While his great contemporary Xavi said he wanted at least 100 touches of the ball per game, Pirlo was an entirely different animal. As Marcello Lippi, the man who managed Pirlo to a World Cup winners’ medal, put it: “Andrea was a silent leader. It doesn’t really seem possible that both players played at the same time, let alone on the same team and created a goal like this. Pirlo’s sliding no-look assist has a valid claim to being the greatest assist in the history of the game, such were the stakes involved. He was the beating heart of the Italy team that won the World Cup; he orchestrated every move with nuance and patience.

Source: The Guardian November 09, 2017 12:43 UTC