WELCOME to the continuing ”ª#‎JoySports”¬ buildup ahead of UEFA EURO 2016, which kicks off on June 10 in France. The series started on May 10, and lasts until kickoff. Get ready for blasts from past Euro tournaments! Our coverage is brought to you by Pepsi.

Yesterday - Monday - Italy put out their provisional squad for Euro 2016. Click here for that story. 

Perhaps, understandably, Mario Balotelli was not in it. Shockingly, Sebastian Giovinco was not there. But a name that caught the eye and won't be there is the subject of this throwback: Andrea Pirlo. While discussing his absence from the side among the Joy Sports team, someone quipped about his outrageous bit of skill four years ago. 

So we thought to bring it back.

As he approached the twilight of his career in Europe - before he signed for New York City and effectively retired to his mansion in lower Manhattan - Andrea Pirlo became the football hipster’s player of choice.

Whether he was orchestrating the Juventus midfield with metronomic ease or being pictured sampling the latest crop from his famous Lombardy vineyard, Pirlo matured like one of the wines he cherishes into one of the coolest footballers on the planet.

And nothing quite epitomised this cool like his penalty against England at Euro 2012.

The quarter-final between Italy and Roy Hodgson’s side in Kiev, which finished 0-0 after 120 minutes, wasn’t a fixture which will live long in the memory but thanks to Pirlo it still provided a moment of timeless genius.

Hardly renowned for their penalty prowess, England had taken a 2-1 lead in the shootout, with Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney both on target and Riccardo Montolivo missing.

Could Pirlo, the man who had just made 131 passes in normal time - 87 more than England’s highest passer - keep calm and pull the Azzurri level? You bet.

With Joe Hart flapping and waving around in his goal, Pirlo strolled up to the ball and dinked it nonchalantly down the middle leaving the Manchester City goalkeeper sprawled on his backside and with a face as scarlet as his kit.

And in that moment, Italy had effectively won. Ashley Young and Ashley Cole both missed their spotkicks, Antonio Nocerino and Alessandro Diamante slotted theirs. Italy were into the semis.

Asked about his moment of genius afterwards Pirlo said it was the hyperactive Hart, who had been shouting at Italy’s penalty takers in a bid to put them off, who inspired him to recreate the ‘Panenka’ in Ukraine.

And while Antonin Panenka can lay claim to being the man who did it first, not many have quite made it look as effortlessly cool as Andrea Pirlo.

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READ THESE IN OUR SERIES:

When Portugal crashed England's golden generation in 2004
Euro '88: Van Basten's injury to glorious superstardom story
When Denmark stunned the world to win Euro 1992 
When Zidane led France to edge Figo's Portugal at Euro 2000 
When Germany broke English hearts at Euro '96
When Bierhoff checked Czechs at Euro '96
19-year old Ronaldo leads Portuguese to beat Holland

The #JoySports Euro buildup series is brought you by Pepsi, Still 1 Ghana cedi pε!