Cheeky Pirlo shows class with 'Panenka' says Kopke

26 June 2012 09:47

Italy's 33-year-old man-of-the-match Andrea Pirlo has earned praise after he converted their a spot-kick with an audacious 'Panenka' style chip straight down the centre of England goalkeeper Joe Hart's goal on Sunday.

German 'keeper coach Andreas Kopke said the cheeky chip showed the Italian midfielder's class.

"Taking the penalty like that was cheeky, especially with Italy 2-1 down and if that hadn't gone in, they would probably have gone out," said Kopke.

"As a keeper, you don't really reckon that someone would dare take a penalty in that fashion.

"Pirlo had a very good match, he really took control of the game, especially when the English were beaten by their own fatigue.

Source: AFP