I copied Beckham, Ronaldinho’s free-kick technique: Pirlo

Bengaluru, November 30: Former Italy international Andrea Pirlo has revealed that his set-piece ability improved during his stint at AC Milan where he stole the ideas from players like David Beckham, Ronaldinho and Clarence Seedorf.

In his prime years, the World Cup winner was lauded for his ability from dead-ball situations from which he scored some extraordinary goals.

Pirlo spent 10 fruitful years at Milan and during which, the World Cup winner played with some big names like Seedorf, Ronaldinho, Beckham etc.

And now while talking about his big secret of producing magical balls through set pieces, Pirlo has suggested that it was during his time at Milan, he enhanced his skill while copying the techniques from players like Beckham, Ronaldinho, Seedorf etc.

Speaking to L’Equipe, the veteran midfielder said, “When I was a kid I’d take a small foam ball and try to get my shot over the couch so it would finish in the corner of the window.

“At Milan we had [David] Beckham, Ronaldinho, [Clarence] Seedorf… a lot of good kickers. We talked to each other, we watched each other and we stole each other’s secrets.

Pirlo also claimed that he tried to learn the techniques of another team-mate, Brazilian Juninho, who was also regarded as a master of free-kicks but failed to understand his execution technique and eventually had to improvise his own style.

“I used to watch Juninho’s free-kicks without being able to figure out how he hit them. I tried and tried until eventually, I came up with my own way to strike them.

“I was by myself trying all types of free-kicks.”

The 38-year-old recently retired from football after his stint at MLS with New York FC.