Inter Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has earned comparisons to NFL legend Tom Brady for his performance against Juventus.
Today’s print edition of Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport, via FCInterNews, hail the Turkish international’s quarterback-like influence at the heart of the Nerazzurri midfielder in the Serie A win.
It is not uncommon for the role of holding midfielders in association football to earn comparisons to that of the quarterback in American football.
The regista position in midfield has the task of setting up the team’s attacking moves.
Former AC Milan and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Calhanoglu is the player who plays that role for Inter.
The 29-year-old plays at the base of the Nerazzurri midfield because of his range of passing.
Calhanoglu is capable of keeping it simple with crisp, short passes.
But the Turk also has a real eye for more ambitious passes. Calhanoglu can “spray” the ball around the pitch with long diagonal passes.
These kinds of ambitious passes need to be played with pinpoint accuracy and weight to come off. And coming from the feet of Calhanoglu, they frequently are.
Hakan Calhanoglu Earns Tom Brady Comparisons For Display Vs Juventus
If performances by holding midfielders are to be compared to the standard of NFL quarterbacks, there are different levels of quality.
And few comparisons to NFL players if any would entail higher praise than Tom Brady.
The 46-year-old is hugely decorated on both an individual and team level.
Brady has won the Super Bowl on seven occasions – six with the New England Patriots and once in a late-career triumph with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There have also been numerous individual accolades for Brady across a career spanning more than two decades.
This kind of success on such a consistent basis for twenty years was the result of Brady’s unerring eye for a pass and ability to read games and dictate his team’s offensive moves.
And for Tuttosport, that is the level that Calhanoglu was at against Juventus playing in his own “quarterback” role.
The Turk’s most eye-catching pass was a stunning long diagonal ball to Federico Dimarco.
That pass in the first half completely split the entire Juventus defense. It did not result in a goal, but it would have certainly merited one.
But that highlight reel moment was only the tip of the iceberg for Calhanoglu’s performance.
Like a top NFL quarterback, the 29-year-old recognized that there was more needed to win than just “touchdown passes.”
Calhanoglu controlled the match in possession at a standard very rarely seen.
