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Andrea Pirlo: Where Does He Rank Among the Best Italian Midfielders Ever?
Published: April 19, 2013
Despite a blip on the radar in 2010-11, Pirlo has maintained peak performance far longer than many international-level midfielders. But he will be 34 years old by the end of this season and 35 by the beginning of the World Cup next year in Brazil. No one has announced it, but it's generally accepted that the World Cup will almost certainly be his final tournament on the international stage.
With that in mind, it's time to start looking back on Pirlo's career and putting it into perspective amongst the greats of Italian soccer. In a country known for its defense and its crafty forwards, Italian midfielders are not known throughout the annals of the game's history as much as those of Spain, Brazil or Germany. Make no mistakes, however. As the curtain falls on his career, l'architetto is probably the greatest of them all.
From the overly simplistic point of view of total international caps, Pirlo is head and shoulders above the rest. The closest midfielder to Pirlo that isn't currently in the mix for the national team is former Juventus great Marco Tardelli with 81. Pirlo is 16 caps ahead of him. Barring injuries, by the end of the group stage of the Confederations Cup in June he'll be the first Italian who isn't a goalkeeper or defender to become a centurion.
A quick look at the other individual accolades on Pirlo's résumé is equally impressive. At the junior level, Pirlo was the Golden Player and top scorer of the 2000 U-21 European Championships.
He won the Bronze Ball at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where he was also on the tournament all-star team, led the tournament...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football
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