AC Milan's glorious history dates back to the night of the 16th of December, 1899 when Englishman Alfred Edwards formed and later became president of the newly founded Milan Cricket and Football Club. The location was the Fiaschetteria Toscana in via Berchet. The club was well frequented by English sportsmen and the top people of Milanese culture where they would discuss their team over cocktails at the American Bar. Till the breakaway on the 9th of March 1908 which led to the formation of rivals Inter, Milan FC had already won three Italian League titles. In 1926 Pietro Pirelli, a frequenter of the American Bar, decided to put his money into Milan's new stadium, the San Siro. However, Milan's English origins were out of favour with the Italian Fascist movement of the time and Milan had to wait till after World War II to start to recover. The purchase of players like Gren, Liedholm and Nordhal (Gre-No-Li) helped Milan back to the top of Italian football.

Between the years 1948 and 1966 Milan managed to finish in the top three of the Serie A each year but one, also managing to win four Serie A titles. Milan imported some top football stars to help them achieve this. Uruguayan Juan Schiaffino and Brasilian Jose Altafini were two of these stars. Milan managed to reach the final of the European Cup in 1958 only to lose 3-2 to the great Real Madrid. In 1963 Milan managed to reach the final again. This time Milan won 2-1 with both goals scored by Altafini, after Eusebio had put Benfica in front. In this team there was a figure head which was to dominate Milan's team for 15 years. His name was Gianni Rivera. Alongside him were other great players who were to influence the future of Italian soccer, Cesare Maldini, father of Paolo Maldini, and Giovanni Trapattoni, who would win the scudetto as manager for seven times. Manager of this team was Nereo Rocco who was sometimes more of a father then a manager to most players. In 1968 Milan won their first Cup Winner's Cup beating Hamburg of Germany 2-0. In 1969 Milan became Euro champions again, this time beating Johan Cruyff's Ajax 4-1 in a one sided match with Italian forward Pierino Prati scoring three goals.

This team would then go on to win the World Club Championship beating Estudiantes with an aggregate score of 4-2 in two matches. In 1979 Rivera's last season at Milan would bring to the club the much desired tenth league title and hence the honour of wearing the star on their jersey, an honour only shared by three clubs till this very day. Then came Milan darkest period. Under President Felice Colombo Milan were relegated to Serie B for match rigging. After playing themselves back to the Serie A, Milan went back down to the Serie B under President Giuseppe Farina who fled to South Africa with a fortune of players money.

Silvio Berlusconi appeared on the scene in 1986 in a spectacular but difficult takeover of the club. The first thing he did was to heavily invest in the club's youth structures and in Milanello, Milan's training grounds, making them the envy of every Italian and European club. He also courageously entrusted his nearly 40 million dollar investment into the hands of an unknown manager by the name of Arrigo Sacchi. Berlusconi's emphasis was in developing Milan's team into a business structure, full of innovative ideas and managerial style of development. Sacchi quickly invested the money entrusted to him to purchase Dutch trio Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard who together with youth prodigies like Franco Baresi, Mauro Tassotti and Paolo Maldini and some other good signings like Roberto Donadoni and Carlo Ancelotti turned Milan into an unstoppable machine, even pipping Maradona's Napoli out of a league title in 1988. Milan crushed Steau Bucharest in the European Cup final 4-0 after thrashing Real Madrid 5-0 in the semi final.

However, the work rate involved in Sacchi's hard pressing game began to take its toll and after winning another European Cup in 1990 with a solitary Rijkaard goal against Benfica, Sacchi took over the Italian national team. Milan new coach was Fabio Capello, who at the time was a manager in one of Berlusconi's companies. In his first season Capello won the Serie A title without losing a single game, starting an historic unbeaten run which was to last an incredible 58 games. Milan went on to win three consecutive titles from 1992-1994 with big scores of 7-3, 5-3, 5-1 and 8-2. Marco van Basten became Italy's all time higest scoring foreigner before injuring his ankle which prematurely ended his career. At the end of this run Milan had to face Cruyff's Barcellona in the European Cup final in Athens. Cruyff was overconfident saying that Barcellona would tear apart Milan after managing to score three times as many goals as Milan had did in thei league. Contrary to all expectations, Milan went out on an all out attack and thrashed Barcellona 4-0 with great performances by Frenchman Marcel Desailly and Montenegrin Dejan Savicevic.

The next European Cup final however, proved evasive and Milan lost 1-0 to Ajax, also due to a number of missing stars in the final. From here on Milan went into lethargy and have not recovered since. Capello was replaced by Uruguayan Oscar Tabarez, again by Arrigo Sacchi and Capello was again given the manager's driving seat. None of these changes have been effective. In the hands of new man Alberto Zaccheroni, Milan have incredibly managed to win the scudetto on his first opportunity. The only managers in the history books that managed to do this were the now legendary Nereo Rocco, Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello.

Zaccheroni lasted till middway 2001 with the duo of Cesare Maldini / Mauro Tassotti taking over. The highest achievement of this duo was the 6-0 thrashing of Inter, which will certainly go down in Milan's history books. At this time Milan were already on the look out for a new manager in Fatih Terim. The Turk brought with him some good football. However, this manager only lasted a couple of months after an inconsistent string of results Carlo Ancelotti took over.

The year 2003 was Ancelotti's year. He was entrusted with players like Nesta, Pirlo, Seedorf and Rivaldo which added quality to the team and the club under his guidance went on to win two trophies the Champions League, where they met rivals Inter in the semi-final and then Juventus in the final and three days the Coppa Italia which had been missing from the trophy room from 1977. Milan also finished third in the Serie A.


Titolo Nazionale: 1902, 1907, 1908

Scudetto: 1901, 1906, 1907, 1951, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1968, 1979, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2011

Coppa Italia: 1967, 1972, 1973, 1977, 2003

Supercoppa Italiana: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004, 2011

European Cup: 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007

European Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007

Cup Winners Cup: 1968, 1973

Coppa Intercontinentale: 1969, 1989, 1990, 2007

Coppa Latina: 1951, 1956

Factbox:

1968: Born in Milan on June 26. His father Cesare was an Italy international and captain of the AC Milan side who were the first Italian side to win the European Cup in 1963, beating Benfica in the final.

1985: Makes Serie A debut for Milan as a 16-year-old in the match against Udinese on January 20.

1988: Wins his first Italian title with Milan. Makes debut for Italy against Yugoslavia on March 31.

1989: Part of the Milan side which wins the European Cup, beating Romania's Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in Barcelona.

1990: Second European Cup triumph with a 1-0 win over Benfica. Part of the Azzurri team at the World Cup finals held in Italy who were beaten by Argentina in the semi-finals on penalties.

1992: Serie A title winner.

1993: Serie A title winner.

1994: Wins Serie A title and European Cup double, with 4-0 win over Barcelona. Part of the Italy team which reaches the World Cup final in the United States, losing on penalties to Brazil.

1996: Wins Serie A title and is part of Italy team at European championship held in England.

1998: Part of Italy team at World Cup finals who are defeated by hosts and eventual winners France in quarter-finals.

1999: Captains Milan to Serie A title.

2000: Captains Italy team beaten by 'golden goal' from David Trezeguet in final of Euro 2000. Becomes country's most-capped player when he beats Dino Zoff's record of 112 games in the World Cup qualifier against Romania at the San Siro on October 7.

2002: Italy captain at the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. Campaign ends with a shock second-round exit at the hands of the Koreans. Maldini announces retirement from national team after 126 appearances.

2003: Captains Milan to their sixth European Cup win (his fourth) with victory over Juventus on penalties at Old Trafford, Manchester.

2004: Leads Milan to Serie A title, the seventh of his career.

2005: Scores inside first minute of Milan's Champions League final against Liverpool which the Italian side eventually lose on penalties after leading 3-0 at half-time. Sets Serie A record of 571 appearances when he lines up against Treviso on September 25.

Franco Baresi



Il Capitano

Franco Baresi was the heart of the Milan back line for so long that to this day Billy Costacurta still seems to be busy looking round for him. The word ‘influential’ barely does justice to his role in the Rossoneri’s most successful side. No wonder they didn’t dare pass on the No 6 shirt after he retired.

But success did not come overnight to the man known simply as ‘Il Capitano.’ Indeed, it was his battles with adversity which turned him into such an uncompromising opponent. His performance in brushing off injury to return for the World Cup Final in 1994 was typical of the man. Anyone who knew him would have expected nothing less.

Just the name of Baresi’s birthplace, Travagliato, meaning troubled says much about his upbringing. His mother died when he was 13 and his father passed away four years later. Along with brother Giuseppe, he was effectively brought up by his sister, Lucia. They were tough times just to keep the family going.

And on the field of play life also liked to throw more difficulties than rewards in the direction of the talented youngster. As a boy he was passed over by Inter who preferred to sign up older brother Beppe. Even Milan turned him down after two trials before he finally made it on the third attempt at the age of 14.

It was 1978, as an 18-year-old, that he made his debut for the Rossoneri and the following season he played a major part in taking Milan to their tenth title. It was the end of Gianni Rivera’s era at the club. Little did they suspect they had found another ‘bandiera’ - the Italian term for a player who comes to symbolise the side he plays for.

After this impressive start there were more testing times to come as Milan went through the ignominy of relegation for their part in a corruption scandal rocking the Italian game in 1980. Two years later and the side from the San Siro were back in Serie B again - this time just because they were really not very good.

These were bleak times for the Lombardy giants which more recent converts to that faith may not properly appreciate. Ambition at the Rossonero training ground in those days was little more than dreaming of a UEFA Cup spot. It was Inter, not Milan, who were lords and masters of the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

It says much about Baresi that he came through this and was still part of the World Cup winning squad in 1982. Although his path to the first team was blocked by that other elegant libero Gaetano Scirea, it was clear his time would come. After the disastrous Mexican World Cup campaign in 1986 he got his chance and never looked back.

It was at the same time that Silvio Berlusconi took over at Milan and the club’s fortunes started to rocket. After a couple of strange signings things started to click and his side swept all before them. Franco Baresi was the conductor of some of the sweetest footballing music ever made. When the Milan defence swarmed over an opposition striker it seemed as if they had extra players on the pitch.

Baresi could time a tackle better than anyone in the game and combined that with a sharp professional brain gave him the ability to foul and get away with it. Add to that the invisible thread which seemed to link his arm to the linesman’s flag and you had one of the most complete defenders the game has ever seen.

Honours came flooding his way and few players have deserved them more. Six League titles, three European Cups, three European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and four Italian Super Cups are a pretty impressive haul. By 1997 he had realised the only way was down and decided to hang up his boots after 716 games for his club and 81 for his country.

Looking back over his glorious career he had little doubt about the best and worst moments. Everyone who watched him scale the heights of the world game would have probably chosen exactly the same ones. As football coverage threatens to reach saturation point Baresi was involved in some of the games most gripping televisual moments.

"The most beautiful and exciting moments of my career were winning the first European Cup and the first Intercontinental Cup," he said. "Knowing you are the best team in the world is a truly exhilarating experience. But I also think the Italy-Brazil World Cup Final was one of my best games, especially since it came after an injury and not even I knew if I would make it through the match," he added. "It is just a shame how the match finished. At that moment I felt as if my world had fallen in. When you get to the World Cup Final losing on penalties makes you feel powerless."

The tears he wept were shed by the whole of Italy and Milan supporters were equally inconsolable when he announced his retirement a few years later. There was not a dry eye in the house as he bid his farewell after 23 unforgettable years.

"Let us just say I’m giving up because I’m not as young as I used to be," he told his fans. "Now I have got a role as Vice-President with the task of looking after the youth side and keeping an eye out for new talent. For the time being I have no desire to be a Coach but in future who knows? I’m happy with my new post and I’ll try to help the club even though I’m no longer playing."

Nowadays Baresi is busy unearthing the new talent to make Milan a similar force at the start of this decade as they were in the last. He should certainly know a thing or two about what makes a great footballer. And if he can discover just one player anything like himself the Rossoneri will have plenty to thank him for.


Franco Baresi
Club: Milan
Born: Travagliato (Brescia), 8/5/60
Position: Defender
Ht/Wt: 1.76m/70kg
Serie A debut: Verona 1-2 Milan, 23/4/78
Club Appearances: 716
International debut: Italy 0-0 Romania, 4/12/82

International caps: 81
International goals: 1

Honours:
6 Scudetto (1979, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996)
3 European Cups (1989, 1990, 1994)
3 European Super Cups (1989, 1990, 1994)
2 Intercontinental Cups (1989, 1990)
4 Italian Super Cups (1989, 1993, 1994, 1995)
World Cup runner-up (1994)

Gunnar Nordahl




All-time Milan top scorer

Gunnar Nordahl was the most effective striker that ever played for AC Milan. His style of play was based on his enormous strength. Nordahl had another four brothers who also played football in the Swedish first division. He played in the Swedish first division at Degerfors and IFK Norkopping. His career landmarks during his time in the Swedish championship are the four championships titles won during the time he played for Norkopping and the seven goals scored against Landskrona in a championship match. He was first called to the Swedish national team in 1945. In 1948 he became the top scorer of the Olympic Games football tournament with seven goals, where he helped Sweden to win the Olymipic gold medal. It seemed that his value was too big for the Swedish championship and so it was. After he scored in the Swedish first league 149 goals in 172 matches played, he took the way of Italy, signing a contract with AC Milan. This contract is the beggining of a great era for AC Milan because Nordahl will be one of the leading players of 'The Devils' in their way of winning the most of the 50's Scudetto's (1950, 1954, 1956 and 1958) and not only.

He arrived at AC Milan on the 22nd January 1949, and in his first season wearing the red and black strips shirt, he scored an outstanding 16 goals in 15 games. Later, in AC Milan arrived his national side team mates, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, all off them forming the well known GRE-NO-LI trio.

The transfer to the Italian championship was equal for him with the retirement from the Swedish national team as the Swedish had strict rules against professionalism in sports. In his national team career, he scored 44 goals in 30 matches, on of the highest average ever, almost 1,5 goals a match. He played for AC Milan in eight seasons, in five of them being the Serie A top scorer. He scored for Milan a total of 210 goals. At the end of his career he played in AS Roma for two seasons. For AC Milan, he scored in Serie A a total of 210 goals.

He also contributed in a 7-1 AC Milan win against Juventus Torino. Unfortunately, he died in 1995, and he will remain for ever in history as one of the most powerful and greatest players of the game.

Trophies won:
::4 x Swedish title
::1 x Swedish cup
::2 x Italian title
::2 x Coppa Latina
::1 x Olympic Gold Medal
::4 x Swedish Top Scorer
::1 x Olympic Games Top Scorer
::5 x Italian League Top Scorer

Gianni Rivera



Bambino d’Oro - Golden Boy

Every Serie A club has what is known in Italy as a Un Bandiera - a player who symbolises that club. At Milan that player is Gianni Rivera. A graceful and elegant inside forward, Rivera became known as the Golden Boy. He wore the No 10 shirt from 1961 to 1979 and the 501 appearances he made for the Rossoneri remain a club record.

Rivera helped Milan win three Serie A titles, two European Cups, two Italian Cups and the Cup-Winners’ Cup. In every poll to determine Italy’s greatest player, Rivera heads the list ahead of names such as Silvio Piola, Luigi Riva and Paolo Rossi. The son of a railwayman, Rivera joined local club Alessandria and made his Serie A debut at the tender age of 16. Even at that age Rivera looked special and some of Italy’s most respected journalists started to rave about the graceful youngster.

Giorgio Bocca eloquently wrote: "His neck is like that of a swan. His eyes and tuft belong to a rare and precious bird. When he is in full flow, he reminds me of a heron." Gianni Mottana commented: "He doesn’t touch the ball. He brushes it. He even seems to float over the ground when he runs."

In 1960, a year after his debut, he was sold to Milan for £65,000. Giuseppe Viani, one of Milan’s managers and the man who travelled to Alessandria to sign the player, was so enamoured with Rivera that he christened him ‘Bambino d’Oro’ - Golden Boy. The name would stick for the rest of Rivera’s days.

With his vision and superb passing ability, Rivera was the creative heart of Nereo Rocco’s team and at the beginning he formed a brilliant understanding with Brazilian striker Jose Altafini. In the 1963 European Cup final at Wembley Altafini scored Milan’s goals in their 2-1 win over Benfica, but it was Rivera who made both. Benfica made the mistake of giving the Italian genius too much space and Rivera ended up orchestrating the midfield.

By the age of 19, Rivera had won both Lo Scudetto and the European Cup. Not only that, Rocco had built his entire team around this exciting footballer blessed with film star looks. Rivera’s heyday was arguably the late 60s. In 1968 he won both Lo Scudetto and the Cup-Winners’ Cup. In 1969 he inspired Milan to win their second European Cup, hammering Ajax in Madrid. Rivera set up two of Milan’s four goals that night. The Dutch team boasted an exciting forward called Johan Cruyff but in 1969 Rivera was the master, proved when he won the European Footballer of the Year award - the first Italian player to do so.

Yet Rivera very nearly joined Juventus. The Bianconeri spotted him playing in a youth tournament in Turin. Claiming Rivera may have lacked the physique appropriate for top-class football, Juve offered Alessandria around £2,500 for the player - an amount that annoyed Alessandria Coach Franco Pedroni. "When they offered us that figure I was very angry," he recalled.

"I valued Rivera much, much higher. I spoke to my brother-in-law and he contacted Milan, telling Viani that here, at Alessandria, we had a phenomenon. "He came and was sceptical at first, but then he said ‘Don’t tell anyone but I’m going to recommend him. He’s a great champion’. And that’s how Rivera became a Milan player and not a Juventus one."

During the 70s Rivera continued to inspire a less talented Milan side. They did win a bad-tempered and controversial Cup-Winners’ Cup final against Leeds in 1973 and they reached the final of the same tournament the following year. Milan were favourites to retain the trophy since their opponents were rank outsiders from East Germany, FC Magdeburg. But Rivera had a poor game and Milan lost 1-0.

However, in 1979 Rivera ended his Milan career on a high note, winning Lo Scudetto for a third time. The Rossoneri were surprise winners in a decade dominated by Giovanni Trapattoni’s Juventus and they won the 1978-79 championship with a match to spare.
When he retired from football, to concentrate on a career in politics, Milan were never the same. The club fell into immediate decline, culminating in two relegations to Serie B.
Indeed, the tifosi had to wait for nearly 10 years before they had another great side to cheer.

Rivera’s Azzurri blues

It remains one of the most tragic episodes in the history of the national team - Gianni Rivera failing to repeat his Milan form for Italy. The Milan genius was a member of the Italian sides eliminated in the first round of both the 1966 and 1974 World Cups. Considering his length of service for the Rossoneri, the 60 appearances he made for the Azzurri is quite a low figure. The reason he failed to win more caps was because of Sandro Mazzola, the No 10 at Inter.

Mazzola seized his chance during the 1968 European Championships in Italy. The Azzurri faced Yugoslavia in the final. Rivera played in the first match which ended 1-1, but was injured for the replay. Mazzola came in, played well and Italy won 2-0.
Since that night in Rome, Rivera’s role in the national team was never secure. Feruccio Valcareggi was a fan of Mazzola’s, but a player of Rivera’s immense talent could not be ignored. So for the 1970 World Cup, Valcareggi dreamed up the ‘staffetta’ - the relay. Mazzola would play one half, Rivera the other.

It sounded fair in theory, but in practice it never really worked. In the first three games in Mexico - and despite Italy scoring just one goal - Rivera hardly played. Clearly upset, he threatened to return home and it took a heart-to-heart with Rocco to change his mind.

Just as well, too. Rivera, as a second-half substitute, inspired victories against Mexico in the quarter-final and West Germany in the semi-final. It was Rivera’s winning extra-time goal in a sensational 4-3 win over the German side that booked Italy’s place in the final.
But against Brazil there was more disappointment. Mazzola was Italy’s best player and Rivera, humiliatingly, came on for Roberto Boninsegna with only six minutes to spare with Italy already 3-1 down.

Rivera’s last appearance for his country was during the 1974 World Cup. Their first round elimination prompted a mammoth purge. Ironically both Rivera and Mazzola, rivals for so many years, were axed at the same time.

GIANNI RIVERA
Born: Alessandria, 18/8/43
Clubs: Alessandria 1958-60 (26 apps, 6 goals) Milan 1960-79 (501 apps, 122
goals)
Serie A debut: Alessandria-Inter, 2/6/59 (1-1)
Last Serie A match: Lazio-Milan, 13/5/79 (1-1)
Honours: 3 Serie A titles (1962, 68, 79); 4 Coppa Italia (1957, 72, 73, 77); 2 European Cups (1963, 69); 1 Intercontinental Cup (1969); 2 Cup Winners' Cup (1968, 73); European Championship (1968); European Footballer of the Year (1969)
International caps 60
International goals 14
Debut Belgium 1-3 Italy, 13/5/62
Last cap Italy 1-1 Argentina, 19/6/74

Nils Liedholm



The Baron

Long before Sven Goran Eriksson was even heard of there was another wily Swede making his mark on Serie A. Both as a player and a Coach Nils Liedholm left a considerable imprint on the Italian game. To this day his opinion is still regularly sought on the present state of the two clubs he most deeply affected - Milan and Roma.

As a player, Liedholm was the kind of straniero clubs nowadays must dream of signing. Influential and mature, he was both a playmaker and scorer of some repute. There was already plenty of silverware in his trophy cabinet when he made the trip to Milan in the summer of 1949. That was only enhanced over 12 memorable seasons with the boys from the San Siro.

With domestic League titles in Sweden and Olympic gold for his country already behind him, it was clear new challenges were needed for the talented 26-year-old plying his trade with Norrkoping. There was no better place to do that than with a Milan side desperate to rediscover some success after decades in the doldrums.

Just as they would years later, the Rossoneri decided to build their success around a trio of impressive foreign stars. The tactical awareness of Gunnar Gren, the awesome scoring power of Gunnar Nordahl and the character of Liedholm formed the impressive Gre-No-Li partnership. It was to be a model successfully followed by Frank Rijkaard, Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit at the club decades afterwards.

And the rewards, at least domestically, were not dissimilar. Four League titles came in the fabulous 1950s for the Milan giants and they came close to knocking Real Madrid off their European perch in 1958 - only losing out to that great side in extra time. It was a Golden Age for the club and Liedholm was a vital part of that.

An organiser of play the whole of Milan’s game revolved around him for more than a decade. Legend has it was two years before he misplaced his first pass in front of his home fans - prompting a five minute round of applause such was the rarity of the event. In ‘Liddas’ the Rossoneri had something special and a tally of 81 goals in over 350 games is testament to his quality, especially since he arrived in Italy relatively late in his career. But the Swede was a class act and had both the fitness and footballing brain to play at the highest level longer than most.

An accomplished sportsman, he was one of the first players to realise the importance of more all-round fitness in the game. This was so much the case that he would carry out additional practice to better prepare him for the football field. That regime was unusual but certainly seems to have worked. "At that time footballers only trained a couple of times a week," he said. "But I used to add two sessions of athletic training including the 100 metres, 3000 metres, javelin, shot put and high jump."

He used his physical stature to develop an impressively long throw-in which he used to deadly effect. Almost from the halfway line he was able to catapult the ball towards Nordahl who rarely missed out when a chance came his way inside the penalty box.

Perhaps it was this dedicated approach to training that allowed Liedholm to play at the top of the game for so long. In 1958, with his 36th birthday fast approaching, he played a part in taking his country to the World Cup Final in Sweden against Brazil only to lose out to the teenage Pele. And his Serie A career went on until he was close to 40.

There was little doubt that such a methodical man could switch his skills to coaching and after spells in the backrooms at Milan he was ready to take charge of clubs of his own. Promotion seasons with Verona and Varese saw him catch the attention of Fiorentina and then the top job back at his old club Milan.

Dubbed ‘The Baron’ after marrying a member of the Italian nobility, he was also lucky enough to be in charge of the Rossoneri when they picked up their tenth League title in 1979. An even trickier task proved not to be beyond him when he made his way to Roma. In 1983, playing the zonal system which was unusual for Serie A at the time, he took the capital club to only their second Scudetto. A year later, his team lost out to Liverpool on penalties in the European Cup Final.

That must have been his only regret as both player and Coach, never to clinch a title at European level. But his impact on the game in Italy and beyond should not be underestimated. Many of the theories he hatched have become accepted practice today.

Still a respected pundit as he approaches his 80th birthday, he reckons the biggest change in the game has been in its tempo. Back in the 1950s there was not the same frenetic action and even his Roma team of just two decades ago might find things tough in the helter-skelter world of the year 2001. "The game has changed, above all in the speed of players around the ball," said Liedholm. "During a game if you watch the players far away from the ball they are not running - but close to the ball they run at breakneck speed.

"The only trouble is they do not do much to avoid fouling players," he added. "It is too easy to stop a player by fouling him. Proper training teaches you how to win the ball without committing a foul, which is much more difficult. I learned that as a youngster and that was why I was rarely booked or suspended."

Liedholm loved Italy so much that he set up his home there and remained even after his lengthy coaching career ended. Away from the game he enjoyed success with vineyards now run by his son. Of course, he still catches a Serie A clash when he can. And his opinions carry a lot of weight as one of only a handful of foreign Coaches - like his countryman Eriksson or wily Yugoslav Vujadin Boskov - to have taken the Scudetto in the last 20 years.

That should be good news for Roma fans if their old boss’ predictions can come true. He rates this Giallorosso vintage as good as the won that he took to the title nearly 20 years ago. And that really ought to be enough to see them grab a third Scudetto. After all, if anyone knows what he is talking about it must be Liedholm - a man who has seen nearly a thousand Serie A Sundays as player and Coach.


Nils Liedholm
Born: Valdemarsvik (Sweden), 8/10/22
Position: Midfielder
Ht/Wt: 1.83m/82kg
Serie A debut: Sampdoria 1-3 Milan, 11/9/49
Italian club: Milan

Playing Honours:
Swedish Championship (1947, 48)
Lo Scudetto (1951, 55, 57, 59)
Olympic Gold (1948)
World Cup Runner-up (1958)

Coaching Honours:
Lo Scudetto (1979, 83)
Coppa Italia (1980, 81, 84)

Mauro Tassotti



Mauro TASSOTTI 1980-1997
Mauro Tassotti played 581 games in all for the Rossoneri. Was signed from Lazio and went on to become one of the most consistent players in the Italian game. Eventually won international honours, but only after Arrigo Sacchi was national boss.
Tossotti won his first cap under Sacchi at the age of 32, Tassotti played in one World Cup, the 1994 FIFA World Cup. In 1994 in the quarter final against Spain he elbowed Luis Enrique in the face and was banned for eight games; he did not play for the Italian national team after that.


1980 al 1997
Club appearances: 424
Goals: 8

5 scudetti (’87/’88) (’91/’92) (’92/’93) (’93/’94) (’95/’96)
3 Coppe dei Campioni (’88/’89) (’89/’90) (’93/’94)
2 Coppe Intercontinentali (’89) (’90)
3 Supercoppe europee (’89) (’90) (’94)
4 Supercoppe italiane (’88) (’92) (’93) (’94)

Marco van Basten



Van Basten played very briefly for Elinkwijk before Ajax signed him. He played his first game for Ajax in April 1982, scoring at his debut in the 5-0 victory over NEC. In that game, he entered the game as a substitute for the only man he could not rival in terms of fame in Dutch football: Johan Cruijff.

Van Basten's growth seemed to be unstoppable in his next years serving for Ajax, as he did not only prove to be a prolific goalscorer, but also to be in possession of a brilliant technique. During the 1982-1983 season he had 1982's European topscorer, Wim Kieft, as his main rival for Ajax's striker position, which caused him to play only 20 games, scoring 9 goals. However, his performances in that season were enough to convince the board of Ajax to release Kieft to Serie A club Pisa, continuing the mid-eighties with the teenage forward.

He repaid the confidence they had in him with no less than four consecutive topscorer titles (1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987), scoring an amazing amount of 117 goals in only 112 matches. A highlight of this great run was the year 1985/1986, when he made 37 goals in 26 matches (including six against Sparta and five against Heracles) in the Dutch competition, making him the victor of the European Golden Boot that year. Van Basten had proven himself to once again be essential for Ajax in the 1986-87 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final, scoring the only goal in a win over FC Lokomotive Leipzig.

In 1987 Silvio Berlusconi brought Van Basten to Milan along with fellow countrymen Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, joining them in 1988. In his first season Milan won their first scudetto (league championship) in eight years, but Van Basten played only eleven games and was constantly troubled by an ankle injury. Despite this, in Euro 88 Van Basten showed a dazzling run of form, including three goals against England and a spectacular volley in the final against the Soviet Union, winning the European Championship.

Helped by his form in international competition, Van Basten had an excellent season in 1988-89, winning European Footballer of the Year and scoring nineteen goals in Serie A as well as helping Milan demolish Steaua Bucharest by scoring twice to win the European Cup. In 1989-90 he was Capocannoniere (Serie A's leading goal scorer) and Milan defended their European Cup successfully against Benfica. The Dutch national side had a very poor World Cup in 1990, finally going out to West Germany in the second round.

Domestically Milan's 1990-91 season was disappointing as Sampdoria won the scudetto. Van Basten fell out with Milan's manager Arrigo Sacchi and Berlusconi sacked Sacchi to placate him. Managed by Fabio Capello the following season, Milan did not lose a single game in the league and won the championship - Van Basten scoring 25 goals and becoming Capocannoniere again. Internationally Holland went out of Euro 92 to Denmark in a semi-final penalty shootout, Van Basten having his saved by the Great Dane, Peter Schmeichel.

Milan stretched their unbeaten run into the 1992-93 season, going 58 matches in total before they lost a game. Van Basten played exceptionally well in the early part of the season and was voted European Player of the Year for a third time before his troublesome ankle injury recurred in a game against Ancona. Van Basten underwent another series of operations and returned to Milan for the final few domestic games before they lost the Champions League final to Marseille. The final was Van Basten's final game for Milan; despite enormous effort, he was unable to recover from his injuries.

He did come back for Demetrio Albertini's testimonial match at San Siro however (December 2005), and managed to score a goal (from a header) before being substituted early in the first half.

On the 22nd of July 2006 he again returned for testimonial football to celebrate the 11-year Arsenal playing career of Dennis Bergkamp, in the first game at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. He played a fair part of the second half for the Ajax legends team, appearing as part of a double substitution that also introduced Johan Cruyff. While he didn't get on the scoresheet he dazzled with accurate backheels and superb control infront of goal.

Honors:

* Team
o European Championship: 1988.
o European Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994 (now called: UEFA Champions League).
o UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1987.
o Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990.
o European Supercup: 1989, 1990, 1994.
o Dutch Championship: 1982, 1983, 1985.
o Italian Championship: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994.
o Dutch Cup: 1983, 1986, 1987.

* Individual
o FIFA World Player of the Year: 1992.
o World Soccer Player of the Year: 1988, 1992.
o European Footballer of the Year: 1988, 1989, 1992.

Demetrio Albertini



Demetrio Albertini (born August 23, 1971 in Besana in Brianza, province of Milan) is a former Italian football (soccer) midfielder, after playing for FC Barcelona of the Spanish Liga but spending most of his career with AC Milan of Serie A.

A product of Milan's youth system, he spent 14 highly successful years with the club after debuting as a 17-year-old in 1989. Albertini spent part of the 1990/91 season on loan at Padova Calcio, but established himself in the Milan side in 1991/92 and went on to make almost 300 appearances for the club, claiming three successive Serie A titles between 1992 and 1994 and further league championships in 1996 and 1999. In addition, he made 41 Champions League appearances, helping the Rossoneri reach three consecutive finals between 1993 and 1995, lifting the trophy in 1994. He also won three UEFA Super Cups.

Albertini was at Milan from 1988 to 2002, after leaving Milan, Albertini bounced around different teams; he spent 2002-03 on loan to Atlético Madrid, 2003-04 with Lazio,[1] and started 2004-05 with Atalanta [2]before transferring to Barcelona in January.[3] For the Italian national team, Albertini has been capped 79 times. He played for his country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, Euro 96, and Euro 2000. In 1992 he competed with the national squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

In December 2005 Albertini announced his retirement from professional football and now hopes to become a full time coach [4]. A Milan vs Barcelona celebration match, featuring great names past and present (such as Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Franco Baresi) was played on March 15, 2006. Milan won 4-2 at the San Siro, with Albertini scoring the first goal from a textbook swerving free kick.

On May 18, 2006, following the Italian football scandal involving Juventus F.C. and Luciano Moggi which led to Franco Carraro resignation from the Italian Football Federation presidency and the appointment of a temporary commissioner, Guido Rossi, by the National Olympic Committee, Albertini was named vice-commissioner of FIGC.

Full Name: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
Nickname: San Siro
Built: 1925
Opened: 1926
Capacity: 85,700
Home Of: AC Milan and FC Internazionale
Pitch Size: 105 x 68 m

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as the San Siro, is a football stadium in Milan, Italy, located at geographical coordinates 45.28'41.46° N 9.07'22.41° E. It is the home stadium for two of the three most successful Italian Football League teams: A.C. Milan and Internazionale, and one of the most famous soccer stadia in the world. Although it has been officially renamed Giuseppe Meazza in honour of the Inter and Milan player of the 1930s and 1940s, it is still commonly called the San Siro.

The stadium construction started in 1925 in the Milanese district of San Siro, which gave its original name. The idea to build a stadium in the same district of the horse racing track, belongs to the man who then was the president of A.C. Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a stadium only for football (there is no athletics track in it). The inauguration was on 19 September 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Inter defeat A.C. Milan 6-3. Actually, during the first years the stadium was property of A.C. Milan and only A.C. Milan played its home matches there. Then in 1935 the "Comune di Milano" (city council) bought the stadium and this allowed the stadium itself to be renovated. Internazionale started to play its home matches in the San Siro stadium only in 1947.

San Siro is one of the top 28 European football stadiums rated "5-star stadiums" by UEFA.

Renovations

- 1939: End stands enlarged and corners filled in. A crowd of 55,000 for Italy 2 England 2.
- 1940: 65,000 for Italy v Germany.
- 1956: Completion of two tiers giving a claimed capacity of 150,000 but actually around 100,000. Opened in April 25, in front of 125,000 spectators for Italia - Brasil 3-0 (Goals: Virgili 2, De Sordi). After the Heysel tragedy the capacity was reduced to 90,000 in the mid 80's.
- 1987: as a preparation for the 1990 World Cup the Italian government gave the Milanese council $30 million for its modernization, but in the end, the cost was more than double that. Project 1990 by Ragazzi e Hoffner e Salvi: 11 concrete towers of 50 meters high.
- 1990: Third tier completed on three sides giving an all seated capacity of 88,500.
- 2002: Sky Box: 20 for 200 seats. 400 all-seats for journalists.
- 2003: 85,700 all-seats

Most famous matches

- 1934: Italy - Austria 1-0 (semi-final World Cup)
- 1949: Internazionale - A.C. Milan 6-5 (Serie A)
- 1958: A.C. Milan - Manchester United 4-0 (SF European Cup)
- 1963: A.C. Milan - Santos 4-2 (Intercontinental Cup)
- 1964: Internazionale - Independiente Avellaneda 2-0 (Intercontinental Cup)
- 1965: Internazionale - Liverpool 3-0 (SF European Cup)
- 1965: Internazionale - Benfica 1-0 (European Cup Final)
- 1965: Internazionale - Independiente Avellaneda 3-0 (Intercontinental Cup)
- 1969: A.C. Milan - Manchester United 2-0 (SF European Cup)
- 1969: A.C. Milan - Estudiantes La Plata 3-0 (Intercontinental Cup)
- 1970: Feyenoord - Celtic 2-1 (European Cup Final)
- 1989: A.C. Milan - Real Madrid 5-0 (SF European Cup)
- 1990: Cameroon - Argentina 1-0 (World Cup Partita Inaugurale)
- 1991: Internazionale - A.S. Roma 2-0 (UEFA Cup Final)
- 1994: Internazionale - SV Salzberg 1-0 (UEFA Cup Final)
- 1995: Juventus - Parma 1-1 (UEFA Cup Final)
- 1997: Internazionale - Schalke 04 1-0 [1-4 on penalties] (UEFA Cup Final)
- 2001: Internazionale - A.C. Milan 0-6 (Serie A)
- 2001: Bayern Munich - Valencia 5-4 (pen) (UEFA Champions League Final)
- 2003: A.C. Milan - Internazionale 0-0 (UEFA Champions League semifinal, first leg)
- 2003: Internazionale - A.C. Milan 1-1 (UEFA Champions League semifinal, second leg)
- 2005: A.C. Milan - Internazionale 2-0 (UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, first leg)
- 2005: Internazionale - A.C. Milan 0-1 (UEFA Champions League quarterfinal, second leg) - (Match abandoned due to crowd violence after 73 minutes)