News about Andrea Pirlo

Stanislav Lobotka is the ultra-crafty playmaker aiming to follow in the footsteps of Andrea Pirlo and Luka Modric by passing England into submission. Standing at 5ft 6ins, with his unfussy haircut and understated manner, Lobotka looks an unlikely modern footballer. Yet anyone who watches him play is unlikely to forget him in a hurry. Operating at the heart of Slovakia's central three, Lobotka is an old-style midfield artist for the modern game. Like an expert snooker or chess player, he is always thinking three or four steps ahead.

SAMI MOKBEL AT THE FRANKFURT ARENA: The experiment was brave and its intentions were admirable - but sometimes you have to accept the inevitable. Gareth Southgate will surely do so here in Germany after this listless night. Trent Alexander-Arnold is an excellent footballer, but an international level central midfielder he simply is not. Of course he's not - he plays at right-back every week. Southgate tried. It didn't work. The England head coach and Alexander-Arnold should put it down to experience and move on.

A former Liverpool star has announced their desire to find a new club for the next season to write 'the last chapter' of their career at the age of 41.  The Anfield icon had a storied career on Merseyside, playing 394 games and winning an FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup during his nine years.  Since leaving Liverpool in 2014, the player has gone on to feature at some of the game's biggest clubs such as Bayern Munich and AC Milan, having come through the ranks at Barcelona. 

SAMI MOKBEL: With his rolled-down socks, slight frame and sharp mind, Adam Wharton is the understated wildcard making a big impression on Gareth Southgate. None of that will surprise Bayern Munich, who had designs on hijacking Crystal Palace 's swoop for the young midfielder from Blackburn in January. Thankfully for Palace, Bayern moved too late, although the Germans' interest remains. They aren't the only ones monitoring the talented 20-year-old from Lancashire who has taken the Premier League by storm. That's the unfortunate reality for clubs the size of Palace. 'We have to enjoy him while we can,' said one Eagles source.

ALVISE CAGNAZZO: While the title race may have already been decided with Inter Milan securing their 20th Scudetto (top right), there remains a lot to play elsewhere in the table in Serie A. The battle for European places remains as fierce as ever, with Juventus (centre) seemingly run out of momentum with just one win in their last five at a critical juncture of the campaign. Last season's all-conquering champions Napoli continue to flounder in mid-table, with talisman Victor Osimhen (top left) looking increasingly destined for a move abroad though he continued his fine form in front of goal in a 2-2 draw with Roma.

Since a goalkeeper reacted angrily to an opponent's Panenka-style penalty, a Brazilian football clip has gone viral. Following Antonin Panenka's breakthrough spot kick for Czechoslovakia against West Germany in 1976, where he lifted the ball to deceive a diving shot stopper, the move has gained a lot of attention among many football fans. A goalkeeper in Brazil was less interested in the rival's behavior during a penalty shootout moment shared on Instagram earlier this month.

OLIVER HOLT: Any list - your list as well as mine - can be dominated by those who are not on it. However, it should really be about the participants who are on it. This list is meant to be a salute to them and of football's rich, rich past, as well as what the game means to all of us and what players represent and why they capture something in us. You'll disagree with some of the names on the list, and you'll be correct. Another man's garbage is another man's treasure. The depth of our passion for the game and the ferocity of our opinions about the players are only two of the factors that make football so beautiful.

Antoine Mille, a French footballer, scored a penalty in his team's shootout victory over Les Herbiers, making him a contender for the worst Panenka of all time. Following a 2-2 draw between the two teams, who both play in the French third tier, the French Cup game came to spot-kicks. In the shootout, Chateauroux were victorious, winning 4-3, but not without Mille's disastrous attempt at a Penenka penalty. The striker, who had already started scoring for his team during the 90 minutes, stepped up to take the kick but it went horribly wrong from there. As the ball just trickled off the forward's feet and rolled into goalkeeper Teo Hamelin's arms, his cheeky Panenka failed miserably.

Sebastiano Esposito got to grips with boss Andrea Pirlo as the forward celebrated the victory over Lecce with his Sampdoria boss Sebastiano Esposito. On Saturday, the Serie B team won by 2-0 over their opponents, with Esposito winning both goals and not concealing his excitement at the final whistle. However, the on-loan Inter Milan star may have pushed his anniversaries a bit too far after an embrace with his manager. Esposito shook Pirlo vociferously in jubilation over Sampdoria's victory, grating the former Italian national by the scruff of his neck. Thankfully, the Blucerchiati boss took no offense to the gesture and the pair hugged in a hug after Pirlo's wild shaking.

DANNY MURPHY: James Ward-Prowse, the best set-piece taker in world football, underlined his contribution to West Ham by winning at Tottenham on Thursday night. He has what I refer to as the three Ps: posture, training, and a positive attitude. The West Ham maestro's first advantage is his posture. He has those 10-to-two feet that stick out and encourage him to get extra whip and bend on the ball, like the all-time free-kick champions David Beckham and Andrea Pirlo.

Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president, wants Major League Soccer to be the best soccer league in the country. At the Soccerex event in Miami, the apple executive met the tech giant's ambitious target for MLS. Cue believes that the league has the ability to one-up more established leagues in Europe and other regions of the world. It has been less than a year since the league's inception in February. 'When I think of America, it's the world's largest nation and the world's most [powerful] economic country,' Cue said. 'So, when I looked at soccer, people think it's crazy, but why wouldn't we have the best soccer league in the world?Why wouldn't the best players want to play here?'

Colin Kazim-Richards has alleged that Andrea Pirlo allowed his Fatih Karagumruk players to smoke during half-time breaks when working at the Turkish Super-Lig outfit. The forward left the club as a free agent over the summer, but the club did not tell Pirlo that the former Milan star spent his entire season in Istanbul. Pirlo spent less than a year with the club before he was suspended with three games remaining to play in the 2022-23 season, when the club finished ninth in the table.

Chances are that if you have been on the internet or checked social media in the last two years, you will have stumbled across a collection of images of footballers ageing gracefully. Despite being 15 years younger, you should know the type and side-by-side photographs of an obscure striker of a mid-table club in the late 1980s who now appears 72. Despite having just turned 23, there are even social media pages dedicated to footballers who seemed to be well into their fifth decade.

PETE JENSON: After a fan revolt against his likely arrival, Santi Mina, the Spanish footballer who is now on probation for sexual assault, will not be allowed to join Andrea Pirlo's Sampdoria. Mina was given the four-year sentence in 2022 as well as a 12-year restraining order, and she was told to pay 50,000 euros in damages for an assault on a woman in 2017. He was close to joining the Serie B squad, but La Repubblica, an Italian media firm, announced on Tuesday that appalled supporters had blocked the transfer.

West Ham new boy James Ward-Prowse reminds him of legendary midfielders Juninho and Andre Pirlo, according to Vladimir Coufal. Ward-Prowse has off to a promising start to life at West Ham with a goal and three assists in his first three appearances since being moved from Southampton for £30 million. Kurt Zouma's head was uncovered on his team's second goal after losing at Luton on Friday night.

Sampdoria is expected to appoint Andrea Pirlo as their new boss immediately, as the club seeks a return to Serie A. Sampdoria's new owners, according to Sky Sport, dejan Stankovic, who left the club following their demotion to Serie B. Pirlo was the second option for the role, with fellow 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Fabio Grosso turning down the job.

Sergio Aguero (left) has begged Lionel Messi (second left) to play for his seven-a-side Kings League team for one day. Aguero, 35, is chairman of Kunisports, one of 12 teams participating in the wacky competition launched by Gerard Pique and others in December. It's a strange tournament, with special advantages teams able to pick pre-kick-offs like removing an opposition player for two minutes - and it has attracted names such as Ronaldinho, Iker Casillas, and Andrea Pirlo.

As we at Liverpool in 2005, my former club Manchester City do not need another 'Miracle of Istanbul' to bring home the Champions League. City deservingly deserve the award because this season has unquestionably been Europe's best team. Inter Milan is practically unbeatable over two legs, and although it is not likely for them to win a one-off match, I'd be surprised. Having Erling Haaland as a coach gives the City players tremendous confidence because he can score out of nowhere, and Ruben Dias at the back has been as important as Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk.

After less than a season as boss of Turkish Super Lig club Fatih Karagumruk, Andrea Pirlo was fired. Pirlo signed a one-year contract in June last year to take over Karagumruk, who had just finished eighth in the previous season. Pirlo has been jettisoned from the boss's role as the Turkish top-flight season comes to an end, with the club currently ranked in ninth place.

JAKE NISSE AT MONCLAIR STATE SOCCER PARK: Wayne Rooney, 16, was a student at the University of Milan when his Man United team was defeated 3-0 by a dazzling team of actors like Andrea Pirlo and Kaka. He has now been sent by coaching to less prestigious locales. As his team ***** to the New York Red Bulls in the US Open Cup, the DC United coach manned his team at tiny Montclair State University Soccer Park in New Jersey in the US Open on Tuesday.

TOM COLLOMOSSE: Rafael Leao, the first budding global celebrity for AC Milan since Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Andrea Pirlo were in their prime. At his best, the Portuguese attacker could play in any squad, anywhere, which is why one half of a city is holding its breath as they prepare for Milan's biggest knockout game since winning the Champions League in 2007. As San Siro prepares to host its first city derby in European competition since 2005, Milan have been on tenterhooks ever since Leao hobbled off during the early stages of his team's 2-0 win over Lazio on Saturday,

TOM COLLOMOSSE: The week's events in European football make it tempting to believe we're back to the early 1990s, when the Italian game ruled the world. The final of this season's Champions League will be contested by AC Milan or Inter Milan, Juventus have qualified to the Europa League's semi-finals, and Fiorentina and Fiorentina are in the Europa Conference League semis. Italian football is making its way back.

Exclusive INTERVIEW BY TOM COLLOMOSSE: Jon Dahl Tomasson's former coworkers reads like a Who's Who's Who's Who's Who's Who of football, but the Blackburn boss is determined to knock them all out of the way as he climbs the coaching ladder. Tomasson has played in six nations, winning eight titles, including the Champions League with AC Milan in 2003, and is Denmark's top goalscorer with 52 goals in 112 games. Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko, Andrea Pirlo, Cafu, and Kaka were among his colleagues in Italy. Now the Dane is adjusting to life on the touch line. Tomasson has Blackburn in his first season in English football, competing for promotion to the Premier League against opponents with greater financial resources.

After being shown loading boxes of relief into trucks in the wake of the country's recent earthquake, Andrea Pirlo has been trying to connect with ongoing relief efforts in Turkey. The 43-year-old has been at the center of his club's efforts to help in any way possible, including loading boxes and assisting in the assembly of other parcels destined for Turkey's crisis hubs.