Milan vs Roma : Paolo Maldini's Last Appearance in San Siro

Milan vs Roma, Milanisti will say goodbye for Maldini..
This will be Paolo Maldini's Last Appearance in San Siro
Crossroads of emotions and ambitions on Sunday at San Siro. against the other team most loved by Nils Liedholm, Roma, Paolo Maldini will battle it out for an important result, and the San Siro will be only for him.

For him Sunday afternoon's game is the best. Man of substance, allergic to the catwalks, Paolo Maldini can combine to his last appearance at San Siro a real game, very real, extremely real. Against Roma, the stake is very high. Not imposing as the human and sports story of the Milan Captain, but surely fundamental for the resut for the Rossoneri's squad to the most important European competition.

All the Milan fans, whom know very well the strength and concreteness of Paolo, know perfectly how Maldini will spend his week: no thought about the emotions he might have on Sunday, total concentration on Milan-Roma and on the sports significance. But the captain must know that the entire stadium on Sunday afternoon, will be looking forward to celebrate the final whistle with the hopeful positive result, so that we can funally think exclusively about him.

Acmilan.com's week will dedicate ample space, with a service every day, to all the numbers of a simply examplary career.

PAOLO MALDINI'S TROPHIES
· 7 SCUDETTI
· 5 CHAMPIONS CUP/CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
· 3 INTERCONTINENTALI CUPS/FIFA WORLD CUP
· 5 EUROPEAN CUPS
· 5 ITALIAN SUPER CUPS
· 1 COPPA ITALIA

PAOLO MALDINI'S RECORDS
· MILAN APPEARANCES IN OFFICIAL GAMES: 900
· APPEARANCES IN SERIE A: 646
· APPEARANCES IN UEFA CLUB COMPETITIONS: 174
· APPEARANCES WITH THE AZZURRI: 126
· INTERNATIONAL TROPHIES: 13
· CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINALS: 8
· QUICKEST GOAL IN A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL: 53’’, ISTANBUL 2005
· TOGETHER WITH CESARE, ONLY FATHER AND SON TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AS CAPTAINS, WITH THE SAME SHIRT (CESARE 1963, PAOLO 2003 AND 2007)

STORY OF GRANDE PARTITA : MILAN VS JUVENTUS

Read it before watch grande partita Milan vs Juve..
History says it's the 74th time the Rossoneri the Bianconeri come to Milan to face Carlo Ancelotti's team in a match that is always full of prestige.

Sunday night at 20.30 Milan will host Juventus in the Sunday evening match of the 35th matchday of Serie A. It was the 74th time in history that the Bianconeri face Milan at San Siro.

The balance of the 73 precedents is favorable to the Rossoneri with 25 victories and 17 defeats. 31 matches finished level. 105 goals were scored by Milan, and they conceded 88. Eight penalties were given to Milan, 10 to Juventus.

The last meeting at San Siro between the two teams corresponds to the last draw: it was the 14th matchday of last season (2007/2008) when the match on 1 December 2007, the second anticipated match of Saturday evening at 20.30, finished 0-0.

The preceding confrontation, on the 10th matchday of the 2005/2006 season, corresponds to Milan's last victory. It was 29 October 2005 and the Rossoneri beat the team coached by Fabio Capello 3-1. The three Rossoneri goals were all scored in the first half through with Seedorf in the 14th minute, Kaká in the 26th minute, and Pirlo in the 45th minute. In the second half the reaction of the Bianconeri came only in the 76th minute with Trezeguet's goal.

Juventus' last victory at San Siro came in the 2004/2005 season. The match was played on the 35th matchday, on 8 May 2005, and the Bianconeri found the winning goal in the 27th minute through Trezeguet's header. The match thus finished 0-1.

The biggest victories were the one on the 26th matchday of the 1996/1997 season and the one on the 12th matchday of the 1947/1948 season. The first meeting was also the match with the most goals: on 6 April 1997 it finished 6-1 for Juventus. These were the goalscorers: 19', 51' Jugovic (J), 32' rig. Zidane (J), 71', 81' Vieri (J), 73' Amoruso (J), 76' Simone (M). The second match, played on 7 December 1947, finished 5-0 for Milan. Goals: 24' o.g. Angeleri (J), 38' Annovazzi (M), 58' Gratton (M), 72', 90' Carapellese (M).
The last five matches at San Siro against Juventus
1 DECEMBER 2007: MILAN-JUVENTUS 0-0 (14TH MATCHDAY - SEASON 2007/2008)

29 OCTOBER 2005: MILAN-JUVENTUS 3-1 (10TH MATCHDAY - SEASON 2005/2006)

8 MAY 2005: MILAN-JUVENTUS 0-1 (35TH MATCHDAY - SEASON 2004/2005)

1 NOVEMBER 2003: MILAN-JUVENTUS 1-1 (8TH MATCHDAY - SEASON 2003/2004)

22 MARCH 2003: MILAN-JUVENTUS 2-1 (26TH MATCHDAY - SEASON 2002/2003)

History of San siro Milan

The history of the San Siro stadium

A gift from Pirelli

The San Siro (named after the saint who had a chapel dedicated to him in this suburb) stadium was a gift from the Milan president Piero Pirelli (in charge from 1909 for twenty years) to 'his Milan'. The stadium was built in just 13 and a half months, thanks to the work of 120 construction workers. The total cost of the operation came to five million lire which in today's terms would translate to three and a half million euro. The stadium was designed by Ulisse Stacchini, the architect whose other major work in the city was the Milan Central Station, and renowned engineer Alberto Cugini.

The inauguration

The San Siro was designed on the English model for stadiums, solely for football with four stands holding a capacity of 35,000 spectators. It opened on 19 September 1926, when a packed stadium watched Inter defeat Milan 6-3. The first league game was played on September 19, 1926 when Milan lost 2-1 to Sampierdarenese while the first international took place on February 20, 1927 and Italy drew 2-2 with Czechoslovakia. Until the end of 1945, the San Siro remained the exclusive property of Milan while Inter played their home games at the Arena in the centre of the city. The 'Theatre of Football' has gone under numerous renovations since then to create the imposing monument to the game it is today.

The first expansion

Milan sold the stadium to the city council in 1935 and three years later the decision was taken to develop the stands. Football had become more and more of a mass phenomenon so the San Siro had to be expanded to meet the demand. Architect Rocca and engineer Calzolari were given the task and they took advantage of the pre-existing structure that supported the interior to build an external ramp to enable access into the stadium. In 1952, the capacity was originally set at 150,000 but after discussions with the city council that figure was rejected. After spending 5.1 million lire on the modernisation of the stadium, the inauguration took place on May 13, 1939 when Italy drew 2-2 with England. Gate receipts for that game came to 1.2 million lire.

The second development

Work on the second expansion of the stadium started in 1954 and 12 months later, on October 26, 1955, it was opened with a capacity of 85,000. The first set of floodlights were installed in 1957 and the electronic scoreboard followed in 1967. The floodlights were modernised in 1979 when the second tier was developed. The stadium was officially renamed in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the famous Inter and Milan player of the 1930s and 1940s, on March 3, 1980. In 1986, the first tier became an all-seated numbered and coloured section. The main central stand became red, the stands around and facing that, orange, the north stand behind the goal, green and the south stand where the Milan fans gather, blue.

The third ring

For the event of the Football World Cup 1990, the Municipality of Milan decided to proceed with the refurbishment of the “Meazza” stadium after they turned down the idea of building a new stadium due to reasons of high costs and limited time available. The first idea is to design a futuristic and stunning project: the construction of the third ring and the roof to cover all the spectators. The project, design by Architect Giancarlo Ragazzi, Architect Enrico Hoffer and Engineer Leo Finzi, consists of the construction of a third ring of stands, resting on indipendent supports designed around the existing stadium.
The structure of the new third ring rests on eleven cylindrical towers in reinforced concrete. These towers also provide access to the stands and various services and are indipendent from the existing construction. Four of these towers also support the reticular beams of the roof. To give maximum comfort all the new seats placed are ergonomic, numbered and colored in four different colors to identify the four main sectors of the stadium. The 85.700 spectators are all covered with a roof made of curved shelters of polycarbonate. Furthermore was installed a new drainage and heating system and a new flood lighting system. In june the 8th 1990 the stadium hosted the opening ceremony of the Football World Cup with the match Argentina vs Camerun. Since then the “Scala del Calcio” host the passions of millions of fans. During the summer 2008, due to the construction works to meet the new Uefa standards, the stadium capacity has become 80.018 spectators.

The figures

To complete the construction, 10,000 quintals of cement, 3,500 cubic metres of sand and 1,500 quintals of iron were needed. In order to mark out the pitch, 80kg of chalk is needed to cover a dimension of 105 metres long and 68 metres wide. The perimeter beams are 204 by 296 metres and weigh 1,100 and 2,000 tonnes, respectively. The roof is covered with 256 floodlights, emitting 3,500 watts. In order to carry out the main construction, two 64-metre high cranes were purposely installed. Inside the stadium, there are emergency exits and a service elevator with a weight capacity of 1,000 kg. The San Siro stadium is situated across from the city race course and is six kilometres from the centre of Milan.

Not only football

The San Siro stadium is a symbol of Milan (such as the Scala and the Duomo) and it’s famous not only for football but for other great events that made is history. For example the boxing match between Duilio Loi and Carlo Ortis (September 1st, 1960), a return match for the world title of welter junior. There were 53.043 people, 8 thousand near the boxing ring for the occasion. That match was won by the Italian and it yielded 130 millions. The stadium has hosted some musical concerts too. Bob Marley (June 27th, 1980) presented his show under the North Curve. There were 90 thousands people to greet the Jamaican musician. The same hail was shown for Bruce Springsteen (1985). The Red Stand has hosted even an open-air disco. Now, under the South Curve, there is a museum that follows all the A.C. Milan and Inter F.C. history through the memorabilia of the people who made that history. The stadium is visited by 50 thousand of people when there’s no matches. Since July 1st, 2001 San Siro is managed jointly by A.C. Milan and Inter F.C..