There are a lot of champions with a lead role in the rossoneri past. Starting with the legendary Gre-No-Li (the Swedish threesome formed by Gren-Nordhal-Liedholm) to the more recent Baresi and Tassotti, through the careers of Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard. Have fun to discover the rossoneri champions profiles from the past, learn all about their professional stages and their careers in A.C. Milan.
Yours Say !
Do you know a famous player who didn’t have a place in our gallery yet ? Do you want to leave us your personal memory about a great rossonero champion from the past ? Write here: we have already listen to a lot of requests and we have enrich the Hall of Fame, don’t miss the opportunity to say yours and maybe your voice could find space in our special release !
The Hall of Fame
* Demetrio Albertini
* José Altafini
* Roberto Baggio
* Franco Baresi
* Oliver Bierhoff
* Zvonimir Boban
* Ruben Buriani
* Cafu
* Fabio Capello
* Alessandro Costacurta
* Fabio Cudicini
* Marcel Desailly
* Roberto Donadoni
* Alberigo Evani
* Filippo Galli
* Giovanni Galli
Demetrio Albertini, class 1971, is a product of the rossonero youth sector. Trait d’union between the Sacchi’s A.C. Milan and the Capello ones. Demetrio debuted at the age of 17 during the season 1988/89 and gained a lead role with Mr. Capello in 1991/92, season in which he won the League Title. Director and mainstay of the midfield, Albertini has had a great insight into the game: his feet dictated always the times and ways of the line of attack, this is the reason why everyone call him the “Metronome”. Other than shines for his technical qualities he is famous for his fair-play on the pitch. With the rossoneri he have won five League Titles, two UEFA Champions League, two UEFA Supercus, a European(South American Cups and three League Supercups.
In Brazil he was called Mazzola for his great resemblance with Valentino Mazzola of the great Tourin. José Altafini arrives at the A.C. Milan when he was only twenty years old but with an important title already won with his own national team: World Cup of the 1958 in Sweden. A forward with an extraordinary potential, Altafini win a League Title, with the A.C. Milan jersey, in the season 1958/59, he scored 28 goals during 32 matches. He’ll win a second one, in the 1961/62, thanks to that the rossoneri will be able to play and win (the first Italian team) the UEFA Champions League in the 1963. During the historical final of Wembley, against the Benfica of Mr. Eusebio, José was the protagonist with his two goals that allow A.C. Milan to win 2-1. He left the rossonera jersey in the 1965 in order to wear the Naple’s colours.
Considered as one of the greatest Italian players ever, Roberto Baggio grow up in the youths of Caldogno, his hometown team. His professional career starts early thanks to his great skills that will bring him to wear, at the age of fifteen, the Vicenza jersey. After two great seasons, where he shows his talent, Baggio is bought by Fiorentina FC in the 1985. His first year with the violet jersey is not easy due to a serious injury who will bring him to postpone, on September 21th 1986, his debut in Serie A during the match Fiorentina – Sampdoria 2-0. Since that day Baggio has been enchanting everyone with his imagination, his technical skills and his talent, becoming a landmark for the Fiorentina FC. In the 1990 he became a Juventus FC player . With the bianconeri he won a League Title, an Italian Cup and a UEFA Cup, but most of all the Golden Ball in the 1993. During summer 1995 Roberto Baggio is bought by A.C. Milan with another champion of international fame, George Weah. Under the guidance of Mr. Fabio Capello, Baggio won a League Title collecting 28 appearances and scoring 7 goals. The second season in rossonero is not positive like the first one. The A.C. Milan doesn’t shine at the San Siro stadium. Baggio leaves the rossoneri but the love and the respect towards him are the same of the past two years with the rossonera jersey.
In the history of the Italian football a few players can be considered a real standard bearer for their teams but Franco Baresi is surely one of that for A.C. Milan. His debut with the rossoneri was during the season 1977/78; a year later, at the age of eighteen, he won his first League Title, the unforgettable one due to the star. He stays with the A.C. Milan in spite of the problems of the Club, during the earlier 80’s. In the Berlusconi’s era with the arrival of Mr. Arrigo Sacchi, Baresi will become the strongest sweeper in the world, the leader and the captain of the team called “The Invincible”, that doesn’t know opponents, between the end of the 80’s and the early 90’s. Baresi leads an insuperable defence with Paolo Maldini, Billy Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti. He won five other League Titles and most of all three UEFA Champions League and two European/South American Cups. Sweeper with offensive tendencies, Baresi has played 719 official matches with the rossonera jersey. He left the football on October 1997; A.C. Milan took off in his honour the jersey number 6, the one he wore and that saw so many successes.
Arrived in Italy in the 1991 after five seasons played in the German League and one in the Austrian League, Bierhoff debuts in Serie A with the Ascoli FC jersey on September 1st 1991. After a start not so exciting, the German forward shows his talent in the next championships and became a player in the Serie A again, this time with the Udinese FC jersey. In Friuli Bierhoff became one of the most prolific forwards in Europe gaining the national convocation with the German team. In the summer 1998 there’s the passage at the A.C. Milan after an extraordinary season with the Udinese FC jersey in which he scored 27 goals gaining the title of top-goalscorer and reaching the third place in the table with the friulana lineup. He is a well-endowed player and he has a great talent with the headers, the German forward, after his first rossonera season, is one of the protagonists in the Lazio chasing that brought the victory of the 16° Title League in the A.C. Milan history. After two seasons with the rossoneri he became a Monaco FC player, on January 2002, before his last season in Serie A with the Chievo Verona FC where he left the football at the age of 35.
The Croatian Zvonimir Boban arrived at the A.C. Milan in the season 1992/93 and he became a protagonist of the rossonere victories during the 90’s. His great technical skills, his good insight into the game and his great tactical malleability bring him to cover different roles in the midfield, from the wing to behind the forwards depending on the different game plans choosing by the various coaches which he played with. Among the victories he got in his career, there’s the League Title won in the season 1998/99 with Zaccheroni as a coach of A.C. Milan; Boban played a principal role guiding the great rossoneri chasing of Lazio FC. He won four League Titles, three Italian Supercups, a UEFA Champions League and a European Supercup.
Grown up in the AS Portuense, an amateurish team of his hometown, Ruben Buriani joined the Spal youths, where Paolo Mazza made him a professional player. After three seasons with Monza FC, in the 1977 he became an A.C. Milan player and with the rossonera jersey he won a League Title in the 1979. Buriani stays with A.C. Milan even during the difficult years of the relegation in Serie B. In the meantime he found a place in the national team where he debuted on February 16th 1980 on the occasion of the match against the Romania, playing for ten minutes with the azzurra jersey. He had up for the European in the 1980, even if he won’t collect other appearances with the azzurra jersey again. After the second relegation of A.C. Milan in the 1982, he became a player of A.C. Cesena. In the 1984 he played a season with the AS Roma with which he collected 24 appearances. Buriani’s last season in Serie A was with the Napoli’s jersey in the 1985. A bad injury occurred and made him to leave football at high levels.
Marcos Cafu joined the rossoneri in the 2003/2004 season and he has been staying for five seasons. Called: “The Pendolino” for his speed on the wing, Cafu is considered one of the greatest right backs in the world. When he arrived at the A.C. Milan he was an expert player already manu trophies gained (among which a World Cup as the Seleção captain in the 2002) and he was an experienced player of the Italian football, thanks to his career in the AS Roma which with he won a League Title. Cafu, who debuts in Serie A with A.C. Milan on September 1st 2003 during the match Ancona-Milan 0-2, became a landmark for the rossonera defence thanks to that he played 28 times during the championship. During his first season with A.C. Milan he won a UEFA Supercup and a League Title. The following years are full of success for the Brazilian defender: UEFA Champions League (the only trophy he hadn’t yet in his palmarès), another UEFA Supercup, the FIFA Club World Cup and an Italian Supercup. 166 total appearances with the rossonera jersey and 4 goals scored by “The Pendolino”.
The football career of Fabio Capello starts in the 1964 when, at the age of 18, he debuts with the SPAL. In the 1967 he was bought by AS Roma, where he won his first title, the Italian Cup. After his move to Juventus FC he wins three League Titles and he becomes a regular presence in the National team in the ’70s. In the 1976 he left Juventus FC to join A.C. Milan where he will finish his career as a player winning an Italian Cup and a League Title in 1980. Capello starts his new career as a coach training the rossonero youth department. He debuted on the bench of the A.C. Milan first team during the season 1986/87, when he is called to replace Liedholm in his last days. Capello returned the trust of the new president Silvio Berlusconi bringing the rossoneri in the UEFA Cup thanks to the successful playoff against the Sampdoria. During the season 1991/92 he was the A.C. Milan coach again, he tries to inherit at his best Arrigo Sacchi. Fabio Capello obtains a series of successful results overcoming, at least in Italy, his precursor. He wins three consecutive League Titles and his A.C. Milan is called “The unbeatable ones”, playing 58 matches in a row, more than a tournament and a half, without a loss. In the 1994 he wins a UEFA Champions League, beating, 4-0 in the Final, the Barcelona of Crujiff, and during the season 1995/96 he wins his fourth League Title. As it happened to Arrigo Sacchi he also comes back to training the A.C. Milan for only a season in the 1997/98.
Alessandro Costacurta, also known as Billy was born in 1966 and arrives at the A.C. Milan during the season 1986/87. Costacurta with Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini has been part of one of the strongest defence in the football history. A defender with a great tactical intelligence, an excellent technique and a good agonistic temper, he formed with Baresi an unbeatable pair. Going through the Berlusconi era he won everything as a football player. He finished his great career in the season 2006/2007 and he started another one as a coach, always with the rossoneri colours on the background.
His unmistakable outfit wore during the matches made his nickname “the black spider”. That’s why Fabio Cudicini, between the goal posts, seemed to be eight-legged like a spider. He had a constant performances which allowed him to win a lot. Cudicini grow up in the Udinese youths and he debuted with the same team in the Serie B, 1955/56: with the bianconera jersey he gained a place in the Serie A. During his first season in the Serie A he reached 13 appearances. After two great placings with the bianconeri (fourth and ninth place), Cudicini, in the 1958, wore the AS Roma jersey and he became for two years the second goalkeeper. Since 1960 and for sixth seasons he becomes the regular goalkeeper of the team, he wears the giallorossa jersey N.1 and he won the “Coppa delle Fiere”. During his time in Rome he’s called to play with the National team on May 8th1963. In the 1966/67 he plays, even if not constantly, with Brescia FC. Even if his career seemed to be at the end, when he was 32 years older, he was called by A.C. Milan in the 1967 and with the rossonera jersey he won everything. With him A.C. Milan won a League Title, the UEFA Champions League and in the 1969 its first European/South American Cup.
Marcel Desailly was born in 1968 and he was one of the mainstay of the Fabio Capello’s A.C. Milan. He arrived in Italy during the season 1993/94, he wins soon the championship with the rossonera jersey. The next year he wins again the League Title, becoming an important player in the milanista midfield thanks to his pressing. At first as a midfielder he plays even as a central defender. Even in this role he is great, supported by his resounding technical abilities. Unforgettable his goal of the 4-0 win over Barcelona during the Final of UEFA Champions League in Athens. He left the A.C. Milan after he won two League Titles, a UEFA Champions League, two League Supercups and an European Supercup.
Roberto Donadoni is one of the first players bought in the Berlusconi era. He starts his career as a professional footballer in the Atalanta until the season 1986/87 when he became part of the A.C. Milan team following the rossonero success first with Mr. Sacchi and then with Mr. Capello. Donadoni has been one of the most experienced Italian midfielders in those years: feign, burst of speed, dribbling, cross and kick, his repertory doesn’t know gaps. His better performances are on the right area but he can even play well in the left area with great results. Just like his teammates, “The Invincibles”, in his career he won everything he could have hope with a Club. He spent two seasons in the USA where he played in the New York Metrostars, but in the 1997 was called back by Fabio Capello. He stayed other two years wearing the rossonera jersey before to go in the Saudi Arabia where he played in the Al-Ittihad winning a league title. After the end of his career as a football player he started a new one as a coach and he obtained the honour of training the Italian National Team.
Alberigo Evani grow up in the A.C. Milan youth sector and he debuted with the first team at the age of 18. He wore the rossonera jersey for 13 seasons. He was well-appreciated by Sacchi for his tactical discipline and his movement in the midfield. Evani was one of the protagonists of a great A.C. Milan that dominated in Italy, in Europe and in the world during the end of the ‘80s and in the early ‘90s. Evani had a great left foot, he was a material point for the midfield, he was a protagonist on the left wing thanks to his perfect cross. Chicco was famous for his free kicks: in the 1989 he gave the UEFA Supercup to tha AC Milan, beating the Barcelona with a great free kick; after ten days he repeated his performance and at the 119’ of the European/South American Cup final he took by surprise the goalkeeper of the Atlético Nacional with a freak kick giving the victory to the rossoneri. These are only two of the several and famous thophies winning as a protagonist. At the end of his career as a footballer Evani was still in contact with Via Turati, at first he started to train the Allievi Nazionali, with which he won a League Title during the season 2006/2007, and now he’s training the Primavera.
The AC Milan historical defence of “The Invincibles” had five great footballer: other than Tassotti, Costacurta, Baresi and Maldini there was Filippo Galli, he was bought during the season 1981/82 and, after a short experience at Pescara, he started to play with the first AC Milan team in the 1983. Together with Nils Liedholm he became the ideal teammates of Franco Baresi and in the League Title season of Arrigo Sacchi he collected 30 appearances. In the 1994 historical final of the UEFA Champions League against the Barcelona, Filippo Galli, as Baresi and Costacurta were squalified, was protagonist of a excellent performance. Just like his other teammates “The Invincibles” he won a lot of national and intranational trophies.
Giovanni Galli grew up in the youth sector of the Fiorentina, with which he debuted in the Serie A during the season 1977/78. He was the goalkeeper of the Viola’s team since the 1977 to the 1986, when he became an Ac Milan player. With the rossonera jersey he has collected several trophies: two UEFA Champions Leagues (1988/89, 1989/90), a League Title (1987/88), a European/South American Cup (1989), a European Supercup (1989) and an Italian Supercup (1988). Since the 1990 to the 1993 he played for Napoli and he won another Italian Supercup in the 1990. During the season 1993/94 he defended the Torino’s goal, while in the next championship he was in the Parma, where he played as a second goalkeeper and he won a UEFA Cup. In the October 1995 he became a Lucchese player with witch he ended his career as a professional footballer.
