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Team
Overview
Stadium:
San
Siro
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Honours:
European
Cup: 1963,
1969, 1989, 1990, 1994
European
CWC: 1968,
1973
European
Super Cup: 1989,
1990, 1995
Intercontinental
Cup: 1969,
1989, 1990
League Winners: 1901,
1906, 1907, 1950, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1961,
1967, 1978, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995,
1999
Italian Cup:
1984,
1992, 1993, 1995, 1997
Italian
Super Cup: 1982,
1986
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The Milan
Cricket and Football Club was established on
the 16th of December 1899, by an Englishman
named Alfred Edwards, who was also Milan's first
President. Initially, both cricket and football
was played. Milan's popularity spread, gaining
more and more supporters. Eventually, Milan
registered with the Italian Football Federation,
also finding a home ground, where today's Stazione
Centrale is located. Milan's first official
match against Torino, on April 15, 1900, resulted
in a 3-0 loss for Milan. Success soon followed
as Milan won their first championship in 1901,
defeating Genoa 1-0 in a play-off final. Further
success followed as the Milan Football Club
won consecutive titles in 1906 against Juventus
and in 1907 against Torino and Andrea Doria.
The following year was an eventful one as divisions
occurred within the club, leading to a breakaway
on March 9th, 1908, resulting in the formation
of Internazionale Milano. The first match between
Milan and Inter was played on October 15, 1908,
with Milan winning 2-1. Milan's star player
from this era was Renzo De Vecchi, a brilliant
talent for the time. In betweem the two world
wars, Milan changed their name for the third
and final time to the familiar AC (Associazione
Calcio) Milan.
In the post war period, Milan began to rebuild,
being assisted by the provision that allowed
Italian clubs to sign up to 5 foreign players.
Milan signed the Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar
Nordhal and Nils Liedholm. They were to be the
saviors of Milan, with Nordhal becoming Milan's
most prolific forward, scoring 210 goals in
257 games. Both Gren & Liedholm would prove
to be masters of the midfield, contributing
to Milan winning the Scudetto in 1951, 1955,
1957 & 1959. Milan also reached the final of
the European Cup in 1958, losing to Real Madrid
in extra-time. At the end of the 1950's, three
more great players joined Milan, being Jose
Altafini, Juan Alberto Schiaffino, and Gianni
Rivera, who was bought for a record $200,000.
The 1960's were a great era for Milan, winning
the Scudetto in 1962, while winning their first
European Cup in 1963, defeating Eusebio's Benfica
in the Wembley Final, 2-1. Eusebio gave Benfica
the lead, but Rivera set-up Altafini twice in
the second half to clinch the honours for Milan,
the first European Cup won by an Italian team.
Alongside these players were other greats of
Milan, namely Cesare Maldini, Giorgio Ghezzi
and Giovanni Trapattoni, all managed by Milan's
eternal coach, Nereo Rocco. Milan came close
in the next few years, winning their first Italian
Cup in 1967, beating Padova 1-0. In 1968, Milan
achieved the double, winning both the Scudetto
by a 9 point margin and the Cup Winners Cup,
whereby they defeated Hamburg 2-0, with Kurt
Hamrin scoring both goals. The following season,
Milan won their second European Cup, defeating
Johan Cruijff's Ajax 4-1 in a memorable final
in the Bernabeu Stadium, with Pierino Prati
scoring a hat-trick, and Gianni Rivera dominating
the match with his flair. Other Milan greats
like Karl-Heinz Schnellinger and Angelo Sormani
were also instrumental. Gianni Rivera would
also win the European Player of the Year award,
becoming the first Italian to do so. Milan would
then go on to win the Intercontinental Cup,
beating Estudiantes 4-2 on aggregate. The 1970's
became a transition period, with players such
as Schnellinger, Trapattoni, Sormani, and Prati
having retired or moved from Milan, while Rivera
was getting older, and Italian borders were
closed to foreigners. Milan finished second
in Serie A for three years running, winning
the Italian Cup in 1972 with a 2-0 defeat of
Napoli, defending the title in 1973, defeating
Juventus via penalties. Milan also won their
second Cup Winners Cup, defeating Leeds United
through a goal by Chiarugi. The next piece of
silverware was the 1977 Italian Cup, defeating
Inter 2-0 in the final. Milan would eventually
win their 10th Scudetto in 1979, being Rivera's
last season and giving Milan the honour of wearing
the star on their jersey. As one legend was
bowing out, another was making his debut for
Milan, namely Franco Baresi. This was at a time
where Milan's performances in Europe were poor,
being eliminated early in the 1978 Cup Winners
Cup by Real Betis, losing to Manchester City
in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1979,
and losing early in the 1980 European Cup to
Porto. Milan was about to embark on its darkest
period. At the end of the 1980 season, a betting
scandal had broken out involving several players
and teams in Serie A and B. Milan was involved
principally through the actions of their goalkeeper,
Enrico Albertosi, and President Felice Colombo.
Due to their involvement, Milan was punished
by being relegated for the first time in its
history to Serie B, along with Lazio. In 1981,
Milan gained promotion back to Serie A, with
Mauro Tassotti coming of age. The 1982 season
resulted in Milan struggling throughout, being
relegated to Serie B again. Once more, the following
season resulted in Milan being promoted back
to Serie A by finishing first in Serie B. As
a final episode, President Giuseppe Farina who
had several legal troubles decided to flee to
South Africa with a substantial amount of the
club's money. Milan's existence was on the verge
of ending! In 1986, Silvio Berlusconi bought
Milan, becoming the new President and saving
Milan from bankruptcy. Berlusconi re-invented
Milan, heavily investing in Milan's youth structures,
and upgrading Milanello, making it the envy
of all teams Worldwide. An overhaul of the team
was conducted also, with players such as Colombo,
Ancelotti, Donadoni, Massaro and Galli being
recruited, along with the Dutch trio Marco Van
Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. Berlusconi
also showed his intentions by eventually removing
Milan legend Liedholm as coach and replacing
him with a relatively unknown called Arrigo
Sacchi. After a slow start, Milan began to demonstrate
their potential, showcasing offensive football
and brilliant pressure tactics on their opposition.
The highlight of the 1988 season was the showdown
between Napoli and Milan, to determine who would
win the Scudetto. Playing in front of 80,000
hostile, pro Maradona fans, two goals by Virdis
and one by Van Basten produced a 3-2 win which
essentially provided Milan with their 11th Scudetto.
Milan further confirmed its credentials by winning
the Italian Super Cup against Sampdoria, 3-1.
Furthermore, Milan progressed to the final of
the European Cup in 1989, crushing Steaua Bucharest
in the final with a memorable 4-0 victory. Both
Van Basten and Gullit scored twice. Milan was
to deliver a few months later, winning the European
Supercup 2-1 against Barcelona, while defeating
Nacional Medellin 1-0 in the Intercontinental
Cup. In 1990, Milan was to do it all again,
defending their European Cup crown by defeating
Benfica 1-0 through a Rijkaard goal, defending
their European Supercup crown by defeating Sampdoria
3-1, and defending their Intercontinental Cup
crown by defeating Olimpia Asuncion 3-0. Both
Van Basten and Gullit had been awarded European
player of the Year awards in this period also.
Milan were Supreme in every way! The 1991-92
season brought a new coach to Milan, former
Milan player Fabio Capello, while Sacchi became
coach of the Italian national team. In his first
season Capello won the Serie A title without
losing a single game, starting an historic unbeaten
run which was to last an incredible 58 games.
Milan went on to win three consecutive titles
from 1992 to 1994, including 3 consecutive Italian
Supercups. This period saw the introduction
of new faces at Milan, namely players such as
Jean-Pierre Papin, Sebastiano Rossi, Stefano
Eranio, Zvonimir Boban, Dejan Savicevic, Marcel
Desailly and Christian Panucci. In 1994, besides
Milan's 14th Scudetto, Milan won their 5th European
Cup, destroying Barcelona 4-0 through a virtuoso
performance by the whole team, and Savicevic
in particular. This was an emphatic result for
a team labeled as "defensive". Milan also won
the European Supercup, defeating Arsenal 2-0,
and the Italian Cup. In 1996, Milan was rejuvenated
by recruit George Weah, winning their 15th Scudetto
easily. Alternatively, it was in this period
that the 3 Dutch greats, Van Basten, Gullit
and Rijkaard, departed Milan. Van Basten was
forced into premature retirement due to a chronic
ankle injury, robbing the Milan faithful and
all Football lovers worldwide of an all-time
legend. At seasons end, Capello moved to Real
Madrid, as Milan replaced him with Oscar Tabarez.
He only lasted a few months, being replaced
by Arrigo Sacchi, who was then replaced by Capello
for the 1998 season. A great chapter in Milan's
history came to an end, as both Baresi and Tassotti
retired. In this period, Milan regularly bought
"big name" players, thinking that it would provide
success like it did only a few years back, but
Milan were dissapointing more than anything
else. Berlusconi decided to recruit a new face
as manager, namely Alberto Zaccheroni who had
done wonders with Udinese. Milan also recruited
Oliver Bierhoff and Thomas Helveg from Udinese.
1999 was turning out to be an average year until
Milan started a great home run in the last 10
matches, catching front runners Lazio, and clinching
their 16th Scudetto on the final day of the
season. Zaccheroni joined Nereo Rocco, Arrigo
Sacchi and Fabio Capello in winning the Scudetto
in their first season with Milan. Nevertheless,
Milan's form in Europe was very dissapointing,
and Zaccheroni lasted until mid 2001, being
replaced for the remainder of the season by
the duo of Cesare Maldini and Mauro Tassotti.
Fatih Terim was chosen to coach Milan for the
2001-2002 season, but unfortunately only lasted
a couple of months after several inconsistent
results. Milan decided to hire Carlo Ancelotti,
but consistent and long-term injuries to fundamental
players such as Shevchenko, Rui Costa, Maldini,
Inzaghi, Ambrosini and Albertini, made it difficult
for Milan, although to their credit, they managed
to pre-qualify for this seasons Champions League.
With the arrivals Alessandro Nesta, Rivaldo
and Seedorf at the start of the season, the
future looks just as bright as the past for
Milan.
QUICK
FACT
In
Fabio Capello's first season (91-92) they
won the league without losing a single fixture. |
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