Andrea Pirlo's best-selling autobiography, Penso Quindi Gioco (I Think, Therefore I Play) is to be published in English in the spring of next year.
Global English language rights for the Italy and Juventus footballer's story have been acquired by BackPage Press, the UK publisher whose recent titles include Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World and the popular Football Manager Stole My Life.
Pirlo has been an increasingly significant player in the Italian national team in the later stage of his career. His range of passing skills and his proficiency as a free kick specialist have won him many admirers in a country where the playmakers are held in special reverence. He is not in the class of a Gianni Rivera or a Roberto Baggio but his outstanding contribution to Italy’s run to the final of Euro 2012 confirmed his place among the best midfielders of his generation.
He never lacked quality. In a career that has seen him play for both Milan clubs as well as the celebrated Old Lady of Turin, he has won three Serie A titles and two Champions League medals and was a key member of the Italy side that won the World Cup in 2006. Converted from attacking midfielder to deep-lying playmaker by Carlo Ancelotti during his stint at AC Milan, Pirlo has become known for his understated, unhurried approach on the field.
Sometimes portrayed as distant and distrustful off the field, reticent about speaking to the media, the air of mystery surrounding his true character has only been enhanced by his recently grown beard. Yet his book has been noteworthy for bringing out his sense of humour as well as the insightful wisdom you would hope for from a professional of his experience.
There are few major figures in Italian football that are not mentioned somewhere along the line. from managers Marcello Lippi, Ancelotti and Antonio Conte, to players Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf, Gigi Buffon, Kaka, Alessandro Nesta, Alessandro Costacurta, Gennaro Gattuso and Ronaldo
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is revealed as a piano player and a man with a lively fund of jokes, while Filippo Inzaghi’s pre-match routine is graphically described, right down to the accompanying smells.
On a more serious note, the book explores the achievements, characters and hurdles that have defined Pirlo's career, from rejection by Inter to the traumatic split with Milan and his renaissance at Juventus.
Penso Quindi Gioco will be translated by Mark Palmer, who previously wrote on football and rugby in Italy and the UK for the Sunday Times.
A revised and updated version of Graham Hunter's Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World
is now available.
Football Manager Stole My Life: 20 Years of Beautiful Obsession
, a lighthearted guide to the massively popular PC game, is available in paperback
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Andrea Pirlo in action for Juventus |
Pirlo has been an increasingly significant player in the Italian national team in the later stage of his career. His range of passing skills and his proficiency as a free kick specialist have won him many admirers in a country where the playmakers are held in special reverence. He is not in the class of a Gianni Rivera or a Roberto Baggio but his outstanding contribution to Italy’s run to the final of Euro 2012 confirmed his place among the best midfielders of his generation.
He never lacked quality. In a career that has seen him play for both Milan clubs as well as the celebrated Old Lady of Turin, he has won three Serie A titles and two Champions League medals and was a key member of the Italy side that won the World Cup in 2006. Converted from attacking midfielder to deep-lying playmaker by Carlo Ancelotti during his stint at AC Milan, Pirlo has become known for his understated, unhurried approach on the field.
Sometimes portrayed as distant and distrustful off the field, reticent about speaking to the media, the air of mystery surrounding his true character has only been enhanced by his recently grown beard. Yet his book has been noteworthy for bringing out his sense of humour as well as the insightful wisdom you would hope for from a professional of his experience.
There are few major figures in Italian football that are not mentioned somewhere along the line. from managers Marcello Lippi, Ancelotti and Antonio Conte, to players Paolo Maldini, Andriy Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf, Gigi Buffon, Kaka, Alessandro Nesta, Alessandro Costacurta, Gennaro Gattuso and Ronaldo
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is revealed as a piano player and a man with a lively fund of jokes, while Filippo Inzaghi’s pre-match routine is graphically described, right down to the accompanying smells.
On a more serious note, the book explores the achievements, characters and hurdles that have defined Pirlo's career, from rejection by Inter to the traumatic split with Milan and his renaissance at Juventus.
Penso Quindi Gioco will be translated by Mark Palmer, who previously wrote on football and rugby in Italy and the UK for the Sunday Times.
A revised and updated version of Graham Hunter's Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World
Football Manager Stole My Life: 20 Years of Beautiful Obsession
Home