Andrea Pirlo

Pirlo has played for Brescia (1994-98 and 2001), Internazionale (1998-99 and 2000), Reggina (1999-2000), and AC Milan (2001-). With Milan, he won one scudetto and one Champions League title. For Italy, Pirlo played at Euro 2004, was part of the team at the 2000 Summer Olympics and won the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics.

He is generally regarded as one of the foremost midfield players in the world today, especially in the Serie A. He is possessed of extraordinary passing talent and creativity, thriving in the deep-seated playmaking role in which he is employed at AC Milan. At AC Milan he is considered the only irreplaceable player as the team's game is focused around his ability to dictate play and control the game's tempo. A dead ball specialist, he is the first choice taker of penalties, corners and free kicks. In the 2005-2006 season Pirlo introduced a new free kick shooting technique that deploys the last three toes of his foot that puts him on the verge of breaking the all-time Milan free kick record – he has scored four from free-kicks in half a season, whereas the previous record, set in the 1989-90 season, was four in a season (three by Demetrio Albertini and one by Frank Rijkaard).

While his technical footballing ability is virtually unmatched, he lacks the physical stature of the traditional defensive midfielder. His defensive qualities have improved considerably however they are still limited. Nevertheless, at AC Milan this is hardly a problem as he is backed up in midfield by the physical power-houses of Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf.