Andrea Pirlo has revealed that he almost joined Roma before Juventus in the summer of 2011.

Pirlo made the revelation during an appearance on Radio Radio earlier.

"Before going to Juventus, I was close to Roma," said the 40-year-old.

"There had been contacts, but in the end nothing came of them."

Roma were about to enter a new era under their American owners with former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique at the time.

The former Italy midfielder became a free agent in 2011 after 10 years at Milan.

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Sandro Tonali shook off the emotion of his Italy debut after just 30 seconds and the Brescia midfielder described himself as a mixture of Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso.

The 19-year-old came off the bench in this evening’s 5-0 victory against Liechtenstein.

“I felt wonderful, as not everyone gets to play for the Nazionale. After 30 seconds where I was a little emotional that it was really happening, I settled down,” the Brescia midfielder told Rai Sport.

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Andrea Pirlo tips Juventus for yet another Scudetto and names the player most likely to follow in his footsteps – Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.

The now retired midfielder spoke to Radio Bianconera about his time in Turin and the many players who have been compared to him ever since.

“When I came to Juve, I did it to open an era of victories. I was absolutely convinced that would happen, otherwise I would’ve gone elsewhere.

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Francesco Totti, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso and Gianluca Zambrotta will play for Azzurri Legends against Germany.

The friendly match between bygone stars will be at the Sportpark Ronhof in Fürth on October 7.

Many of these players faced off in the 2006 World Cup semi-final in Dortmund, which saw Italy emerge 2-0 winners in extra time with goals from Fabio Grosso and Alessandro Del Piero.

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Andrea Pirlo hopes Mario Balotelli can impress at Brescia and “prove” he deserves a recall to the Italy squad.

“If Balotelli chose to play for Brescia, it means he wants to get back on track and do it the right way,” Pirlo told news agency Ansa.

“If he does have the right attitude, then the rest will come as a consequence, including the Nazionale. It’s important he realises that it all depends on him. If he doesn’t prove himself on the field, then he can’t think of going anywhere.”

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Andrea Pirlo and Luca Toni are among those who have enrolled for their UEFA Pro Licence courses at Coverciano.

The Italian World Cup winners will be joined in the class of 2019-20 by Italy women’s Under-17 Coach Nazzarena Grilli and former Serie A stars Cristian Chivu, Paolo Montero, Thiago Motta and Walter Samuel.

The UEFA Pro Licence is the highest coaching certification available and, upon completion, will allow the likes of Pirlo and Toni to manage Serie A clubs.

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Brescia sensation Sandro Tonali prepares for his Serie A debut, shrugs off Andrea Pirlo comparisons and reveals Milan “rejected me.”

The 19-year-old was instrumental in helping Brescia earn promotion last term and resisted big offers from Italy and abroad.

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On this day in 2006, Italy beat France on penalties to win their fourth World Cup.

The Azzurri had come into the tournament under the shadow of the Calciopoli scandal, but a semi-final win over hosts Germany booked their place in the final.

CT Marcello Lippi opted for the same team which started the match in Dortmund, with Francesco Totti preferred to Alessandro Del Piero in attack.

It was a nightmare start for the Azzurri though, as referee Benito Archundia awarded Les Bleus a penalty after just six minutes.

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Juventus President Andrea Agnelli reportedly wants Andrea Pirlo to return to the club as a coach.

According to Tuttosport, Pirlo has been offered roles with Juve’s Under-23 and Primavera teams, both of whom have managerial vacancies.

Furthermore, he has been in ‘direct contact’ with prospective new Bianconeri boss Maurizio Sarri over forming part of the Coach’s backroom staff.

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