Italian media celebrates Liam Brady's 70th birthday - 'A true gentleman of the midfield'

"In 1980, the borders reopened, and the steely-eyed Irishman left Arsenal for Juventus."

Footballer Liam Brady at his new club Juventus after he was signed by the Italian side from Arsenal, for a fee of just over £500,000. September 1980. (Photo by Monte Fresco/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

The Italian media haven't neglected to mark the 70th birthday of Ireland great Liam Brady, born February 13, 1956 in Whitehall, Dublin.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, still Italy's most widely read paper, paid generous tribute to "The Ice Irishman" and recalled the summer of 1980, when he arrived at Juventus from Arsenal, as a pivotal one in the evolution of Italian football.