The midfielder commented on his audacious penalty kick; stating his intent was to unsettle the English goalkeeper, and stated he was humbled by all the praise.
The former AC Milan regista was talking to the press before their semi-final clash against the Germans, and reflected on his panenka against the Three Lions.
Pirlo has been widely regarded as the best in his role and has gone head to head with the best midfielders during Italy’s journey to the semi-finals. The Italian went up against the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Luka-Modric-c22857, Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas
in the group stages of the European Championships. More recently, he went toe to toe with the best English midfielder, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Steven-Gerrard-c34196, and he dominated the midfield battle against the Three Lions skipper.
Pirlo’s penalty-kick in the quarter-final shootout boosted the morale of his team-mates and subsequently deflated the mood in the English camp. Pirlo reflected back on his penalty and what made him use such an audacious method
of converting his penalty kick. He commented:
“I saw Hart was practically down on the ground already, so I tried it. I didn’t think about what would happen if I’d got it wrong, it was just a spontaneous thing. Hart looked very confident in himself, so I thought we had to bring
him down a peg or two.”
Pirlo conceded that all the plaudits showered at him by the footballing fraternity humbled him, and was happy with it. He further went on to state that his club and country captain had tried to make sure that nerves did not creep
into the players, which was extremely effective.
He was quoted during his press conference to have said:
“The nicest thing about all this was when my football colleagues complimented me for the penalty. That is always pleasing. Gigi Buffon reassured us all before the penalties and made us feel calm. He was proved right.”
Many players from all around the world used various platforms to praise Pirlo, most notably through Twitter. Everyone was left stunned by the cheek of the Azzurri midfielder to try such an audacious strike when nerves got the better
off many players.
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