Alvaro Arbeloa is a huge admirer of Andrea Pirlo ahead of the Confederations Cup semi-final. “He has given football lessons to the world.”
Spain beat Italy 4-0 a year ago, having drawn 1-1 in the group phase of the same competition, and come face to face on Thursday.
Alvaro Arbeloa is a huge admirer of Andrea Pirlo ahead of the Confederations Cup semi-final. “He has given football lessons to the world.”
Spain beat Italy 4-0 a year ago, having drawn 1-1 in the group phase of the same competition, and come face to face on Thursday.
“Italy will want to prove the Euro 2012 Final was a freak occurrence, so they are going to be very motivated,” said Arbeloa in his Press conference.
“It was a very strange game, as in the second half there was almost no pressure or tension at all. We felt like champions from the moment Italy went down to 10 men.
“Pirlo is back from injury and he has been giving football lessons to the world for years. This is a different Italy to in the past, as they have some very technically gifted players with Pirlo pulling the strings.
“The important thing is that Spain maintain their style.”
Mario Balotelli and Ignazio Abate are out of action for the rest of the tournament due to injury.
“We all know how good Balotelli is. He is a different player, the kind who can change a game, whether it’s scoring a hat-trick or getting himself sent off. You don’t know what’s going to happen with him.”