With the market currently being inundated by top soccer books, it’s easy to get lost in the muddle and not read all of them.
That said, if you read one soccer book this year, Andrea Pirlo’s autobiography should be right at the top of your list.
The veteran heartbeat of the Italian national team, Pirlo, 34, shows his mastery of a soccer ball is matched by his way with words. With extracts of his book titled I Think Therefore I Play leaking out, Pirlo’s jovial spirit shines through as his laid back approach to playing the beautiful game is obviously reminiscent of the way he lives his life.
From confessing his love of the PlayStation, to describing the ‘mafia-style’ fight between Oguchi Onyewu and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at AC Milan, Pirlo’s cheeky and matter of fact approach to telling the story of his career will become a must read. The Juventus superstar, who also chats about potential moves to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea breaking down, leaves it all on the table in a truly entertaining read.
Here are some of the best extracts from the bearded midfielders’ autobiography.
On Antonio Cassano...
“Take someone like Antonio Cassano. He says he’s slept with 700 women in his time, but he doesn’t get picked for Italy any more. Deep down, can he really be happy? I certainly wouldn’t be.”
On pressure...
“I don’t feel pressure ... I don’t give a toss about it. I spent the afternoon of Sunday, 9 July, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup.”
On the PlayStation...
“After the wheel, the PlayStation is the best invention of all time. And ever since it’s existed, I’ve been Barcelona, apart from a brief spell way back at the start when I’d go Milan. The head-to-heads with ‘Sandro [Nesta] were pure adrenaline. I’d go Barcelona and so would Sandro. Barça v Barça. The first player I’d pick was the quickest one, Samuel Eto’o, but I’d still end up losing a lot of the time. I’d get pissed off and hurl away my controller before asking Sandro for a rematch. And then I’d lose again.”
On Gattuso...
“Rino’s word was law at Milan, and anyone new to the club was aware that the first thing they had to do if they made a mistake was explain themselves to him. Just having that knowledge drastically reduced the chances of people f****** up.”
On the Onyewu vs. Ibrahimovic fight...
“I saw them laying into one another like two bullyboys from the roughest estate. They looked like they were trying to kill each other: there were definitely some broken ribs, despite silence and denials from the king’s buglers who said it was just a ‘lively confrontation’. Those of us who’d witnessed it were put in mind of a mafia-style settling of the scores.”