Andrea Pirlo described his pride at being named Juventus head coach as he made his first public comments since Saturday’s shock appointment.
Serie A champions Juve moved swiftly after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon in the last 16 on Friday.
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Coach Maurizio Sarri was sacked the following day, with Pirlo – only recently named their Under-23s boss – promoted as his replacement on a two-year deal.
The World Cup winner took to social media on Sunday and said: “I’m deeply pleased and honoured to receive such respect and trust from Juventus.
“Ready for this amazing opportunity!”
Pirlo is now set to become a rival to Inter’s Antonio Conte, his former coach at Juve and Italy.
Conte welcomed the news as he faced the media ahead of Inter’s Europa League quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen.
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“I’m certainly very happy for Andrea,” said Conte, whose Nerazzurri finished a point behind Juve in Serie A.
“Besides what he gave me at a football level, we are talking about an exceptional person.
“What I think if there are players who I previously coached and are now coaching is that it means that I’m getting old!”.
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