5 football players who remained friends despite playing for rival teams

#2 Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta

Pirlo and Nesta celebrate their last trophy together in 2011 (source: The Sun)

Although their friendship began during their time in Milan, Andrea Pirlo and Alessandro Nesta remained friends well after the midfielder left to Juventus in 2011. Nesta who is fondly called ‘Sandro’ by Pirlo joined the club in 2002 while Andrea joined Milan a year before in 2001. Together, they won the Scudetto, Champions League and the Italian Cup with Milan while they also won the World Cup with the national team in 2006.

Pirlo describes in his autobiography about how he would play FIFA with Alessandro Nesta every time they had a break from training sessions. Pirlo left Milan to join Juve in 2011 while Nesta stayed another year with the club. Although Juventus are not Milan’s biggest rivals, the rivalry between the teams were heated after the all-Italian Champions league final in 2003.

“Friendship does exist in football and we are very close, so it's a shame to see him leave, but it is only right that he chooses his path; Pirlo is one of the last who can be called a football genius,” said Nesta after Pirlo left to Juve.