the most deadly free-kick
takers the game has known.
This is his story, in his words. It is written with a level of humour
and insight which confound his image as a dead-eyed assassin on the
field of play. All the big names are in there: Lippi, Ancelotti, Conte,
Maldini, Shevchenko, Seedorf, Buffon, Kaka, Nesta, Balotelli,
Costacurta, Gattuso, Berlusconi and Ronaldo ('the real one'). But
they're not always in their work clothes.
We hear Berlusconi playing the piano and telling 'various types of
jokes' at Milan's training ground. We see Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi
drawing Nesta's ire as they take him on a mystery tour of the German
countryside in a hire car days before a World Cup semifinal. And we
smell the aftermath of Filippo Inzaghi's graphically described prematch
routine.
With the 2014 World Cup being his last international tournament, this is
a timely salute to a special talent who may yet have one final chapter
left to write.
