Date of birth: 19 May 1979 (age 33)
Place of birth: Flero, Lombardy, Italy
Playing position: Midfielder
Current club: Juventus (Italy)
A year ago AC Milan seemed to suggest they thought Andrea Pirlo was finished.
He was 31, had just spent a frustrating season largely interrupted by injuries and in which he had lost his starting berth to new signing Mark van Bommel.
He had come to the end of his contract but after 10 years with the seven-time European champions, Milan only saw fit to offer the elegant playmaker a one-year extension.
Pirlo was hurt, he felt he was worth more than that.
After all, he was several years younger than the likes of Gennaro Gattuso, Massimo Ambrosini, Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi, all of whom could hardly expect more than the year they were offered.
So he decided to move on but his destination was more than a surprise.
He went to Juventus, who had just failed to even qualify for Europe and were in crisis following a second successive seventh-placed finish.
Those who thought Pirlo still had it in him to perform at the highest level thought he could have gone to a team playing Champions League football.
And those who concurred that he was finished were surprised a team of Juve's size were turning to him to resurrect their fortunes.
But he did that and then some.
Pirlo proved he was as good as ever this last season, proving to be the catalyst to everything good that Juve did, in particular winning the title, the second in a row for him and his third in total.
He set the relentless tempo that overwhelmed many of Juve's opponents, he was the link between defence and attack and he was often the player picking up the loose ball when opponents only half cleared it.
And then there are the statistics.
Pirlo provided more assists than any other player in Serie A but perhaps more importantly he played more passes than anyone else.
Not by a few, though, by about 50 percent.
If ever there was a player in Italy who could fit effortlessly into the Barcelona line-up, it would be Pirlo.
An uncanny knack of finding space, the ability, despite a frail frame, to hold onto the ball with a feint here and turn there, pinpoint passing and a willingness to look for and find the ball, Pirlo is the archetypal Barca player.
Quite apart from that, he is the most important player in the Italy set-up.
A main reason for that is the system favoured by coach Cesare Prandelli which often involves a pair of deep-lying forwards and no out-and-out striker.
With two attackers dropping deep, the midfielders need to break beyond the opposition defence and Pirlo's pinpoint passing is one of the main reasons that works.
Prandelli says he doesn't want to give opposition teams a point of reference, in other words he wants their central defenders to be constantly feeling uncomfortable as the men they're supposed to be marking drift deep or wide, trying to pull them out of position.
Pirlo's ability to find space to receive a pass back from a forward and then release a breaking team-mate is a massive weapon for Italy.
What's more, he has many years of international experience and is one of the few remaining 2006 World Cup winners still part of the current squad.
His experience will be vital at a tournament where several of Italy's first choice starters will be either playing their first international tournament or will be playing a leading role at one for the first time.
Andrea Pirlo
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