Pirlo available for Italy duty

Rome: Andrea Pirlo may yet don an Italy shirt again despite suggesting after the World Cup

he would move aside for younger talent, new national team boss Antonio Conte said Sunday. “I wanted to be sure that he still had the same old fire,” Conte said on Italian television. “He’s a warrior. He told me he was available and that’s good enough for me,” conte added. Pirlo is currently sidelined until October with a hip injury, which means he will miss

Italy’s friendly with the Netherlands in Bari on Friday

and the Euro 2016 qualifier against Norway in Oslo the following Tuesday. Conte coached Pirlo at Juventus for the last three seasons, in which they won the Serie A title every year, before taking over as national

coach. Conte refused to be drawn over Mario Balotelli who

he omitted from the squad.