...has retired from football at 38. He achieved near perfection in terms of control and feel for the ball, vision for teammates and anticipating the movements of opponents; he was the definition of a player who seems to slow down the time when he's on the ball. He was an artist, but also a fierce competitor who in the decisive moments has always seemed to find a fresh idea – like that pass in the extra time of the World Cup semi-final against Germany or that memorable "Panenka" penalty against England. After his career seemed to go on a downward spiral with AC Milan, at age 31 he has embraced a new challenge at Juventus and reached ever greater heights, winning Serie A player of the year award for 3 years in a row following that move. I tried watching him in MLS here in New York, but just couldn't bear seeing the profound gulf in class between Pirlo and most of his teammates. All in all, he is probably going to remain my favorite player of all time.
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