Milan's History Thread

Jivara

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lol, nice insight on the game, i didnt think chilavert was a big name at that time, i wonder if berlusconi ever thought of signing him he was magnificent but also a punk so probably no. i need to watch the game after this 2 rating for billy, its hard to imagine a legend like billy playing that poor
 

inomilan

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i dunno if this the right place to ask but uhm does anyone know a good site where i can watch old Milan games? i dunno why, but all of a suddeni wanted to watch game while studying for my exmas :D if anyone pls put the link

thanks (sorry for going off topic if this is off topic)
 

gaizka22

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Ashish said:
The forgotten man of the Milan defense was in fact as superb as the rest of his defensive fraternity. We have talked about Franco, Billy, and Paolo, but how can we have forgotten Mauro. Well I haven’t.


The Rossoneri’s fifth most capped player (583 all around appearances) of all time was vice captain to Franco Baresi, and if not for the number six’s huge shadow and persona, Tassotti could have easily become one of the Milan’s greatest defenders of all time. But how does a player compete with the likes of Baresi and Maldini? It isn’t easy, but Tassotti certainly gave it his best effort.
A key piece of the invincible four defensive unit that led Milan to the longest shutout in Serie A history, Tassotti not only played excellent defense but was also a very capable wing back who could fly up and down the right flank when needed. Mauro won three Champions League crowns with Milan and was able to hoist one himself as Captain in one of Milan’s most memorable wins in a European Final.
The most shocking thing for me as I remember and researched Tassotti was that he was very much overlooked because of the stiff competition he faced as a defender not only at Milan, but across Italy with the likes of Benarrivo, Apollonni, and the players before them playing at an extremely high level at the same time as Tassotti. He was not capped as a member of the Azzurri until he turned 32 which is even more of feat because he was able to play at the highest level until he retired a member of AC Milan in 1997 at the not so tender age of 37 years old. The trend of high quality aging defenders has been around at Milan for a long time, and the legacy continues.
Tassotti retired with very little fanfare, possibly because he started his career at Lazio and unlike those honored before him was not a Rossoneri for life. However, my father said something funny the other day when I asked him about Tassotti, he said that, “He did things quietly as a player and there was no reason for him to retire any differently,” You do not have to look to far for Tassotti now a days, as he sits along side Carletto week in and week out as Milan’s assistant coach and it is widely thought that he would replace Carletto in a pinch should something happen to the Milan mister.

3 Champions League trophies as a player, 2 as a coach, member of the invincibles, and one of the most humble and modest Milan Legends to date, more trophies than most clubs makes him a special piece of Milan for years to come.

its Gianfrancos work from http://acmilan.theoffside.com/legends/milan-legends-mauro-tassotti.html
i just borrowed :D full credits to this guy only guy who writes in that site :(


Giaz i want to know more about mauro, now i got who was the one i was missing among the legendry back four :) kudos to him :)
For me Tasotti is another unsung hero of the team. Like Donadoni, he’s very quiet in doing his work but simply churn out good performance day in day out. As mentioned, he started his career playing for Lazio in season 78/79 and 79/90. He was part of the Lazio team that was punished to go to Serie B with Milan in season 80/81 due to the match-fixing scandal. In a bizarre twist, he was traded to Milan for Albertino Bigon. Imagine this, Milan valued him more than a striker who’s been with the team for 9 seasons, played 329 games and scored 90 goals (#11 in the all time list of goal scored for Milan) and was the captain after Gianni Rivera retired.

Sporting an Afro Hair in the early 80s :D, he and Franco Baresi (the new captain) started the backline duo that will continue for 15 years. Along with the likes of Filippo Galli and Alberigo Evani, Tasotti faithfully stick with the team that had to endure another drop to Serie B and series of bad/mediocre foreign player transfer (Mark Hateley, Joe Jordan, Luther Blisett, Ray Wilkins and Eric Gerets). He helped ushered Milan from a UEFA Cup hopeful to the glorious Berlusconi era. He was very good in zonal positioning, which suit the new style that Sacchi favored. He was the offside master, the one that became the parameter for Baresi to go up and trap the opponent. Before raising his hand to signal an offiside, you would see that Baresi will always look to his right to check where Tasotti was. Although not the fastest in the flank (forget the burst ala Cafu or Helveg), he was very good in crossing. I can’t recall all his crosses that led to a goal but there are few that I remember : to Massaro vs Sampdoria in the play off of 86/87 season that gave Milan the UEFA Cup Spot, to MvBasten vs Real in the 1st leg of 89 CC SF, to MvBasten vs Steaua in 89 CC Final (the second goal), to MvB vs Mechelen in the 2nd leg of 90 QF (goal at extra time).

His curtain in Milan started to draw when 20-years old Christian Panucci arrived in season 93-94. They both alternated the right back position although they played together in that famous 94 CL Final. Panucci proved to be a worthy replacement and he can score, something that Tasotti wasn’t very good at (Tasotti had 10 goals in 17 seasons from 583 games while Panucci scored 12 goals in just 4 seasons). I guess one of the reason why Milan collapsed in season 96-97 and 97-98 was because they couldn’t find a steady replacement for after Panucci left for Real in mid 96/97. Milan tried Michael Reiziger and Giuseppe Cardone but all were unsucsessful.

As mentioned, although he consistently played very well, he was kept out of the National Team by many good players such as Antonio Bennarivo and Luigi Apollini. But for me the one player that’s been keeping him out is Inter player Giuseppe Bergomi. In fact, WC 94 where Tasotti played is the only WC from 82 – 98 where Bergomi wasn’t selected.
 

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^^nice one giaz you are filling me with knowledge :),thanks my friend
 

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anybody know much about Gunnar Nordahl

i searched in the net could find only little about him(means he was the best striker, he along with swede trio won us)
Gunar Nordhal Pdf
 

dev1L

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i found this on milanmania, from some guy loris

Nordahl, Gunnar
Nicknames: "The Bison", "The Armored Car", "The Big Fireman"

Born: October 21, 1921 in Honefors, Sweden
Died: September 16, 1995 in Alghero, Sardegna

Clubs: Degerfors, Norkopping (1945-1948: Sweden); A.C. Milan (1948-1956),
A.S. Roma (1956-1958: Italy)

Achievements:
Individual: Led Italian League in scoring 5 times; second all-time
Serie A scorer (225 goals in 291 games); top scorer
1948 Olympic Games; played in England-Rest of Europe
match, 1947; Won swedish Guldbollen (Golden Ball) in
1947;
Club: 4 consecutive titles with Norkopping (1945-1948);
2 league titles with A.C. Milan (1951, 1955)
2 Latin Cups with A.C. Milan (1951, 1956)
National Team: Olympic Gold Medal, 1948

Position: Center-forward

Biography:

Gunnar Nordahl was a powerful centerforward who broke through defenses with
terrifying strength. He would often drag along defenders who were grabbing his
shirt during his charges on goal. One of 5 brothers who played in the
Swedish first division, Nordahl began his playing career with Degerfors after
having played on local youth teams. When he was 23 he passed to Norkopping
where he won the league championship 4 years in a row. After scoring 7
goals in a game against Landskrona, Nordahl was called to the national team
in 1945. In 1947 he scored Europe's lone goal in an England-Rest of Europe
exhibition match in Glasgow. His first international success came in 1948
when he was the leading goalscorer (7) at the Olympic games leading Sweden
to the gold medal. His Olympic performance caught the eye of Juventus who
signed an option with him. However, after a bitter dispute with A.C. Milan
over another player, Juventus' owner (Gianni Agnelli) turned the option on
Nordahl over to Milan as a conciliatory gesture. This event would change
Italian soccer history as Nordhal's goals would lead Milan to their first
triumphs in over 4 decades and project the club into the elite of Italian
and continental soccer.

Nordahl arrived in Milan on January 22, 1949 and scored 16 goals in 15 games.
His success convinced Milan's directors to sign two of his Olympic teammates,
Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm), and thus the legendary GRE-NO-LI trio was
formed. They would lead Milan to 2 league titles (1950-51 and 1954-55) -
the first successes for A.C. Milan since before World War I) and 2 Latin
Cups (1951, 1956; a competition between the champions of Italy, Spain, France,
and Portugal).

Due to Sweden's strict rules against professionalism, Nordahl's transfer to
Milan ended his professional career. However, his total of 44 goals for
Sweden in 30 games represents one of the highest scoring rates in international
competition. He remained with A.C. Milan for 8 seasons winning 5 scoring
titles (1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955) and scoring 210 goals. The 35 goals
scored in 1949/50 are an Italian record for 38 game seasons. His playing
career ended with two seasons at A.S. Roma (15 goals in 34 games) and his
total of 225 goals is the second highest in Serie A history.

One of the most powerful men to ever play in Serie A (his playing weight
was 95 kilos), Nordahl had a gentle heart and was a wonderful sportsman.
During a legendary 7-1 trashing of Juventus in Turin (Juventus would go on
to win the league title that year), an exasperated Carlo Parola, the tough
Juventus defender, viciously kicked the unstoppable Nordahl and was red-carded.
As he was leaving the field, Nordahl came over to console him. Stunned
by this magnanimous gesture, Parola apologized in tears. There are many
accounts from the period of Nordahl stopping his rushes on goal to help
defenders who had been knocked down by his charges.

After his death in 1995, the italian newspaper, Corriere dello Sport, wrote:
"Soccer is in tears. He was the greatest attacking center-forward in our
history."

In the words of the Italian journalist Bortolotti: "Italian soccer had never
seen and, I think, never will see another goalscorer of such terrifying power
as Gunnar Nordahl...Those who saw him play, who witnessed his explosive right
foot shot during his runs on goal, know that one like him will never come
again."
 

Ashish

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thanks Dev1l and Jasper, i saw second one(acmilanonline....) while googling, almost forgot that giaz started watching from 86 :)

nice story on gunnar esp that red card with juve defender, wow another hero tailor made for milan :)
i salute him and a 5 :star: for him
 
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Ashish

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Legend of Swedish and Italian football who brought the Serie A title to AC Milan as player and boss

Midfielder Nils Liedholm, who died on 5 November, 2007, aged 85, was one third of the most fearsome line-up of attacking players that both AC Milan and the Swedish national side have ever enjoyed.

Along with the two forwards Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl – the trio became known collectively as ‘Gre-No-Li’, a contraction of their three surnames – Liedholm came to be a dominant figure in Italian football.

They also won an Olympic gold medal for Sweden together in 1948 and 10 years later Gren and Liedholm were World Cup runners-up. Liedholm then had a long and successful management career in Italy.

Nils Liedholm was born on 8 October, 1922, and grew up in Valdemarsvik. As a child he dreamed of becoming a professional footballer and his career began at the age of 20 when he joined IK Sleipner.

In 1946 he moved to IFK Norrkoping where he was part of two league title-winning sides along with Gunnar Nordahl. He made his Swedish international debut shortly after moving to Norrkoping.

Two years later, under the guidance of the English manager George Raynor, Sweden beat Austria, Korea and Denmark to reach the football final of the London Olympics, attracting many plaudits along the way. They beat Yugoslavia 3-1 in the final at Wembley.

This feat was enough to attract the attention of AC Milan, who, after 40 years without a trophy, were desperate for fire-power. They signed Nordahl first, with Gren and Liedholm joining in September 1949. The cruel irony of this transfer was that at this time the Swedish national team only selected amateur players and Liedholm’s international career was put on hold for almost a decade.

In the first season of the ‘Gre-No-Li’ at Milan, the team scored an incredible 118 goals, 18 of which were Liedholm’s. The following year they secured the Serie A title with a record points haul. It was the first of four league titles, plus two Latin Cups, Liedholm would win in a 12-year stay with the club. In total he made almost 400 appearances for the club and scored more than 80 goals.

He was an early believer in the importance of fitness, putting himself through vigorous training regimes to gain an advantage. His reward was that he was still playing at 39. He was also meticulously accurate with the ball - according to footballing legend, he went two years without misplacing a pass.

When the Swedish Football Association relaxed its rules on selection in time for the 1958 World Cup, which it was hosting, 36-year-old Liedholm was made captain. Sweden topped their group, beat the USSR and West Germany, then faced Brazil in the final.

Liedholm scored the opening goal after just four minutes with a strike Pele (who was 17 at the time and playing in his first World Cup) later described as the best goal he’d ever seen against Brazil. But the bravura Brazilians were too strong and eventually won the game 5-2.

After retiring in 1961, he got an assistant manager’s job at AC Milan, eventually taking over for the first of three spells in charge two years later. His management career also included stints at Monza, Verona and Varese (both of the latter were promoted during his tenure).

In his second spell with Milan he guided them to the 1978/79 league championship, then repeated the trick with Roma in 1983, missing out on the European Cup on penalties to Liverpool the following year. His teams were renowned for their fair play and discipline and he was also one of the few managers to employ a zonal marking system.

He finally retired from football in 1997 to run a vineyard with his family in Cuccaro in Northern Italy. He is recognised as one of the greatest players ever to come out of Sweden and there is an annual youth football tournament held in his home town of Valdemarsvik named in his honour.

Bruno Conti, star of Roma’s championship-winning side, said he owed Liedholm "my career as a footballer and my formation as a human", while AC Milan President Silvio Berlusconi praised "a champion, a gentleman, a friend".
 

Ashish

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GUNNAR NORDAHL



Full Name: Gunnar Nordahl

Born: 19 October 1921 (Hörnefors, Sweden).
Died: 15 September 1995 (Alghero, Italy)

Nicknames: Störsten (the biggest), Il Pompiere (the fireman), Il Bisonte (the buffalo).

Position: Striker

Caps: Sweden (1942-1948) 33 / 43 goals

Domestic League Games:
Sweden - Level III (1937-1940) 41 / 68 goals
Sweden - Level I (1940-1949) 172 / 149 goals
Italy – Level I (1949-1958) 291 / 225 goals

Domestic Cup Games:
Sweden – Not available
(Coppa Italia not staged between 1944-1958)

Sweden’s Footballer of the Year:
1947

Clubs:
Hörnefors (1937-1940)
Degerfors (1940-1944)
IFK Norrköping (1944-1949)
AC Milan (1949-1956)
AS Roma (1956-1958)
Karlstads BIK (1959-1961) – player/manager

Trophies won:
Olympics: 1948
Latin Cup: 1951, 1956
Swedish Championship: 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948
Swedish Cup: 1945
Italian Championship: 1951, 1955

Top goalscorer titles (number of goals):
Olympics – 1948 (7)
Swedish league – 1943 (14), 1945 (27), 1946 (25), 1948 (18)
Serie A – 1950 (35), 1951 (34), 1953 (26), 1954 (23), 1955 (27)


Gunnar Nordahl is arguably the finest player ever to come from the Nordic region and was Sweden’s first ever foreign based professional footballer. Raised in the tough northern parts of Sweden he was one of five football playing brothers – three of them, including Gunnar, also became national team players.

May be one can blame “bad timing of birth” for Nordahl not being able to shine on the biggest stages. He was too young to take part in any of the pre-WW II World Cups, too old to have any lasting impact on European club competitions and unlucky that Sweden’s football federation banned foreign based professionals at national team level when he could have been a valuable asset at both the 1950 and 1954 World Cups which coincided with his free-scoring Milan era. By 1958, when his home country hosted, pros were allowed back into the team, but Nordahl had just retired from top flight football by then. Instead he and his pro-colleagues had to settle for “proffslandslaget” – the national team for pros who played only against Swedish city teams.

Nordahl was strong, had speed and remarkable shooting power. He was a nightmare for defenders to deal with. He was knocking in goals for fun at senior level before his 17th birthday at his local club Hörnefors. The third level club was only the first step towards stardom for him. Top division football was the natural career move and it came in 1940 with Degerfors where the goals continued to go in with remarkable frequency. In 1942, Nordahl made his debut for Sweden against Denmark and scored in the 3-0 win in Copenhagen.

The following year he won his first of four topscorer titles in Allsvenskan (Sweden’s Premier League) and consolidated his place in the national team. He was to be first choice there until the end of the decade. In 1944 he signed for top club IFK Norrköping and went on to win the Swedish championship in every of the four full seasons he completed there – there was even a league and cup double the first year. That year also saw him score seven goals in a row in one match against Landskrona. That has never been done before or after in Swedish top league football.

Nordahl was to experience one of the highlights of his career with two of his brothers in the London Olympics 1948 when Sweden triumphed having beaten Austria (3-0), Korea (12-0), Denmark (4-2) and Yugoslavia in the final 3-1. Nordahl’s goal in the Final was spectacular. He received the ball in the centre-circle, shook off two opponents, played a neat one-two, got the ball back and blasted it into the top corner from about 20 yards. It was his seventh in the tournament which made him top scorer. (His goal comes one minute into this videofile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH9G6rfdOmc )

After the Olympics with a gold medal bagged, at the age of 27, Gunnar Nordahl felt he had achieved just about anything he could achieve as a player. There were certainly no more goals to fulfil in Sweden, so he thought about retiring and go back to work full time as a fire fighter. Instead there was an amazing turn-around of incidents. Gunnar Nordahl signed for AC Milan and was soon followed by two countrymen – Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm. Together they formed a formidable Swedish trio at Rossoneri known as Gre-No-Li.

Nordahl scored an amazing 35 goals in his first full season in Serie A - a record which still stands to this day. He scored another 34 the following year and by the time he had completed eight seasons at San Siro he had won two Serie A titles and knocked in 210 league goals which remains a club record, and his five topscorer titles in Serie A is a league record. His final season with Milan was the inaugural season of the European Cups. Milan reached the semifinals in the Champions Cup, but lost 5-4 on aggregate to eventual champions Real Madrid. More luck instead in the somewhat less prestigious Latin Cup where Milan triumphed in 1951 (Nordahl scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 win vs Lille in the final) and 1956 when Nordahl did not play in the final due to his departure to Roma.

Nordahl ended his Italian adventure with two quiet seasons in the eternal city before heading home to his wife’s hometown Karlstad in the lower leagues for a player-coach position. After 225 goals in 291 Serie A appearances, Nordahl is second only to Silvio Piola on the all-time topscorer’s list. The Italian player made several hundred more appearances though. In 2000, Nordahl was the only team sports athlete on the official top 10 list among Sweden’s best athletes of the last century. Nordahl is reputed to have scored 688 goals in total in his senior career.


League Statistics per Season

Season - Club - Games – Goals [ Caps / Goals ]
1937/38 Hörnefors (III).............14 / 20
1938/39 Hörnefors (III).............14 / 25
1939/40 Hörnefors (III).............13 / 23
1940/41 Degerfors...................17 / 15
1941/42 Degerfors...................21 / 13 [ 1 / 1 ]
1942/43 Degerfors...................20 / 14 [ 5 / 2 ]
1943/44 Degerfors...................19 / 14 [ 3 / 4 ]
1944/45 IFK Norrköping.............22 / 27 [ 2 / 2 ]
1945/46 IFK Norrköping.............21 / 25 [ 5 / 6 ]
1946/47 IFK Norrköping.............20 / 17 [ 4 / 8 ]
1947/48 IFK Norrköping.............22 / 18 [ 6 / 8 ]
1948/49 IFK Norrköping.............10 / 06 [ 7 /12]
1948/49 AC Milan.....................15 / 16
1949/50 AC Milan.....................37 / 35
1950/51 AC Milan.....................37 / 34
1951/52 AC Milan.....................38 / 26
1952/53 AC Milan.....................32 / 26
1953/54 AC Milan.....................33 / 23
1954/55 AC Milan.....................33 / 27
1955/56 AC Milan.....................32 / 23
1956/57 AS Roma.....................30 / 13
1957/58 AS Roma.....................04 / 02
1959-61 Karlstads BIK (II)..........N/A (player/manager)

European Cup Games

1955/56 AC Milan.......EC I.........06 / 04


i didnt write any of the blogs i got from internet, this blog was from Bauser of Big soccer
full credits to him http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10437887&postcount=1
 
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milanista1899

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Memories of belgrade

Memories of Belgrade
By Carlo Pellegatti.

The Gods help their chosen sons, their prefered heroes. It has always been the case, from the times of Omer and what I am about to share with you here, is truly an Omeric, epic, historic, drammatic and emotional adventure. But first, we have to go back in Time 14 years, on the 8th of November 1988, when the Rossoneri left Malpensa, the international airport of Milano, direction Belgrade. Milan has to play the 2nd leg of the 1/8th finals of the 1988-89 Champions Cup against this Red Star team that managed to tie it 1-1 at San Siro in the first leg. It is a difficult task, as the Yougoslavs have a very competitive and strong team and also due to the fact that a lot of Milan players were not at top physical conditions. Indeed, the precarious conditions had already affected the team in the first leg where Sacchi had to deal with the following: Maldini out due to his military service, Baresi with an ankle problem, Donadoni and Ancelotti with knee problems. In the first leg, Virdis tied the game after the early goal by Stojkovic for Belgrade, but after that, despite some good scoring chances, Milan didn't manage to beat the Red Star keeper Stojanovic. So everyone leaves for Belgrade on that tuesday of November, with a lot of anxiety and tension. Milan risks to go out of the Champions Cup prematurely, a competition from which Milan had been away for too long. Compared from the first leg, Capitan Stubing Sacchi ( for the younger fans, this is an allusion to Capitan Stubing, who's the capitan of the ship from the tv serial "Love Boat") manages to recuperate Chico Evani, but has to renounce at Ruud Gullit, who goes to Yougoslavia as a simple tourist, due to a muscular problem.

The Maracana, the stadium of Belgrade, receives me with the grey colour that envelops everything here. The city is grey, the people's face reflects a kind of sadness, depsite the electrifying atmosphere of a Champions Cup match. I get off the bus reserved for the press, anxious, tense and concentrated like the players. Around 1500 people came from Milano, some by bus, others by special planes. Here I am, in my corner, lost in that huge Maracana, among all these Red Star fans with their flags and their banners with my hope to see a Milan like the one I saw at Napoli on May 1st 1988 (the day when Milan beat Napoli 3-2 in Napoli and surpassed them in the Serie A standings to go onto to win the 1st Scudetto of the Berlusconi era), in fact a strong Milan in a desperate situation. Speaking of desperation, I was slowly filled by desperation when I saw a very solid and concreete Red Star team controlling the match without any big efforts. For the Yougoslavs, a 0-0 draw would have sufficed to get through to the next round, the 1/4 finals and everything seems so easy for the players in Red and White, when Virdis was sent off by the referee Pauly. It is cold, very cold and then, a could, almost like a nebula, covers the whole stands. It is not something temporary, it is for good and lasting, it covers everything, the stands, the fans, the field and the players. Everything. The heavy silence of the crowd and the thick blinding cloud is only transperced and torn by a big roaring in the stands, from our left side, and I imagine it is due to a goal scored for Red Star, by Savicevic, the one that will become, the unforgettable "Carezze del Montenegro", scoring the goal that gives the lead for the Stella Rossa.

It seems to be over for us. The Ragazzi play with 10 men, 1 goal down and I don't have any hopes left because I am too depressed, and that the cloud is becoming bigger and bigger, just like a nebula. At one time, at half time, I look at my left and I am left speechless and moved. I will never forget this moment, worthy of a passage of the Stephen King books, this sensation and feeling only felt by the characters of the film "Fog". From above, the Gods, friends of Milan, are throwing down on the stadium, big black clouds with heavy snow, as if Eolo, the God of the Winds, was sweeping all the air from Hell towards the Maracana stadium of Belgrade. In a very short period of time, we couldn't see anything, absolutely nothing. Players and the ref enter onto the pitch, but the game was suspended. And to be replayed from start the next day, November 9th, at 13.00.

The joy and happiness for the danger just escaped is mixed with a general confusion for the 200 tifosi that didn't bring with them a lot of money, since it was supposed to be a one day stop and back onto the plane to home right after the game. The cold of the Belgrade evening is even more harmful, and there were no more hotels or motels available and it was only due to the miraculous intervention of Paolo Taveggia, the one who became the "Moses" of the twentieth Century for having organized, a few months later the exodus of 80, 000 tifosi from Italy to Barcelona, but also thanks to the collaboration of the head of the Italian press, Guido Susini, the tifosi were able to find an hotel to spend the night before the game of the next day. The cost of the entire operation rose to about 40 million Lire (around US $40,000) that Milan generously and graciously paid.
 

milanista1899

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continuation..sorry i dont knw if i can make it single..

In the meantime, in another hotel, the Milan medical staff was working hard in order to heal the foot of Ruud Gullit. Without Virdis, sent off, and "Terminator" Ancelotti, suspended for a yellow card, it was vital to recuperate at all costs Il Tulipano Nero (The Black Tulip, Gullit). The two Milan doctors, Monti and Tavana were massaging relentlessly the suffering muscles in order to have Ruud at the very least on the bench. A pale sun warms the few Milan tifosi present at the Maracana, but a great performance from the Boys literally fills them up of joy. It is another Milan compared to 24 hours ago. Franco Baresi plays the best game of his legendary career. He plays almost in front of the defence, guiding all the Rossoneri attacks. After 5 minutes of play, after a shot from Lupetto Mannari, the ball ends up in the net. "Goal, it's a goal!" I scream at the microphone, when I see the ball, going at least by a metre beyond the white line. A Yougoslav player, Sabanadzovic, clears the ball away and the referee, Pauly, says:"No goal, keep on playing!". Incredible! At the 34th minute, a free-kick in the left from Donadoni is sent into the net by "Guido Cavalcanti" Van Basten. The Milan lead will however, not last long, only 4 minutes: Stojkovic ties the game beating Giovanni Galli. Milan dominates. Mannari seems an unstoppable little devil today; the 4 Intouchables of Elliot Ness Baresi are simply fantastic.

At the 43rd minute, the dramma. Vasilijevic and Donadoni go for an aerial challenge and the Red Star player elbows hard the Milan player who loses conscious while still in the air. He falls heavily on the ground. One of the Milan doctors, Dr. Monti intervenes and performs a mouth-to-mouth on him to prevent the player from suffocating. Donadoni is lying unconscious on the grounds and his legs are moving while in the air, almost as if they were kicking something, in a very unnatural way, this is another imagine I will never forget. Fortunately, "Luci a San Siro" (Lights at San Siro, Donadoni's nick, given to him after Berlusconi qualified as being the only Italian able to light up the San Siro) resumes breathing. Gullit replaces him, playing a great match doing lots of sacrifices for the team. After the game, Gullit would be away from the field for about 40 days because his muscles problems only worsened after the game. The game ends tied at 1-1. We go to the dreadful lottery sessions of the penalty kicks. More emotions to come. Stoijkovic scores, "Mahatma" Baresi ties it. Prosinecki scores and Van Basten ties it again. Galli accomplishes the miracle on Savicevic and Evani, with his magical left foot gives the lead to the Rossoneri. Now it's Giovanni Galli's turn again. In front of him, stands Mrkela. Galli jumps and enters into the legend stopping the Red Star player's shot. Now, it's the turn of "Uragano Frankie" (Hurricane Frankie) Rijkaard). His shot is tense, in the corner and unstoppable. Milan wins and goes to the next round, the 1/4 finals and I join the ragazzi in the dressing rooms hugging them all.

The journalists also have had to deal with the lack of hotels and have to manage somehow to spend the night with us. I shared my room with Xavier Iacobelli, at that time, a young chronicher at "La Notte", now directore of "Corriere dello Sport". We are all happy, it's been an incredible adventure. But it is not finished. How is Donadoni doing? Doctor Tavana insists that further controls be performed on him. We found out that he has his jaw fractured, and while on the stretcher, inconscious, hit by stomach cramps and nausea typical of cerebral incidents, he was vomiting constantly, , making Dr. Tavana very anxious. In fact, what Roberto has is a small "edema" on his head that is quickly healed with therapy. When Donadoni finds out that Milan qualified for the next round, he cries. Sacchi pays him a visit in his hospital room, giving him the best wishes of the whole team. The player leaves Belgrade six hours later after the rest of the Milan delegation, in a plane, courtesy of Europe Assistance.

What would remain of the grave injury of Donadoni? Fortunately, for him, nothing, but to football, a lot. Indeed, because as a result of this almost near fatal incident, the Milan medical staff adopts a new resolution: from that day, on every game of Milan, at the San Siro, there's always an anesthetist present. And today, due to a law passed in 1990, after this dramatic experience, an anesthetist specialist is present on all the fields of Serie A.

First game on Wednesday 9 November 1988. Game suspended after 57 minutes due to fog and heavy snow with the score of 1-0 for Belgrade.

2nd game: Red Star - Milan 1-1 after 90 minutes, and after 120 minutes. 2-4 after pks for Milan.
Thursday 10 November 1988.
Red Star: Stojanovic, Najdoski, Vasilijevic, Sabanadzovic, Radovanovic, Juric, Ivanovic, Savicevic, Bursac (51' Mrkela), Stoikovic, Djurovic (73' Prosinecki). Coach: Stankovic.
Milan: G. Galli, Tassotti, P. Maldini, Rijkaard, Costacurta, Baresi, Donadoni (45' Gullit), A. Colombo, Van Basten, Evani, Mannari (115' Cappellini). Coach: Sacchi.
Ref: Pauly.
Penalty kicks:
Stoikovic: goal. Baresi: goal.
Prosinecki: goal. Van Basten: goal.
Savicevic: saved. Evani: goal.
Mrkela: saved. Rijkaard: goal.

Kudos to user named San Siro at xtratime forums and jasper from milanmania..i'm not sure if he's the same dude we have here..
 

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Ashish

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Jasper said:
I have a user in both of them and I usually quote other pieces.

Good reading @XT - http://www.xtratime.org/forum/showthread.php?t=70573
jasper you are a legend thanks for the link its just fucking awesome
:star: for the info

one more article on the legendary swede trio :D

he year 1950 grants Milan with an historic win, in Turin, led by the Swedish Trio Gre-No-Li, the great protagonists. The victim is Juventus, thumped 7-1, at home, and above all their midfielder, Parola, sent off after kicking Nordhal. An ugly episode of the game, that however, would not compromise their friendship.

By Carlo Pellegatti.

An historic and unforgettable date, this far, very far day of 05 February 1950. The Milan of the Legendary Swedish Trio of Gre-No-Li beats Juventus 7-1 at the Stadio Comunale (Torino), thanks to a hat-trick from Nordhal and goals from Liedholm, Gren, Burini and Candiani. It's also in that day was born the Great Milan of the Swedish, that during the following season, would win, the fourth Scudetto of the History of the club, after a 44 years wait since the last title. Before starting relating that unforgettable game, let us spend some time understanding who were Gunnar Nordhal, Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm, the fantastic Swedish Trio, that the President Umberto Trabattoni wanted at all cost in his project for Milan, a project that would make the team win the Scudetto within a short period, the Scudetto, that the Rossoneri would win the following season.

The first to join Milan is Gunnar Nordhal, in 1949, a centre forward of a rare physical strength, devastating, who had just won, the year before, the London Olimpic games, with his National Team. And it is also Nordhal, that after the insistence of the Milan president, convinced his two other compatriots, Liedholm and Gren, to sign for the club. It is around these three, that team manager, Toni Busini, is trying to build a competitive team, whose bench was allocated to Lajos Czeizler and with a great champion in the net such as Lorenzo Buffon.

Gunnar Nordhal is among the strongest centre forwards ever seen in Italy. Legend has it that once, an opponent held his jersey in an desperate attempt to stop him, but he was simply pulled by Nordhal for over a good ten metres before finally scoring a goal. So powerful physically, yet such a fair play player. As a matter of fact, he was sent off only once, in Palermo, in 1952. His opponent Garioli, bruttalized him throughout the game until, at one time, the Swedish forward yelled at him to stop. The ref, being nearby, warned Nordhal to be careful with what he's saying, and the Milan forward asks the ref:"But can't you see that he's been continuously bruttalizing me throughout the game?". The answer of the ref, was a very harsh red card to the Swede, which caused the furious reaction of Gunnar Gren who broke everything in his path in the dressing room: lamps, doors, etc.. To this day, the Swedish forward still holds the record of goals for Milan in Serie A: 210 goals, an incredible amount scored in only 257 games, which will probably never be equaled.

If Nordhal is the strength, the power, Gunnar Gren is the class. When he arrived in Italy, he was already a mature player, at 29 years old. He was nicknamed "il Professore" (the Professor) as he was literally teaching football to his teammates, who were simply mesmerized by his stylistish prowesses. He was the only one able to juggle with the ball with the ball touching the ground, with both his head and feet three lapses around the San Siro. He could use with the same efficiency and ease either his right or left foot: a genius technically, but always at the service and disposal of the team.

Nils Liedholm is the youngest of the three. Tall and strong, typical of athletes from the North, he can invent a play at any given moment. He still holds an amazing record: he has never been yellow-carded. In those years, Milan will acquire their main characteristic: style and elegance, traits that will distinguish them for ever from then on.

Let us get back to that winter day of 1950. The Rossoneri only have one great opponent in that season, Juventus. And the rivalry was even more intense for the Gre-No-Li. Indeed, as the Scudetto was fought by two different schools of football, the Swedish one of Milan against the Danish of Turin, the great Hansen and Praest. Milan has been lately in great form: in the past 12 games that followed that astonishing 6-5 defeat to Inter, Czeizler's men went on to hot streak where they won 10 games, losing only once, in Roma against Roma and tieing 0-0 against Triestina, who were coached by a certain Nereo Rocco. The Milan attack has been in an extraordinary form: they scored 39 goal, bombarding the opposing defences with goals from everywhere. Among them, a 4-1 win against Fiorentina, a 5-0 against Genoa, an astonishing 9-1, at the San Siro against Bari, another 5 against Sampdoria, 4 to Como and 2 to the "lucky" Venezia.

It's the 4th day of the return games in the league. Juventus, strong with the presence of keeper Viola and of Piccinini (the father of the famous tv commentator of the tv show, "Controcampo"), Muccinelli, Parola and Boniperti, have a 3 pts lead over Milan in the Serie A standings. After a few minutes, the Torinesi take the lead thanks the Dane John Hansen, but within 26 minutes, reverses the situation and the first half ends with a 4-1 score for the Rossoneri, thanks to goals from Nordhal, Gren, Liedholm and Nordhal again. In the second half, Nordhal, Burini and Candiani seal the triumph with an emphatic and commanding 7-1 score, in Turin.

Let us allow Gunnar Nordhal, whom, in his autobiography "Oro e Campi Verdi" (literally Gold and Green Fields), has commented on that game. "This was the chef d'oeuvre, of the Gre-No-Li. The field was all wet due to the constant raining, our preferred type of field, and Juve were literally destroyed by our attacks. Everyone of us surpassed and transcended our performance in that game in which we came close to perfection in the play. It would be well worth the effort to do a cinematographic remake of that game in its entirety, a game which was a true benchmark of class, and the consecration of Gren's out of this world technical abilities and the sizzling accelerations of Liedholm.


In his memoires, Nordhal also remembers, another episode of that game. When the Juve defender, Parola, who was marking him during the game, loses his cool and literally kicks the Milan forward, causing the Juve player for an early shower. "He couldn't it - wrote Nordhal - because I know him and his character, which was a good and loyal guy, and I knew that this was mainly due to the pressure of the game. In the dressing rooms, we shook hands and to this day, we see each other with pleasure."

The reason of that great friendship is known to few people. It was in fact, Carlo Parola, that Gunnar had known during a friendly match with the Rest of the World in Glasgow, to ask him, for the first time:" Why don't you come to Italy"? The two met again, a few months later, where the team of Nordhal, Norkoeping, played on a cold Turin afternoon, Juventus. "The fable of my long Italian journey - recalls the Swede - really started after that phrase, that Parola said to me, in a snowy afternoon, in Turin".

Juventus - Milan 1-7
Turin, Sunday 05 February 1950.
Juventus: Viola, Bertucelli, Manente, Mari, Piccinini, Muccinelli, Martino, Boniperti, J. Hansen, Praest.
Coach: Carver.
Milan: Buffon, Belloni, Foglia, Annovazzi, Tognon, Bonomi, Burini, Gren, Nordhal, Liedholm, Candiani II.
Coach: Czeizler.
Goal scorers: J. Hansen 2' (Juve); Nordhal 15th, 26th, 49th; Gren 23rd, Liedholm 24th; Burini 70th; Candiani II 84th.
Referee: Galeati.
 
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Kuzimoto

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Ashish said:
Let us get back to that winter day of 1950. The Rossoneri only have one great opponent in that season, Juventus. And the rivalry was even more intense for the Gre-No-Li. Indeed, as the Scudetto was fought by two different schools of football, the Swedish one of Milan against the Danish of Turin, the great Hansen and Praest. Milan has been lately in great form: in the past 12 games that followed that astonishing 6-5 defeat to Inter, Czeizler's men went on to hot streak where they won 10 games, losing only once, in Roma against Roma and tieing 0-0 against Triestina, who were coached by a certain Nereo Rocco. The Milan attack has been in an extraordinary form: they scored 39 goal, bombarding the opposing defences with goals from everywhere. Among them, a 4-1 win against Fiorentina, a 5-0 against Genoa, an astonishing 9-1, at the San Siro against Bari, another 5 against Sampdoria, 4 to Como and 2 to the "lucky" Venezia.
Season 49/50 was probably the best season in terms of goal scored. Milan scored 118 goals in 38 games or an avg of 3.10 goals/game. In comparison, in the last 21 years, the avg goal/game is only 1.61, nearly half of season 49/50. But yet Milan lost the scudetto to Juve by 5 points. Out of this 118, 92 goals were scored by 4 players : Gunnar Nordahl (35 goals), Renzo Burini (21) and Gunnar Gren (18) and Nils Liedholm (18). Not every season two players scored 18 goals each and yet ended up as join 3rd scorer for the team but that was how formidable the attack.

It's been said that Nordahl's 35 goals tally will be very hard to break but he could've had more. That 35 goals came from 37 games and on the only game that he was absent, Milan trashed Bari 9-1. His replacement Santogostino scored a hattrick (a biggest break considering he scored 4 goals throughout the season). Nordahl could easily get at least 2 had he played in that game and ended up with more than 35.

One last note : the game that Milan lost 5-6 to Inter was attended by one 5-years old boy sitting in the stand with his father who was so enthralled by what he saw. In one interview he mentioned this as one of the first reason why he wanted to get mixed up in calcio business. His name : Massimo Moratti.
 
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Ashish

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gaizka22 said:
One last note : the game that Milan lost 5-6 to Inter was attended by one 5-years old boy sitting in the stand with his father who was so enthralled by what he saw. In one interview he mentioned this as one of the first reason why he wanted to get mixed up in calcio business. His name : Massimo Moratti.
Rise of the EvIL :mad:
i kind of like swede trio more after collecting info about them in the mest

one guy joins milan at the age of 27 score 200 something goal
another guy mis a pass in 3 years and third one was a magician :)
now one question remains who is better swede trio or dutch trio
 

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This thread is absolutely... there's no words to describe it.

Thank you all, really made my day.
 

albion tifo

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I remember that game in Belgrade, I was young but Basten,Gullit and Rijkard was one of my favourite players. Most of the time I been listening commentator because it was impossible to watch game because of haze.
 

acerвιc wιт

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^That was the game which made history. We were fortunate to have the match replayed after trailing 1-0 in those terrible conditions. It was the moment Milan entered it's most dominant era.
 

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i think its september 15 and according to kuzis sig its time to lite a candle for gunnar nordhal
R I P big swede
 

Wolfpac4Life

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Dejan Savicevic Interview - Part 1

Here's an article which some of you may be interested in, taken from a 1995 issue of World Soccer magazine which I had lying around.

In A Class Of His Own

Miroljub Stojkovic talked to the Yugoslav spearheading Milan's latest Champions Cup challenge.

Even now it is hard to believe that Milan coach Fabio Capello and his team's most gifted player, Dejan Savicevic, have fully resolved the 'mutual misunderstandings' which arose soon after the Montenegrin forward moved to Italy three seasons ago. The Milan boss had insisted that the trouble with Savicevic was "lack of discipline, consistency and method". But Capello at that time perhaps over-looked the fact that successful 'team technology' was not just about workaholic player-machines, but about flair and individualism too.

During his first Serie A season Yugoslav international Savicevic made just 10 appearances, playing a total of 724 minutes, scoring four goals and assisting in four. He is the first to admit that he became increasingly frustrated and impatient. "I was ready to move to Marseille, to Spain, to anywhere..." Not many were prepared to argue his case, particularly after his refusal to be a substitute against Anderlecht in a European Champions Cup tie in November 1993. Dutch striker Marco Van Basten was one supporter, saying: "I am impressed by what Dejan can do in training. He is special, probably the most skilful player in Europe these days." President Silvio Berlusconi seemed to be an even more dedicated admirer, saying: "I want him to stay with us."

Coach Capello digested the message, helped by the player's own contribution. He improved his work-rate but still found time to exploit a wide range of natural abilities. If Savicevic had not been Berlusconi's blue-eyed boy, the exiled star would have long been shown the door and offered the chance to display his undoubted talents on another stage. Dejan's hour finally arrived. After months on the sidelines, injuries gave Savicevic a place in the starting line-up against FC Porto in the Champions League. He responded with an outstanding performance in which he helped create all of Milan's goals in their eventual 3-0 victory. His chance came again in Athens, when a new era arrived on May 18, 1994, in that memorable Champions Cup Final. Milan, inspired by Savicevic left Romario, Stoichkov and others in the shade with a performance of sheer brilliance that will be remembered for many years to come.

Away from the pitch, Savicevic is impulsive, not introverted, as some think, and is a strong family man. When he's not training or playing, he spends most of the time playing with his children or watching TV. Savicevic, his wife Valentina and their two children, son Vlado (6) and daughter Tamara (6 months), have settled well in Legnano, a small town 12 miles out of Milan, half-way to Milan's training camp at Milanelo. The Yugoslav is extremely loyal to the family of Misko Jankovic, the man who took him to Buducnost FC, when he was 12 years old. Jankovic was killed in a car crash a few years ago and Savicevic has been looking after his son since then.

Savicevic was one of the stars of the Red Star Belgrade side which won the Champions Cup in 1991, but was then denied the chance to parade his talents at the 1992 European Championship when Yugoslavia were kicked out due to UN sanctions. Now that the sanctions have been lifted, Savicevic is back playing for a rump Yugoslav side consisting of Serb and Montenegrin players. Omitted from the Euro '96 qualifiers, Savicevic and Co. have had to make do with friendlies against Brazil and Argentina (both lost) and Uruguay (won 1-0).

Will history repeat itself this season? Does Savicevic think the 'Rossoneri' can, after keeping a low profile in the Champions League, again reach the last stage? "To beat Paris Saint Germain and win the Cup will be a very difficult task for Milan," says the 28-year-old. "They are very well balanced and ambitious. PSG remind me of Red Star of a few years ago. Apart from their obvious team strengths, their motives seem to be the strongest of the semi-finalists, including Milan. This is the chance of their lives, as it is certain that some of them will leave Paris soon." Savicevic thinks that Milan's advantage over PSG could be their experience and the fact that the second leg will be played at San Siro. But he rates Ajax as even stronger than PSG, and says: "They attack with more versatility, using 'side lines' and exploiting exploiting space tremendously well. They beat us twice in the Champions League, but dont forget that we were out of form then and they were riding high. Mind you, Bayern Munich will cause them a great deal of problems."

Savicevic disagrees with the claim that Milan today are not as strong as they were a few seasons ago, when their three Dutchmen were in command. "Rijkaard, Van Basten and Gullit were world class, and their influence on Milan's game and results was enormous," he says. "But I'm afraid that even some of the serious analysts have been forgetting the impact of the others, particularly the Italians, who played with them. Tassotti, Costacurta, Maldini and Donadoni were doing a great job then. Franco Baresi was number one then, and even now, at 35, he is the best in his position in the world. Also, it must be said that Milan with the Dutchmen never won the European Cup and the domestic title in the same season. We did that last year."
 
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Dejan Savicevic Interview - Part 2

Dejan's Views...

Both on the pitch and off it, as the opinions expressed here show, Dejan Savicevic has never been backward about going forward.

ON HIS FREQUENT ABSENCE DUE TO INJURIES:
Many argue my 'inconsistency' and frequent injuries mean that my overall reputation is not as high as it should be. I have been out of the game several times and all the injuries appeared to be connected with the hernia operation I had in 1988. My leg muscles were suffering after that, particularly when I didn’t have proper preparations. My game is full of contacts and explosive movements and if I am not 100% fit I feel enormous pain.

ON HIS PERFORMANCES IN MILAN:
At last, this season, I feel comfortable, self-confident and am sole-owner of the number 10 jersey. All the team are in better form now, when it really matters, and I am optimistic we can win something.

ON HIS FUTURE:
I am 28 now and my contract is due to expire next year. If terms are correct I'll sign a new one. Otherwise... Milan are a great club, bigger than any other in the world today. And they do not hesitate to strengthen the team. That is why the club have started to negotiate with promising players worldwide. One of them, I believe, is the Liberian striker George Weah, now with PSG.

ON HIS BEST FRIEND IN MILAN:
I am very close to Marco Simone and Zvonimir Boban. At the beginning my relations with Boban, who is a Croat, used to be a bit tense. Now we share almost the same view on the tragic civil war in ex-Yugoslavia. Both of us are very much against it and we pray this bloodshed will stop soon.

ON SERIE A:
It's by far the strongest League competition in the world. It is not only about the players but also about the tactical organisation. There are no 'easy' opponents here. Last season we drew with Lecce at home and they were relegated. You have to work hard and be totally concentrated to beat any team. Juventus look unstoppable. They keep winning even when they do not perform well. And I like the football Parma play. Young Alessandro Del Piero of Juventus is my favourite rising star. So talented, committed and so mature.

ON LEAGUES IN OTHER COUNTRIES:
The Bundesliga is the second best. I like to watch their matches. I also enjoy some aspects o English Premier League football. But I don’t rate the Spanish League highly. There is a substantial gap between top and bottom teams there which is not a benefit for clubs competing in Europe. I consider them tactically weak too. Cruyff made a great mistake allowing Romario and Laudrup to leave Barcelona. They were the players able to make a difference. Real Madrid? They are doing well but I can’t see them being strong enough in European competition yet.

ON HIS FAVOURITE PLAYERS:
I liked Michel Platini, but the best player I have ever seen is Diego Maradona. He was brilliant in everything. That kind of football genius appears once in decades.

ON THE FUTURE OF FOOTBALL:
Nobody can say with certainty how the game is going to look even in the near future, but it seems to me that black players will play much more prominent roles everywhere, especially at the top level of club football. They are physically superior. In France and England their impact is already significant. A similar trend is now emerging in Italy and Germany. I was very impressed with Cameroon in Italia '90 and the Nigerian team in the 1994 World Cup. With more luck and tactical discipline, an African nation could reach a World Cup Final.

ON BALKAN EXPORTS:
Stoichkov, Kostadinov, Penev, Hagi, Popescu, Mijatovic, Prosinecki, Boban, Jugovic, Mihajlovic, Boksic, Jarni, Jokanovic... they're all among the best players in Europe today. The Balkan region always was a source of great talents and I am sure that soon we'll see many new faces from this part of the world playing for the top western European clubs.

ON YUGOSLAV FOOTBALL:
I am concerned that the disintegration of my country will have disastrous consequences on football. The youth education scheme is not as productive as it was before. This means that many years will pass before any team from Yugoslavia reach the same heights as Red Star Belgrade did four years ago. We had a great team who could have won many European trophies if we had stayed together.

ON PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARDS:
I can’t understand the way France Football conduct their poll. The journalists, or some of them, seem to be much more 'patriotic' and obsessed with popularity of players instead of their real qualities and achievements. How could Papin deserve the award in 1991, or Van Basten in 1992? Or who could explain how Massaro 'disappeared' from the top 10 list in 1994? He played very well all year, scoring decisive goals for both Milan and Italy. My team-mate Paolo Maldini deserved to be the current number one but somehow Hristo Stoichkov won the France Football Award despite the fact that Maldini beat him at club and national team levels. I am glad to see that WORLD SOCCER did not make the same mistake.
 

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Great article. Many thanks.

Man, did you type the whole thing over from the magazine? If yes, we are truly grateful to you. Or if you asked someone to type it for you, we are still truly grateful to you to have someone who can do the job :D
 

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You're welcome. And yeah I typed the whole thing myself. :D
 
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Don't know, if it was posted before:
www.magliarossonera.it
IMHO if you speak Italian, it is the best website about Milan's history, and if not - it's still pretty cool, because there are many photos and you can also use "google language tools" for text translation. Website isn't finished yet, but it already has a large amount of information.

EDIT: Just checked the link, it isn't working at the moment, but it should after some time
 
Last edited:

Ashish

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Wolfpac4Life said:
Your welcome. And yeah I typed the whole thing myself. :D
Awesome man :star:
 

psycho_dad

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psycho_dad said:
Don't know, if it was posted before:
www.magliarossonera.it
IMHO if you speak Italian, it is the best website about Milan's history, and if not - it's still pretty cool, because there are many photos and you can also use "google language tools" for text translation. Website isn't finished yet, but it already has a large amount of information.

EDIT: Just checked the link, it isn't working at the moment, but it should after some time

The link is working again
 
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