Andrea Pirlo is yet another live example to aptly exemplify the old adage of age being just a number. The 35-year old Italian midfielder has outshone all the players on the field in the team’s first World Cup match against England, where he created a record of most successful passes (he completed 103 out of the 108 he attempted during the match).
The English defence might not be the best in the world but they did fall like dominoes against Pirlo’s quick reflexes. He had a vital role to play in both of Italy’s goals that evening as he assisted the first one and scored the second goal through a free kick. He covers vast ground during the span of a game and can be found occupying nearly every single position at one point in time of the game or another. This makes it hard for any defence to mark him individually as he unpredictably flits across the pitch and scores fast goals. His talent to pass and thus enable goal-scoring chances have also resulted in him being nicknamed ‘The Architect’ by his national teammates. Pirlo’s rapid style of playing is the best of playing a rather frustrating (for the opposition) passing game without compromising on the attack.
He is also able to hold of the defence to a reasonably well degree and isn’t thrown off his game (or off his passing!) too easily. He is seen to pose a puzzle for the defence as they cannot really determine where he will pass next or to which part of the pitch he will direct the game to. He is a true playmaker in that his moves create many a scoring opportunity, and he is one of the best midfielders football has seen. With a team that is able to pass without stagnating at merely the passing level, Pirlo might just be able to take his team past he round of 16 and into the battle at the quarter finals.
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