Fell asleep yesterday while watching Milan - Juve 2003 final at the theater of dreams. Now I know why I'm getting less and less passionate about football as time goes on. Football was so much better back then.
It ended 0-0 and there weren't that many chances, but my god it was more exciting than 90% of the 'sexy' games we get now. There was high tempo and the game seemed so much faster than now. Also, both teams were a lot more mobile, especially Milan. Gattuso was everywhere (on the right, then sometimes went left, at times stayed as anchor), Rui dropped deep in midfield at times and at other times just stayed wide right, Pippo and Sheva kept swapping places, even Pirlo (he really did deteriorate, seemed much faster then, more athletic, and a lot more mobile, you know a normal footballer not the specialized anchor version we get now) wasn't playing in his comfort zone but went forward and swapped places with Seedorf. My point is, it wasn't the crap we get to see nowadays with players fixed into their spots, low tempo games that bore us to death. It was high tempo but not a scoring fest either ala low IQ defenses in the PL.
And there were so much balls on the pitch, real men were playing. Maldini, Nesta, Rui Costa, Pippo, Costacurta, Rino, Sheva. And from Juve that mean defense of Ferrara, Montero, Thuram, Zambrotta who was awesome, Davids, Tacchenardi, Conte (hair loss was obvious
).
Damn I miss such football. Also the little details like Lippi lighting up a cigar on the touchline, Davids' glasses, the Nike Air Zoom Total 90 II which is the greatest football boot ever, Milan's shirt and font, the classic Champions League TV theme, basically everything. Was a great nostalgic 96 mins till I lost the battle vs my body and fell asleep.
Now blame it all on 'plastic balls' and you'd have completed your transition into Carlo Garganese
Seriously though, agreed partly. Not fully because nostalgia can blind one to several faults at times. I personally thought the '03 final was fabulous because we raised our game against what was, to me, the best team in the world then. Yes, there was a debate between Madrid and Juve, but Juve were defensively masterful. And we really weren't the favourites going into the match. But that's really when the 'CL DNA' told.
Fell asleep yesterday while watching Milan - Juve 2003 final at the theater of dreams. Now I know why I'm getting less and less passionate about football as time goes on. Football was so much better back then.
It ended 0-0 and there weren't that many chances, but my god it was more exciting than 90% of the 'sexy' games we get now. There was high tempo and the game seemed so much faster than now. Also, both teams were a lot more mobile, especially Milan. Gattuso was everywhere (on the right, then sometimes went left, at times stayed as anchor), Rui dropped deep in midfield at times and at other times just stayed wide right, Pippo and Sheva kept swapping places, even Pirlo (he really did deteriorate, seemed much faster then, more athletic, and a lot more mobile, you know a normal footballer not the specialized anchor version we get now) wasn't playing in his comfort zone but went forward and swapped places with Seedorf. My point is, it wasn't the crap we get to see nowadays with players fixed into their spots, low tempo games that bore us to death. It was high tempo but not a scoring fest either ala low IQ defenses in the PL.
And there were so much balls on the pitch, real men were playing. Maldini, Nesta, Rui Costa, Pippo, Costacurta, Rino, Sheva. And from Juve that mean defense of Ferrara, Montero, Thuram, Zambrotta who was awesome, Davids, Tacchenardi, Conte (hair loss was obvious
).
Damn I miss such football. Also the little details like Lippi lighting up a cigar on the touchline, Davids' glasses, the Nike Air Zoom Total 90 II which is the greatest football boot ever, Milan's shirt and font, the classic Champions League TV theme, basically everything. Was a great nostalgic 96 mins till I lost the battle vs my body and fell asleep.
I really hate the fact that mainstream media branded the 03 Final as boring. They usually showed the footage of that girl sleeping in the stand when the game was heading towards the PK shoot out.
Both Milan and Juve knew each other too well and they knew what will happen if they give just the tiniest amount of space to the other so they shut down and simply cancel each other out. What hapenned then can be described as a chess match between two tacticians : Lippi vs Ancelotti and how the players translate the instruction. Milan and Juve stuck with their guns and played their own respective games while still trying to snuff out any chances. It can be easily seen as defensive display by both but surely a masterclass in how to defend with players like Maldini, Nesta, Thuram and Zambrotta still in their best
It certainly wasn't a neutral's fave game but certainly a tacticians' fave one day after the final, a leading UK newspaper (forgot which one) declared "Football was born in England but it was played in Italy".
I really hate the fact that mainstream media branded the 03 Final as boring. They usually showed the footage of that girl sleeping in the stand when the game was heading towards the PK shoot out.
Both Milan and Juve knew each other too well and they knew what will happen if they give just the tiniest amount of space to the other so they shut down and simply cancel each other out. What hapenned then can be described as a chess match between two tacticians : Lippi vs Ancelotti and how the players translate the instruction. Milan and Juve stuck with their guns and played their own respective games while still trying to snuff out any chances. It can be easily seen as defensive display by both but surely a masterclass in how to defend with players like Maldini, Nesta, Thuram and Zambrotta still in their best
It certainly wasn't a neutral's fave game but certainly a tacticians' fave one day after the final, a leading UK newspaper (forgot which one) declared "Football was born in England but it was played in Italy".
It has been 26 years of glory and
prestige for Milan and Berlusconi.
The figures say it all, as they have
accumulated 28 trophies in Italy,
Europe and the world. Also there are
76 awards for players and teams
that make Milan’s achievements
unique and irrepeatable.
MILAN – Our president bought Milan
on February 20th 1986. Today,
February 20th 2012, Silvio
Berlusconi’s Milan celebrate their
26th year anniversary together; a
relationship full of adventure and
glory.
The silverware cabinet looks like
this:
13 EURO-WORLD TROPHIES: 2
Intercontinental cups (1989 and
1990), one World Club Cup (2007), 5
European Cup/Champions League
(1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007); 5
European Supercups (1989, 1990,
1995, 2003, 2007).
15 ITALIAN TROPHIES: 8 League titles
(1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999,
2004, 2011), 1 Italian Cup (2003); 6
Italian Super Cups (1989, 1992, 1993,
1994, 2004, 2011).
7 EUROPEAN-WORLD FINALS: 3
Champions League finals (1193,
1995, 2005); 3 Intercontinental cup
finals (1993, 1994, 2003).
9 LEAGUE PODIUMS: Runners up four
times (1990, 1991, 2005, 2006), third
place five times (1989, 2000, 2003,
2009, 2010).
2 EUROPEAN SEMI FINALS: Uefa cup
(2002), Champions League (2006).
12 FINALS AND SEMI FINALS IN ITALY:
2 Italian Cup finals (1990, 1998), 2
Italian Super Cup finals (1996, 1999),
9 Italian Cup semi finals (1991, 1992,
1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011,
2012 still ongoing).
7 EUROPEAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR
AWARDS (1987-Gullit; 1988, 1989,
1992-Van Basten; 1995-Weah; 2003-
Shevchenko; 2007-Kakà).
3 FIFA WORLD PLAYER OF THE YEAR
(1992-Van Basten, 1995-Weah, 2007-
Kakà).
6 PODIUMS FOR EUROPEAN PLAYER
OF THE YEAR : (1988- Gullit 2'; 1989-
F.Baresi 2' e Rijkaard 3'; 1994, 2003-
P.Maldini 3'; 2000-Shevchenko 3').
3 PODIUMS FOR WORLD PLAYER OF
THE YEAR (1995- P.Maldini 2'; 1996-
Weah 2'; 2004- Shevchenko 3').
the greatest .. santiago and franco can bend down and get big-dicked by pep
Wall of text, didn't read.
Oh wait
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is sad that the best milan from the last 10 years didnt won anything.
Absolutely crazy that this actually happened.
A team of: Dida; Cafu, Maldini, Nesta, Kaladze; Rino, Pirlo, Seedorf; Kaka; Sheva, Pippo is incredible... sure, they all peaked and troughed at different times... but by god.. that team is just.
Terim last game.
the guy fielded a milan with 8 players behind the ball against torino.
I was glad when he was sacked.......he didn't want Boban to continue playing for Milan????
is sad that the best milan from the last 10 years didnt won anything.
The defense playing that high at the start of the video made me shiver.
boban wasnt playing much with zac and maldini already.. dont remember if terim had some problems with him.
but terim had in attack rui costa, inzaghi and sheva...
and the guy goes to turim to play with 8 defenders.. imagine berlusconi watching that.