Milan vs Juventus

Manchester City refused to Milan

2012-08-07T09:38:00.000+04:00

Manchester City did not agree to give striker Edin Džeko rent to AC Milan.

England champions reportedly prepared to consider the possibility of selling only 26-year-old Bosnia national team player. Now the main contender for player is Juventus, which is ready to immediately pay for the striker nearly 25 million pounds.

This season spent Edin Džeko Townspeople in 38 matches and scored 15 goals.

Eljero Elia: My agent will assess all proposals received and find the best deal for me

2012-06-13T10:19:00.002+04:00

Juventus midfielder Eljero Elia said that left the Turin Club this summer.

“I shall resign from Juventus. Already agreed on its withdrawal from the leadership of the Club. I wish to enjoy football. My agent will assess all proposals received and find the best deal for me”, - said Elia.

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Antonio Cassano: Thiago Silva would be Selling big blow to the Club

2012-06-13T10:15:00.002+04:00

Milan striker Antonio Cassano said that the sale of Defender Thiago Silva could deal a serious blow to the Milan.

“Thiago Silva would be Selling big blow to the Club. This player simply cannot be replaced.

Main thing at the moment is to define objectives of Milan for next season. With the sale of Brazilian we cannot count on success in Serie A and the Champions League.

Thiago Silva is 50 per cent of our team. I would have never sold such person for any money. Want to book club announced goal of facing Milan in the new season”, - said Cassano.

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Thiago Silva to PSG

2012-06-13T10:12:00.000+04:00

Transfer Milan Defender Thiago Silva in PSG can be completed tonight or tomorrow, informs the France Football.

The Brazilian is currently in Paris, where Vice President Adriano Galliani, Milan's negotiating a transfer. Various reports have suggested the amount may reach 40 transfer Silva-50 million Euros and the salary of the Metropolitan Club - 8-12 million Euros.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Conquest of the medal-winning team is for me the most important achievement in a career

2012-06-04T16:17:00.000+04:00

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has told the press that delivers the team too much worry.

"Every day there are articles on us, and journalists to write anything, are queued for interviews on all sorts of topics.

We are already tired of that. Team passes through the final stages of preparations for Euro-2012, and we need to remain calm and concentration, because at stake.

I want to go for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but that will depend on whether the player will make it to Sweden. So, for the Euro 2012 I'm going with serious intent – medals with the national team is for me the most important achievement in a career, "he quoted Ibrahimovic Eurosport.pl.

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Legends: Kevin-Prince Boateng

2012-06-04T16:12:00.001+04:00

Kevin-Prince Boateng was born 6 March 1987. He s a German-born Ghanaian professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Milan. Boateng made his first team debut against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season, being brought on at the beginning of the second half, he then impressed during the game, and was on the fringe of the first team from then on, despite barely being 18 years old at the time. Boateng continued his rise, and started his first Bundesliga match in the 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 14th round of the Bundesliga season.

Earlier on in his career, Boateng developed a serious shopping addiction as a result of personal problems. Boateng claims that he still owns "around 100 59Fifty caps and 100 Billionaire Boys Club caps, around 20 Martin Margiela leather jackets, and 160 pairs of Berluti shoes" following the ordeal. Other things the footballer is known to have bought include a Lamborghini Aventador and a Lamborghini Murciélago, a Hummer H3, and a Cadillac CTS-V. Boateng has since overcome this problem and sold all four of his cars, citing how he, "was broken in another world" due to the effects of it. Boateng calls himself "The Ghetto Kid" because he was brought up in the poor Wedding locality of Berlin. In official documents, his name is given as Kevin Boateng, but he prefers the name Prince and Kevin-Prince in honour of his father, Prince Boateng, Sr. He married his long term girlfriend Jennifer two days after signing with Tottenham Hotspur. Boateng has 26 tattoos. In September 2011, Boateng divorced his German wife Jennifer, ending their four-year marriage, and since the start of October 2011, he has been dating Italian-American model Melissa Satta. Following Boateng's divorce, his ex-wife returned to Germany with their son, Jermaine-Prince.

On 23 November, Boateng scored a spectacular goal in a Champions League match against F.C. Barcelona at the San Siro. On 15 February, Boateng scored the opening goal in a 4–0 home win against Arsenal at the San Siro in the Round of 16 of UEFA Champions League 2011-12.

Boateng has a Ghanaian father and a German mother. His father, Prince Boateng, Sr., left Ghana in 1981 hoping for a break in Germany, where he wanted to study administration, however was unsuccessful and he ended up disc jockeying and working as a waiter. Boateng was one-and-a-half-years-old when his father left the family home. His mother, Catherine Boateng, ended up working long hours to take care of Boateng and his brother George. His uncle, Robert Boateng is a former member of the Ghana national team and his maternal grandfather is a cousin of legendary German football star Helmut Rahn, scorer of the winning goal in the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final. As well as Boateng's brothers, George and Jérôme, he has one sister, Avelina. Both brothers are football players, with the youngest of the two brothers, Jérôme, also having previously been at Hertha BSC and now playing with Bayern Munich and the German national team.
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Kevin-Prince Boateng: Milan deserved to win Serie A

2012-06-02T14:08:00.000+04:00

Milan midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng said that Rossoneri, still can win the Scudetto.

“Episode with goal Muntari had already in the past, I don't think it's worth discussing this now. However, this was a very important moment in the Championship, because we could now have two points more. At the moment we have reduced the gap from Juventus to one point, and will continue until the end of the fight for victory. Milan won the Scudetto. However, it must be admitted that Juventus had a great season”, - quoted Boateng Sky Sport Italia.

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Barbara Berlusconi: Disputable decisions of the judge have affected a match outcome

2012-06-02T14:05:00.001+04:00

The daughter of the president of Milan Barbara Berlusconi has declared that Barcelona has achieved a victory over Milan club (3:1, the first match - 0:0) in a return match 1/4 endings of League of champions not without the aid of the main arbitrator.

"Sad evening has turned out.Has affected a match outcome, it has made disputable decisions... Anyway I congratulate "Barcelona" which always shows the football and a high class", - quoted Barbara Berlusconi Corriere dello Sport.

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Agent: Alberto Aquilani could go to Fiorentina

2012-06-02T13:38:00.003+04:00

Agent Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani-Franco Dzaval′â said that his client could agree to moving Pancaro.

“The new leadership of Fiorentina Alberto appreciates. Think you need to wait for the moment when negotiations with Liverpool.

See what happens. Last year he refused to move Fiorentina due to disagreements with management, but these people have already left the Club”, - quoted the agent Radio Blu.

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Legends: Alessandro Del Piero

2012-06-02T13:12:00.001+04:00

Alessandro Del Piero was born 9 November 1974 in Conegliano, Veneto. He is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain. Del Piero was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA’s centenary celebrations. Del Piero was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000, Del Piero was the world’s best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue. Del Piero usually plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the “trequartista” position. Del Piero’s playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just “goal poaching.” His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded. Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special “Del Piero Zone”(“Gol alla Del Piero”), approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.

Alessandro Del Piero (born 9 November 1974 in Conegliano, Veneto) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus, of which he is also club captain. Del Piero was named in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 greatest living footballers selected by Pelé as a part of FIFA’s centenary celebrations. Del Piero was also voted in the list of best European players for the past 50 years in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In the year 2000, Del Piero was the world’s best-paid football player from salary, bonuses and advertising revenue. Del Piero usually plays as a supporting-striker and occasionally between the midfield and the strikers, known in Italy as the “trequartista” position. Del Piero’s playing style is regarded by critics as creative in attacking, assisting many goals as well as scoring himself, as opposed to just “goal poaching.” His free-kick and penalty taking is also highly regarded. Del Piero has become famous over the years for scoring from a special “Del Piero Zone”(“Gol alla Del Piero”), approaching from the left flank and curling a precise lob into the far top corner of the goal.

Along with three awards in Italy for gentlemanly conduct he has also won the Golden Foot award, which pertains to personality and playing ability. Del Piero holds the all-time goalscoring record at Juventus. On 6 April 2008, Alessandro Del Piero became the all-time highest-capped Juventus player, ahead of Juve legend Gaetano Scirea. As of May 2010, he is in eighth place in the UEFA Champions League all-time goalscorer records and joint fourth with Roberto Baggio within the Italian national team records.

While playing for the local youth team of San Vendemiano since the age of 7, Del Piero used to play as a goalkeeper because he could play a lot more football that way. His mother thought it would be better for him if he played as a goalkeeper, since he would not sweat and the possibility of him getting injured was less likely. His brother Stefano told their mother: “Don’t you see that Alex is good in the attack?” and Del Piero switched position. Del Piero is the son of Gino, an electrician, and Bruna, a housekeeper. He regularly played football in the backyard with two friends, Nelso and Pierpaolo as a child. All three dreamed of becoming footballers, but only Del Piero would eventually manage to do so. Alessandro’s older brother, Stefano, briefly played professional football for Sampdoria before injury struck him. The family lived in the hamlet of Saccon – a rural home in San Vendemiano. While growing up Del Piero’s family did not have much money for travelling abroad, so he considered being a lorry driver in order to see the world.

It was while playing with his local side of San Vendemiano in 1988 that Del Piero was first spotted by scouts he left home at the young age of 13 to play in the youth side of Padova Calcio. In 1993, he transferred to Juventus, and has been there ever since. Del Piero made his Serie A debut against Foggia in September 1993, scored his first goal in his next game against Reggiana after appearing as a substitute, and then grabbed a hat-trick against Parma on his first start. Juventus claimed their first Scudetto in eight years in his first season and success continued to follow. With the Turin club, he won the Serie A championship seven times (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006), the Champions League (1996), and the Intercontinental Cup (1996). His best season was in 1997–98, when he scored 21 goals in Serie A and finished top scorer in the Champions League with 10 goals, which included a peach of a freekick against Monaco in the semi finals. His goal in the 1997 UEFA Champions League Final was unable to prevent Juventus from going down 3–1 to Borussia Dortmund. Del Piero struggled for form at the beginning of the 1998–99 season, whilst doping allegations were aimed at Juventus (they were later found innocent). In October he picked up a serious knee injury in the 2–2 draw withUdinese. This kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Juventus struggled without him and limped home to a lowly 6th place in the league.

During this time, Del Piero earned the nickname Il Pinturicchio, in reference to a comment by former president Gianni Agnelli when he compared the emerging Del Piero to the renaissance artist Pinturicchio. He’s also been nicknamed by the fans “Il Fenomeno Vero” meaning “The Real Phenomenon”, in a sort of comparison with Ronaldo, who was nicknamed “Il Fenomeno” by rival supporters of Internazionale. One of Del Piero’s greatest strengths as a footballer is his versatility, which allows him to play in a variety of attacking positions. While he started his club career playing as an out-and-out striker, he settled into a deeper role as a support-striker. He has also been positioned as a playmaker in the central slot behind the forwards. Under Marcello Lippi’s reign as Juventus coach Del Piero played in the “trident-attack” formation along with veterans Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli. After that, he took a role in a combination with Zinédine Zidane behind Filippo Inzaghi. As Juve’s playing style changed in Lippi’s second stint with Juventus starting 2001, Del Piero partnered with Zidane’s replacement Pavel Nedvěd in midfield and David Trézéguet upfront.

Experts agree that Del Piero was back to his best in the 2005–06 season having scored 20 goals in all competitions. However, his role at Juventus changed in the following season, as coach Fabio Capello preferred to use him as a substitute for an “immediate impact”, as Capello put it. Del Piero never had a calm relation with Fabio Capello though, evident from the quote on his official site “If Capello had stayed as coach of Juventus, I would have left Juventus”.

In 2006 Del Piero equalled José Altafini’s Serie A record of 6 goals as a substitute after scoring in the final minute of Juventus’s final game of the 2005–06 season. On 10 January 2006 Del Piero became the all time leading goalscorer for Juventus when he scored three times in a Coppa Italia match against Fiorentina and took his total goals for the club to 185. The previous record holder was Giampiero Boniperti, who scored 182 goals for the club. Del Piero scored the last goal for Juventus the 2005–06 season before Juve were forcibly relegated due to the infamous Calciopoli scandal. After Euro 2004, Marcello Lippi was replaced by Fabio Capello as Juventus coach. Capello was not convinced of Del Piero’s abilities and frequently benched him in favor of the new signing Zlatan Ibrahimović, much to the disappointment of many fans. But Del Piero still managed to score 14 goals as Juventus won their 28th league title, thanks to his spectacular overhead assist to teammate David Trezeguet which proved decisive in a crucial match against AC Milan at the San Siro.

Juventus were demoted to Serie B and their last two Scudetti were revoked (see 2006 Italian football scandal). Del Piero announced that he would stay to captain the team in Serie B. He underlined that players should stick with the team, explaining that “The Agnelli family deserve this, as do the fans and the new directors”. While many key players such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Fabio Cannavaro and Lilian Thuram left Turin, he chose to stay and help Juve regain promotion. Del Piero’s first appearance after the World Cup’s triumph was in the Coppa Italia match against Cesena on 23 August 2006. Since Juventus played in Serie B for the 2006–07 season, the Coppa Italia campaign became increasingly important for the club in order to achieve a UEFA Cup spot. Having been on vacation beforehand, Del Piero started on the bench. Juventus and Cesena were locked on 1–1 when Del Piero entered in the 74th minute and after 9 seconds scored the winning goal for Juventus.

Del Piero then came in as a substitute at the 61st minute for Juve’s next Coppa Italia match on 27 August vs. S.S.C. Napoli. Again Juventus were behind, but Del Piero scored twice to give Juve the lead. In the end the match went to penalties. Del Piero scored but Napoli eventually won 5–4 in the shoot-out. Following this, Alex was locked in months of fractious negotiations over the signing of a new contract with Juventus’ new management. After successfully negotiating a new contract till 30 June 2010, Alex was greeted with news of the birth of his first child, Tobias Del Piero. This was quite a staggering turnaround in his fortunes, as only two weeks earlier he was dropped by Claudio Ranieri for the Serie A match with ACF Fiorentina and was then axed from Roberto Donadoni’s Italy squad for the games with Georgia and South Africa.

n February 2008, he scored the winning goal for Juventus in a Serie A victory at home to AS Roma (1–0). He scored two goals away at Lazio and was named to two consecutive Serie A teams of the week. On 6 In April 2008 he set a new appearance record for Juventus, overtaking Gaetano Scirea’s previous tally of 552 matches in all competitions. In April, he registered seven goals in five Serie A matches, including a hat-trick in a 4–0 away win over Atalanta.

On 17 May 2008, in the final round of the 2007–08 season against Sampdoria, Del Piero scored his 20th and 21st goals, thus becoming the Capocannoniere and clinching his long overdue first Serie A golden boot. Thus, he became only the second Italian ever to win consecutive Capocannoniere titles in two different leagues – former Juventus and 1982 FIFA World Cup hero Paolo Rossi being the other one (coincidentally Rossi too won the Capocannoniere titles like Alessandro first inSerie B and then in Serie A). On 26 July 2008, Del Piero was awarded the Scirea Award. On the final weekend of the 2007/2008 season Del Piero scored a brace against Sampdoria in a 3–3 draw. These two goals were crucial as it took him to 21 goals for the season, thus winning him the Capocannonieri prize in Serie A for the first time in his illustrious career, beating the likes of David Trezeguet (20 goals) and Marco Borriello (19 goals) and matching his highest tally for a top-flight season since 1997/98.

During the 2008–09 summer pre-season, Juventus played Hamburger SV and Arsenal F.C. in the Emirates Cup, and played a friendly versus Manchester United at Old Trafford. Juventus’ coach Claudio Ranieri remarked that Del Piero would have as good a season, or an even better one, than the previous term. In August 2008, Del Piero announced that he would try to keep playing professional football with Juventus until he is 40 years old. With Juventus back in the Champions League, they were drawn into the same group as former winners Real Madrid and UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg. Del Piero marked their return with a brilliant match-winning free kick to seal a home win against Zenit. On 21 October, he scored a wonderful first-time strike from distance as Juve defeated Real Madrid in Turin. On 21 October, he scored in Juve’s Champions League match at home against Spanish club. In the fifth minute, from open play, Del Piero swerved the ball in the far corner of the goal with a freekick like shot, giving Casillas no chance, with Amauri scoring the second in the first few minutes of the second half.

On 5 November 2008, Juventus and Real Madrid squared off at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League. The Italians won 2–0 (their first away win against Madrid since 1962), and Del Piero was a key performer, scoring both the goals and being praised by both Claudio Ranieri and Madrid coach Bernd Schuster. As he left the pitch after being substituted, fans from both sides gave him a standing ovation. However, Juventus’ 2009 UEFA Champions League campaign ended in disappointment as they were eliminated by Chelsea in the 2nd round. Despite converting a penalty in the second leg in Turin, Del Piero was unable to prevent Juventus from losing 3–2 on aggregate. In the league, Juventus were mostly challenging Milan for second place and an automatic Champions League place. Most notably, Del Piero inspired the Bianconeri to a 3–0 win over Siena in their penultimate game of the season, scoring a brace and setting up Claudio Marchisio for the youngster’s third goal of the season to end their run of seven winless matches in the Serie A. Juve won 2–0 over Lazio to finish second ahead of Milan (based on their head-to-head record).

On 17 July 2009, Alessandro extended his contract with Juventus by 1 more year until 30 June 2011 in Pinzolo while training for pre-season, thus practically ensuring that he would retire at the club with which he started his professional career. During his renewal, he said “I am happy at Juventus and we are competitive. I want to keep playing for as long as I can and I’m certain that for at least two more years I will be at the top level.” He marked his 445th Serie A appearance, breaking the all-time club record, with a brace against Genoa on 14 February 2010. He is also currently the all-time top scorer for Juventus, having scored more than 250 goals in all competitions. He has also made over 600 appearances in official matches for the club, breaking the record of Gaetano Scirea who had 552 appearances for Juventus.

On 14 March 2010, Alessandro recorded his 300th and 301st career goal during a 3–3 draw with Siena with the first two goals at the second and seventh minute. On 30 October 2010, Alessandro recorded his 179th Serie A goal, breaking the record of club legend Giampiero Boniperti as Juventus’ top scorer in Serie A and further cementing his status as the most prolific goalscorer in Juventus history.

On 5 February 2011, with his substitution against Cagliari, Alessandro Del Piero became the most capped Juventus player, edging out former Juventus legend Giampiero Boniperti. Del Piero remains the third most capped player in the Serie A behind Javier Zanetti and Francesco Totti respectively. On 5 May 2011, he signed a new 1-year contract in the Juventus Arena. His previous deal was due to expire on 30 June 2011. On 24 May 2011, Del Piero and Juventus played against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a friendly match being former England defender Gary Neville’s testimonial match. Del Piero was substituted after 65 minutes to a standing ovation from the Manchester United supporters. Del Piero is currently Italy’s fourth all-time leading scorer. His tournament debut was Euro 96, but made his only appearance in the first half of a match against Russia before being substituted at halftime. Del Piero competed with fan favorite Roberto Baggio for a spot on the 1998 FIFA World Cup final roster while struggling to recover from injury suffered during the 1998 Champions League final with Juventus. He also missed two gilt-edged chances in Italy’s 2–1 loss to France in the Euro 2000 final.

He returned to the international scene in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, after a season in Serie A in which Juventus won theScudetto. Del Piero scored the decisive goal against Hungary, which sealed the Azzurri’s qualification for the finals. He instantly scored with a header against Mexico after coming on as a substitute, a goal which saved Italy from the ignominy of a first round exit. The goal sent Italy through to the second round, where they were eliminated by a golden goal in a controversial match against South Korea.

As of 2008, Del Piero has captained Italy seven times (including Euro 2008) . He also regularly wore the number 10, but later gave it to Francesco Totti and switched to the number 7, as it was the first number he wore at the start of his career. Even though the number 10 was vacated after Totti retired from the national team in July 2007, Del Piero denied any interest in taking back the number, saying he was satisfied with the number 7. On May he was recalled by popular demand to Italy’s UEFA Euro 2008 squad after nine-month absence from international duty, and thus became the second Italian player to participate in 7 major international tournaments (EURO 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008; World Cup 1998, 2002, 2006).

Del Piero was called up to Italy’s squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 Championship in Austria and Switzerland. He was mostly on the substitutes’ bench but started against Romania as the squad’s captain. In the group match against the Dutch, he came on for the under-performing Antonio Di Natale and made an immediate impact, including several efforts on goal. However he could not prevent the Azzurri from a 3–0 loss. Italy qualified through the group stage in second-place behind Holland, eliminating Romania and France. Del Piero began the 2006 World Cup on the bench, appearing in two out of three group stage matches, and made his first start of the competition in a 1–0 round-of-16 win over Australia on 26 June. On 4 July, Del Piero entered as a substitute near the end of regulation and scored Italy’s second goal in a 2–0 semifinal win over host Germany. In the final against France, which ended 1–1 after extra time, Del Piero scored a penalty in the shootout as Italy won the tournament for the fourth time. He admitted afterwards that winning the World Cup was his childhood dream. In the quarter-final against Spain, Del Piero made a substitute appearance during extra-time, and with the game ending in a 0–0 draw, it was decided by a penalty shootout in which Spain won 4–2. On 20 August 2008 he won his 90th cap for Italy in friendly against Austria – only the fifth Azzurri player to reach this landmark. Despite announcing that he will carry on playing until he is 40 years old, he has not been called up since Italy’s qualifier against Georgia on 10 September 2008.

Del Piero is married to Sonia Amoruso, and the two have been together since 1999 and married in 2005. The couple announced in July 2007 that they were expecting their first baby. On 22 October 2007, Amoruso gave birth to baby boy Tobias Del Piero at 0:20 at Sant’Anna hospital in Turin. On 14 February 2009, Amoruso’s second pregnancy was announced. On 5 May 2009 their daughter Dorotea was born in Turin. On September, 12, 2010 Del Piero announced on his personal website the upcoming birth of his third child. The Del Pieros welcomed son Sasha on December, 27th of that year.

Del Piero has used his fame and money to promote and support cancer research; in recognition of this he has received from the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro a prize of “Believe in Research” during November 2006.

When the Olympic Flame for the 2006 Winter Olympics passed through Turin, Del Piero was a torchbearer. He has an interest in sports outside of football (particularly basketball) and in turn has gained fans outside of just football, sport icons such as NBA star Steve Nash and cycling legend Eddy Merckx have stated that they are fans of Del Piero. As well as an interest in other sports, Del Piero also has a keen interest in music. He has even recorded some albums of his own. Along with Marco Materazzi, Del Piero appeared on stage at a Rolling Stones show in Milan shortly after Italy’s World Cup win. He is a good friend of musician and singer Noel Gallagher and a fan of his former band Oasis. Del Piero appears in the Oasis video “Lord Don’t Slow Me Down”.

On 9 February 2009, it was reported that Del Piero was suing the social networking site Facebook over a fake profile bearing his name that links to Nazi propaganda sites. He was said to be aggrieved that the bogus account, which carries his picture, implies neo-Nazi sympathies as he did not have a Facebook profile at that time. Besides scoring goals, Del Piero is also known for his sense of humour and is a popular guest at Italian comedy shows such as Paperissima and Striscia la notizia. His goal celebration usually consists of him running to the touchline in front of Juve fans sticking his tongue out and has done the back-flip goal celebration on several occasions. He featured in the show La sai l’ultima di Totti, a comedy sketch created by his good friend and Roma captain Francesco Totti where the two of them and national teammates Milan defender Alessandro Nesta and Juve teammate Gianluigi Buffon would tell jokes about one another.

On TV, Del Piero is famous not just for his matches, but also for broadcasting and advertising skills. He is under contract with German sports equipment manufacturer Adidas,with Uliveto water, Italian car manufacturer Fiat and Japanese motorbike company Suzuki. In 2006 he appeared in a television commercial for the Japanese motor scooter Suzuki Burgman together with the sports agent Andreas Goller.

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Legends: Alessandro Nesta

2012-06-02T13:04:00.002+04:00

Alessandro Nesta was born March 19, 1976 in Rome. Is an Italian World Cup -winning professional footballer who currently is free agent. Considered by many as one of the best centre backs to have ever played the game, he is a four-time member of the annual UEFA Team of the Year.
Nesta's talent was first discovered by Francesco Rocca, then a scout for Roma, but Nesta's father, a Lazio fan, turned down the offer. In 1985, he joined Lazio's youth academy, where he rose through the ranks playing in various positions, including striker and midfielder, before settling in defence.

His international career first showed signs of growth when he played for Italy's under-15 and under-16 sides. He was promoted to Lazio's senior squad in 1993, and first came to the attention of fans for being involved in a training ground accident that broke teammate Paul Gascoigne's leg. He assumed the team captaincy in 1997, and helped Lazio win the 1998 Coppa Italia after beating Milan in the final, in which he scored the winning goal. This was followed by a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and European Super Cup in 1999, and a rare Scudetto and Coppa Italia double in the 1999–00 season, in addition to two Italian Super Cups. Nesta was raised in the Cinecittà area of Rome. He attended the Margherita Bosco primary school where he first started playing football. His older brother, Fernando, was advised to play a sport because of a back problem and enrolled at the local football club. Alessandro threw a tantrum until his father gave in and enrolled him as well, thus marking the beginning of his career.

Serious back injuries forced Nesta out of action for the whole 2008–09 season which raised concerns about his chances to make a comeback into active football. He fully recovered from his injuries and came on as 77th minute substitute in Milan's final away game to Fiorentina on 31 May 2009 for his first competitive appearance of the season. The following season Nesta scored his first brace for Milan in a 2–1 victory over Chievo Verona in the Serie A. He began to re-emerge as a starter for the club and was one of Milan's most consistent players throughout the entire 2009–10 season. Nesta continued his excellent partnership with fellow centerback Thiago Silva throughout the 2010–11 season, forming a formidable defence, conceding just 24 goals in 38 games during the Serie A season. Throughout the 2010–11 season, speculation indicated that Nesta would retire at the end of the season, however he later confirmed that he wanted to play one more season at Milan before retiring and signed a contract extension on 18 May 2011, which would keep him on Milan's squad until summer 2012.

On May 10, 2012, Nesta announced that he would quit Milan after ten years, to continue his career outside Europe, possibly in the MLS. Just before the 2002–03 Serie A campaign, financial woes forced Lazio to sell many of their best players. Nesta was transferred to Milan for €30.987 million (or 60 billion lire; 1 euro = 1,936.27 lire). His first two seasons with the Rossoneri were very successful as he won the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League, the Coppa Italia, European Super Cup and the Scudetto. Despite missing most of the 2006–07 season due to a shoulder injury, Nesta played a vital part in Milan's return to the 2006–07 Champions League final, where Milan defeated Liverpool 2–1. He (and Milan) also won another European SuperCup in August 2007. Nesta signed a contract extension that would keep him at Milan until 2011. Nesta went on to score his first goal for Milan since April 2006 in a 1–1 draw with Siena on 15 September 2007. He followed this up with an important goal for Milan in the 4–2 victory over Boca Juniors in the final of the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.

Alessandro Nesta began his career for Italy was a member of the Under-21 squad that won the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. A few months later he was named to Italy's Euro 96 squad in England but did not come off the bench as Italy were eliminated in the group stage by eventual finalists Germany and the Czech Republic. He earned his first cap for the Azzurri in a qualifier for the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Moldova on October 5, 1996 and eventually made seven appearances in the qualifying campaign. At the final tournament, Nesta played in all three group games but made no further appearances due to injury. Two years later, Nesta featured at UEFA Euro 2000 partnering Paolo Maldini and Fabio Cannavaro in defense throughout most of the tournament as Italy finished as runner-ups.

Following Euro 2000, Nesta appeared regularly for the Azzuri as a first choice center back under Giovanni Trapattoni. During the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Nesta partnered Fabio Cannavaro in central defence but once again injury kept him out of the second round defeat to Korea. Italy's disappointment continued at UEFA Euro 2004 as they were eliminated in the first round by Denmark and Sweden but Nesta managed to stay injury free and played for a full 90 minutes in all three group games. Following two successive disappointments, newly appointed manager Marcello Lippi kept Nesta in the starting lineup as Italy topped their qualification group en route to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. However, the final tournament turned out to be a disappointment as injury in the final group game against the Czech Republic put him on the sidelines as Italy went on to win the trophy. After the World Cup, Nesta made one appearance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers against Georgia but continuous injuries forced him to retire from the international team. Prior to the final tournament, Nesta declined Roberto Donadoni's invitation to return to the national team. Two years later, he similarly turned down an invitation from Marcello Lippi prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

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Legends: Michel Platini

2012-06-02T12:51:00.000+04:00

Born in Joeuf (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France) in 21 june 1955 from Italian immigrants, Michel Platini became one of the best French soccer players ever. He played for 4 different clubs: AS Joeuf (during his amateur youth, 1966-72), Nancy (1972-79), Saint-Etienne (1979-82) and Juventus Turin (1982-87). With Nancy he was first in the Group B of second division in 1975 and won the French Cup in 1978. With Saint-Etienne he won the French Championship in 1981 and was 2 times finalist in the French Cup. With Turin he won one Italian Cup, 2 Italian Championships and 4 different international titles (+ one lost finale), and he was 3 times the best scorer of the Italian Championship. He also played 72 matches with the French national team, with whom he was 50 times captain and scored 41 goals, was European champion in 1984 (and top scorer of the tournament with 9 goals), won the Intercontinental Cup in 1985, finished fourth in the 1982 World Cup and third in 1986. He also received 3 European Golden Balls (Footballer of the year) from 1983 to 1985. He retired in 1987 to concentrate on his vast business empire. In 1988, after France failed to qualify for the 1990 World Cup, Platini became the team manager (his first coaching job) until 1992. Under his coaching France had 16 victories, 8 draws and only 5 defeats and qualified for the 1992 European Nations Championship with 8 victories in 8 matches during the qualifications. Later he was co-president of the Organization Committee of the 1998 World Cup in France, and then became the Special Advisor of FIFA president Joseph Blatter and also vice-president of the French Federation since January 2001.

Legends: Paolo Cesare Maldini

2012-06-02T12:43:00.001+04:00

Paolo Cesare Maldini was born 26 June 1968. He is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender, being adept with either foot although naturally right footed. Maldini played at a world class level for his entire career spanning 2 and a half decades, and won the Best Defender trophy at the UEFA Club Football Awards at the age of 39. He came second to George Weah for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 1995, the closest a defender had ever reached to winning the award at the time. He was also the Milan and Italy captain for many years and was considered a leader amongst leaders by fellow footballers, leading to the nickname "Il Capitano" (the Captain). Paolo's father Cesare formerly played for and captained Milan, and is a successful national U-21 manager.

He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club. During that period, he won the Champions League five times, as well as seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups. He played for 14 years for the Italian national team, making his debut in 1988 before retiring in 2002 with 126 caps and four World Cup participations. The back four that included Maldini and fellow long-timers Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti is widely considered one of European football's most formidable defensive quartets of the 1990s. Following Baresi's retirement, he would also form a formidable and successful partnership with Alessandro Nesta.

Maldini made his league debut in the 1984–85 season on 20 January 1985, replacing the injured Sergio Battistini in a match against Udinese at the age of 16. It was his only league appearance of the campaign, but he was in the starting eleven the following season. The 1987–88 Scudetto marked Maldini's first trophy, and the first of seven league titles, with the club. He was also part of Milan's undefeated Serie A champion side in the 1991–92 season. In addition to winning his third Champions League and reaching the 1994 World Cup final, Maldini became the first defender ever to win World Soccer magazine's annual World Player of the Year Award. During his acceptance speech, Maldini called his milestone "a particular matter of pride because defenders generally receive so much less attention from fans and the media than goalscorers. We are more in the engine room rather than taking the glory." He then singled out Milan captain Franco Baresi as a player who "really [deserved] to receive the sort of award I have received." Maldini played his 600th Serie A match on 13 May 2007 in a 1–1 draw at Catania. On 25 September 2005, Maldini broke Dino Zoff's Serie A appearance record after playing his 571st league match against Treviso; seven days earlier, he had played his 800th game in all competitions for Milan. On 16 February 2008, Maldini reached 1,000 senior games with Milan and Italy when he entered as a substitute against Parma.

Maldini announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2007–08 season, saying that he would do so with "no regrets." However, following Milan's elimination from the Champions League by Arsenal in March, Maldini stated that he would possibly delay his retirement for at least a further year. He signed an extension on June 6 that kept him at Milan for the 2008–09 season. On 18 April 2009, Maldini announced that he will be finally retiring at the end of the 2008–09 season.

On 17 May, in the Friuli Stadium, Maldini played his 900th official match for Milan in a league game against Udinese. Maldini's last match in San Siro was on 24 May, in a game lost 3–2 against Roma. There was a small controversy when the Milan fans known as "Brigate Rossonere" protested against Maldini as he said goodbye. Maldini has participated in eight UEFA Champions League finals during the course of his career, which is bettered only by Francisco Gento, who also appeared in a Cup Winners' Cup final, bringing his total European finals to nine. Maldini has lifted the trophy five times, the latest coming in Milan's 2–1 victory over Liverpool in the 2007 Champions League final on 23 May 2007 in Athens. In an interview with ESPN that aired prior to the broadcast of the 2007 final, he labeled the 2005 Champions League final, a match that Milan lost on penalties to Liverpool after blowing a 3–0 half-time lead, the worst moment of his career, even though he had scored the fastest-ever goal in a European Clubs' Cup final just 51 seconds into the match, in the process also becoming the oldest player ever to score in a final. His last appearance for Milan, and his last game as an active player was on 31 May 2009, in the last match of the season, against Fiorentina, which Milan won 2–0. Milan retired his number 3 shirt, but it will be bequeathed to one of his sons if one makes the club's senior side.

In 1986, Maldini was called up by his father Cesare to the Italian U-21 side, where he earned twelve caps and scored five goals in two years. He made his Azzurri debut at the age of nineteen on 31 March 1988, in a 1–1 friendly draw against Yugoslavia, and made one appearance for Italy at the 1988 Olympics. Maldini featured in all four of Italy's games at Euro 1988, and participated in his first World Cup in 1990, where Italy lost to Argentina in the semifinals on penalties.

After Italy were eliminated in the 2002 World Cup round of sixteen, Maldini retired trophyless from international competition as Italy's most capped player. He scored seven international goals, all coming in home games. He spent over half of his 16 years as an international as team captain, wearing the armband a record 74 times.

In February 2009, Italian head coach Marcello Lippi declared his support for a testimonial match for Maldini, stating that it would give him a chance to play for the Azzurri for a final time. Italian Football Federation offered him a place in the line-up in a friendly match against Northern Ireland. However, Maldini rejected the offer, saying that he wanted to part with football in an "official" match. Maldini's first international goal came in his 44th career match, in a 2–0 friendly win over Mexico on 20 January 1993. He captained Italy at the start of the 1994 World Cup, losing to Brazil in the final on penalties. He was named in the Team of the Tournament, 32 years after his father received the same honour at the 1962 World Cup. Euro 1996 would see Italy eliminated in the group stage, and the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup. Italy did reach the final of Euro 2000, but lost to France in extra time.

Prior to his retirement, Maldini expressed that he would never be moving into a coaching career. He was offered a position that would have reunited him with his former manager, Carlo Ancelotti, by joining Chelsea as a coach having reportedly met with Ancelotti and with Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich, to discuss such a possibility. On 30 June 2009, Ancelotti announced that Maldini had turned down his offer to become part of Chelsea's coaching staff. Maldini was primarily known for his positioning as a defender rather than his tackling. He made an average of one tackle every two games and positioned himself well so as to avoid making that tackle.

In 2003, he lifted the European Cup/Champions League as club captain exactly 40 years after his father Cesare accomplished the same feat for the same side. The only other father-son pairs to have done so are Manuel Sanchis Martínez and Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo (won it with Real Madrid) and Carles and Sergio Busquets of FC Barcelona.

Maldini has been married to Venezuelan former model Adriana Fossa since 1994. The couple have two sons, Christian (born 14 June 1996) and Daniel (born 11 October 2001), who both have already been signed by Maldini's former club Milan and currently play in the youth teams.

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Milan is willing to part with one of the three attackers

2012-06-02T12:39:00.001+04:00

AC Milan ready to sell one of the three attackers - Robinho, Alexandre Pato, Antonio Cassano or midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng to have means to strengthen the whole.

According to the source, the main task of the "Milan" – keep leading players, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Thiago Silva. However, the Club required novices, to save Ibrahimovic and Silva.

Milan does not have free tools in large amounts, it may mean separation from someone of the players.

It should be noted that there is a proposal from PSG Pato, Robinho is interested in Santos, Cassano – Malaga CF, and Boateng demand in England.

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The History of AC Milan - Juventus

2011-11-06T21:37:00.000+04:00

It was the 2003 Champions League Final and it was played at Old Trafford. As could be expected both sides were star studded and loaded with international players. Juventus had the likes of Lilian Thuram, Edgars David, David Trezegurt and Alessandro Del Piero. Among those representing the Rossoneri that day in Manchester were Filippo Inzaghi, Andriy Shevchenko, Paolo Maldini and Andrea Pirlo. It was a tight game with nothing in it. Both sides hit the woodwork in an encounter where chances were few and far between. In the second half, the pace of the game slowed down as both sides began to look for penalties.

Despite the prowess of both sides, both teams were hit by nerves in the shootout. Both sides missed two successive penalties to leave it all level at 1-1 after three attempts. Paolo Montero then missed for Juventus while Alessandro Nesta converted his spot kick for Milan. When Del Piero scored it meant that Shevchenko only had to score to send the title to Milan for a sixth time. He slotted it home to add another fascinating twist to the Milan – Juventus rivalry. In a way, Milan are the odd man out or the third wheel because the Milan- Juventus rivalry is the weakest of the three involving Milan, Juventus and Inter. Not that the Juventus - Milan rivalry isn’t big, but the other two are significantly bigger. Thus this rivalry sometimes gets overshadowed. Milan doesn’t have the animosity that Inter has with either Juventus or itself. The Milan-Juventus rivalry is one that is built more on a foundation of respect. Over the year, some great players have played for both Milan and Juventus which has added to the rivalry. Pippo Inzaghi is a case in point. He moved to Juventus from Atalanta in 1997. He was a great player and loved linking up with Del Piero and Zidane. In his time there they won the Scudetto once and lost in the Champions League Final to Real Madrid. He scored 58 goals from 122 matches before his move to Milan. Part of the reason for the move was the arrival in Turin of David Trezeguet. Inzaghi was worried about a lack of playing time.

After recovering from a knee injury which had kept him sidelined. Inzagi quickly formed a lethal partnership with Andriy Shevchenko. With Milan he was a member of two winning Champions League team and scored twice in the 2007 final against Liverpool in Athens. Apart from this he was a member of the Milan team which was the Serie A title in 2003-04 and also a member of the team which won the Super Cup in 2003 and 2007 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007. He is a prodigious goal scorer for Milan. Another manager to have been in charge of both sides is Giovanni Trapattoni. The Milan player began his managing career at Milan where he had two stints. He didn’t really achieve anything there at this time. He then moved to Juventus where he won all before him. He led Juventus to the Serie A title six times including two times when they defended their title. He let them to the Italian Cup twice and the Super Cup once. He was also in control of them when they won the Intercontinental Cup.

His efforts in Europe were legendary. He led Juventus to the 1985 European Cup. On their way to the title they defeated Grasshopper, Sparta Prague, Bordeaux and Liverpool. A Michel Platini goal gave Juventus a 1-0 win in a match which is remembered more for the horrific Heysel Stadium disaster.

Another aspect of the Milan - Juventus rivalry is also due to the managers. Current Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti used to manage Juventus. As a manager at Juventus he didn’t have much success in his two years there, but all that changed when he moved to Milan. This doesn’t endear him to Juventus fans. Ancelotti has lead Milan to the Serie A title one as well as two Champions League titles. Of course the first title came at the expense of Juventus which helped make him even less liked by the Juventus faithful. He also steered Milan to two Super Cup titles and one FIFA Club World Cup trophy. He did one trophy while at Juventus – the 1999 Intertoto Cup but that pales into nothing when compared to the silverware that he has brought to Milan.

Juventus won the 1977 UEFA Cup when they defeated Spain’s Athletic Bilbao in the final 2-2 on aggregate in the two-legged final. In a sign of that era, all of Juventus’ players were Italian and all of Bilbao’s players were Spanish.

Trapattoni was at the helm again when Juventus won the 1993 UEFA Cup. They defeated Borussia Dortmund 6-1 in the two legged final. Dino Baggio and Roberto Baggio scored five of the goals between them.

Just like it was with Juventus fans and Ancelotti, it wasn’t easy for the Milan fans to see all the success Trapattoni had with Juventus.