Euro 2012 Man of the Day: Andrea Pirlo

The stats tell you that Andrea Pirlo was the best player on show last night, but we all know the real reason he’s our Man of the Day.

We could invent any number of stats for Andrea Pirlo last night and you would find them plausible. With just two hairs out of place in 90 minutes he had the fewest total by an Italian since Gianluca Vialli. With zero beads of sweat produced in 120 minutes he beat Iker Casillas’ record of 0.5 against Ireland in the group stage and it is now alleged he has the biggest pair of you-know-whats ever to appear in a major tournament.

In short, Pirlo was majestic last night. True, England let him lord it around the middle, with Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker not getting anywhere near him all game. Partly a function of England’s deep-lying plan, partly a function of their fatigue and partly a function of the Juve man’s ability to find space, he controlled this game for the entire 120 minutes.

That Andrea Pirlo is a bit special is hardly news to anyone. A decade at AC Milan was the perfect stage for his skills and he switched to the Old Lady last summer and promptly helped them to a Scudetto too. But it is his national team now that need him more than ever.

The likes of Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Gianluca Zambrotta, Gennaro Gattuso and Mauro Camoranesi are gone. Their voices are gone. Captain Gianluigi Buffon continues to berate his side from the goal but Pirlo runs the show quietly, modestly. The man who coached Italy to that Word Cup triumph in 2006, Marcello Lippi, said of him: “Pirlo is a silent leader. He speaks with his feet.” That’s just perfect, isn’t it?

A quick look at some real numbers before we get to ‘that’ penalty. Last night Pirlo, at 33, ran 15.2kms, and was still looking pretty fresh when the 120 minutes were up. He touched the ball 126 times, created six chances and didn’t commit one foul in the entire game. All incredible bits of data, and worthy of winning our Man of the Day gong alone.

But the real reason he gets the nod here is his final act, the brilliant penalty. The man himself has already explained his reasons for doing it here and it was as emphatic a penalty in a shoot-out as we have seen. Not only did he level the scores, but the manner he did it changed the tone of the penalties and put all the pressure back on England. It worked spectacularly.

One more look then...

The skill level of the kick was high, but the confidence to do it was astronomical. Pirlo is no stranger to pressure. He scored a penalty in the 2006 World Cup final shoot-outon the way to beating France. He scored a penalty in the 2008 European Championships group stage to knock out the same side.

Yes, he did see his spot-kick saved by Jerzy Dudek on a famous night in Istanbul in 2005 but we all know that trophy was Liverpool bound no matter what Milan did. Seven years on from that defeat he looks as good as ever.

Pirlo has seen it all, done it all and almost won it all. All that is left is a European Championship medal with Italy. It would be a brave move to bet against him completing the set considering the mood he is in right now. And Germany have never beaten Italy at a tournament.

We might be writing about Andrea Pirlo again before this tournament is out.