News & Updates

Thirty-five-year-old was successful with 103 of his 108 passes in a sweltering Manaus, the best record of any player at the World Cup so far It was not as if  England  had been taken by surprise. Ever since the World Cup  draw was made six months ago, Roy Hodgson has been answering questions about Andrea Pirlo and contemplating how best to negate his threat. But even then, in the extreme 30C heat of the Amazon jungle, the man the Brazilian locals now call ‘Pirlinho’ did what every genuinely world-class player does. He adapted, seized the moment and still imparted his vast influence on the occasion. Pirlo famously out-passed the entire England squad during their Euro 2012 quarter-final with  Italy  and, although it was marginally more competitive on Saturday, the statistics were again emphatic. Since records began in 1966, no team has completed a World Cup match with a superior passing accuracy than the 93.19 per cent that Italy achieved on Saturda...