Turin (AP) - Former world champion Andrea Pirlo is surprisingly the new coach at Juventus Turin and succeeds Maurizio Sarri. The Italian soccer record champions announced this just a few hours after separating from Sarri.
Pirlo signed a two-year contract until June 30, 2022 and will take on his first coaching job with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo's team. The original plan was for the 2006 world champion to train Juve's U23s for the coming season. Sarri, who was only signed by Turin in summer 2019, failed on Friday in the Champions League round of 16 at Olympique Lyon.
Italian media had speculated about prominent coaches such as Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi, Real Madrid's Zinedine Zidane or the former Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino as possible successors.
The 41-year-old Pirlo ended his active career in New York City in the MLS at the end of 2017. With Juventus, the former midfield director was four times champion and one cup winner between 2011 and 2015.
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Juventus announcement