Pirlo explains the funny reason why Hodgson used to call him ‘idiot’
“I retired because I didn’t want people to think that I was over after a wrong long pass or a wrong shot on target. I didn’t want people to think I couldn’t handle it anymore and I’ve never had a plan B. I begun to play football with my brothers with sponge balls and I’ve always thought that football was in my destiny.”
“My ideal team has Buffon in goal, Nesta at the back, Gattuso in midfield and Ronaldo – the phenomenon – up front. I worked with some amazing managers during my career. Mazzone changed my position on the pitch, it’s thanks to him that I became a ‘regista’. Ancelotti is like a brother to me but Conte is the best one. I was lucky enough to meet him in 2011 and he has really taught me a lot. Hodgson? He used to call me ‘Pirla’.”
Here comes the problem because the world ‘Pirla’ not ‘Pirlo’ means ‘idiot’ in Lombardy, the region Pirlo’s from.
“He didn’t do it on purpose”, Pirlo added. “It was a problem of language, he didn’t know Italian very well.”
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