AC Milan: Pirlo on Gattuso - Part 1
- Matthew Klimberg
In his autobiography, “I Think Therefore I Play,” Pirlo spoke openly, and hilariously, about the midfielder who was hard as nails. Here’s an excerpt from that book:
With [Gattuso] not being a man of letters, or a distinguished orator, whenever Rino opened his mouth the dressing room turned into the Rio Carnival. People would be blowing raspberries, making trumpet noises, doing the conga. Always the same reaction. We'd never let him finish before we started with the piss taking.
I'd call him "terrone " (a derogatory term for a southern Italian) and he'd hit me. To get my own back, I'd nick his phone and send a bunch of texts to Ariedo Braida, our general manager. This one time, Rino de Janeiro, like me, was waiting for his contract to be renewed. I did the negotiating on his behalf by means of a single message. "Dear Ariedo, if you give me what I want, you can have my sister.
Rino found out and gave me a beating before ringing up Braida. "It's just one of Pirlo's stupid jokes," he said. I've always wondered if the response was, "what a pity.
Stay tuned, we'll have more excerpts throughout the day.