Farewell Andrea Pirlo, Football’s last artist in an era of Athletes

And just like any great player, he proved his doubters wrong when many wrote him off after Milan ended their 10-year love affair by releasing him in 2011. In his 33rd year, he enjoyed perhaps the best individual season of his career. He was the catalyst for new club Juventus, who had been in the doldrums since the Calciopoli crisis, inspiring them to the Scudetto without losing a game before starring at Euro 2012 – where he was unplayable in the knockout victories over England and Germany.

He was named Serie A Player of the Year, retaining the honour in the next two seasons as the Bianconeri built a dynasty. Juve are currently on a six-year Serie A-winning stretch. The only true disappointment during his stint in Turin was his final game for the club in 2015 as Juve suffered a 3-1 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in Berlin. He was reduced to tears on the Olympiastadion pitch as he narrowly missed out on a historic treble.

His two-and-a-half years at New York City FC have also been mixed at best, scoring just one goal, but by the time he arrived in the United States it was clear he was winding down his career.

Indeed, he has created more than enough history during a glittering career. He has won almost every major title for club and country - six Scudetti, two Champions Leagues, a World Cup and European Under-21 Championship among 19 team honours. Some insiders believe he would have won the Ballon d’Or in 2012 had Italy not lost that year’s final of the European Championship – the one elite trophy to elude him.

His career is full of unforgettable moments that will still be played on highlight reels 50 years from now. From his Panenka penalty against England at those Euros to his reverse assist to Fabio Grosso six years earlier during the most dramatic ending to a World Cup semi-final in Dortmund. Then there was his sublime chipped ball for Roberto Baggio to famously round Edwin van der Sar in 2001, his free kick versus Real Madrid in 2009 and another stunning set piece against Mexico on the occasion of his 100th Italy cap.

“Pirlo is a genius. Together with Baggio, I think he’s the greatest talent that Italian football has produced in the last 25 years,” gushed Gianluigi Buffon.

"History will remember him as one of the best ever for sure. He has achieved everything," Pirlo's former team-mate Samuele Dalla Bona told Us when his planned retirement was announced last month.

What is certain is that there will never be another player as unique as Pirlo. For not only is he Italy’s best ever midfielder and one of the all-time greats in his role – he is perhaps football’s last pure artist in an era of athletes.