VIDEO: Fusing Science With Art - Pirlo And Baggio

KIEV, UKRAINE – JULY 01: Andrea Pirlo of Italy with the ball during the UEFA EURO 2012 final match between Spain and Italy at the Olympic Stadium on July 1, 2012 in Kiev, Ukraine.

Various experts from different fields have regularly tried to provide examples on the best possible combination of science and art. We hear of it in music, in medicine, in marketing and in basically every aspect of every profession you could possibly think of.

Football is no different. With the limitless number of extremely gifted athletes who existed in the past and currently do so today, one will lose count of such combinations seen since the beginning of the sport.

My all time favorite would be the legendary Italian permutation of Andrea Pirlo and Roberto Baggio against Juventus, while they were teammates at Brescia.

Ahh…Roberto Baggio – the ponytailed assassin. His most illustrious moment in a Brescia jersey came because of Pirlo.

Brescia, trailing by a goal against Baggio’s ex club – Juventus, had to wait till the 86^th minute to see that combination.

We observe science here. Pirlo gets the ball midway, runs a few yards, looks up and lofts it with the accuracy he possesses.

On the receiving end we see pure art. Baggio brings the ball down with one magnificent touch that eventually takes it away from Edwin Van Der Sar. He then puts the ball away into the empty net. Just two touches to execute this exceptionally beautiful play.

The headlines shouted Baggio’s name the next day and the world recognized Pirlo as the originator. Few will agree, that this creative combination is hard to come by in today’s game. The Italians, exclusively, will be among that few.