Franco Baresi
A portrait of Franco Baresi of A.C Milan taken during the club photocall
Brothers Giuseppe (left) and Franco (right) Baresi face each other in the 1979–80 Milan derby.
Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldin
Ballon d'Or
Golden Foot: 2012 (Under the category of "Football Legend")
Letters patent of a Knight of the Order of Vittorio Veneto, shown with badge and miniature.
A portrait of Franco Baresi of A.C Milan taken during the club photocall
Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldin
Ballon d'Or
Golden Foot: 2012 (Under the category of "Football Legend")
Letters patent of a Knight of the Order of Vittorio Veneto, shown with badge and miniature.
Franco Baresi lifted the European Cup trophy three times in his career.
Brothers Giuseppe (left) and Franco (right) Baresi face each other in the 1979–80 Milan derby.
Franco Baresi was born on 8 May 1960, the younger brother of Giuseppe, who was just over two years his senior. He was born in Travaglito, Lombardy, about an hour’s distance from Milan. The brothers lost both of their parents when Franco had reached the age of 16.
Franco and his brother had decided that they wanted to become professional footballers, and had trials with Internazionale. The Nerazzurri took on the elder brother, but Franco was rejected as the club considered him too slight at the time, and perhaps not up to the rigours of Serie A football.
Baresi later said: “My brother was already with Inter; he’s older than me. I wanted to follow him so I had a trial first with Inter, and they said, ‘Well, come back next year’. But my coach took me to Milan, and there I was accepted, although it took a couple of trials.” He was a mere 14 years of age at the time but the fact that Milan rather than Internazionale had taken him on board was something that he had secretly hoped for anyway. “I was always a Milanista. And it was my great fortune to always play for Milan.”
The two brothers moved to the city of Milan, and Franco was given a sport-study programme at Milan’s famous Milanello training complex. Thrust into the world of high achieving players, the reticent and reserved Baresi could easily have been missed. “I was shy … at the start when I was just 14, and I saw all the big Milan stars, they seemed like they were from another planet. But I didn’t hide. I did try and avoid crossing their paths, just because they seemed untouchable, unapproachable.” As he grew, however, so his talent was increasingly obvious and he became known among the club’s coaching staff for his dedication and focus.
At the time, Giuseppe was already an accomplished player and prospering for the Nerazzurri. It was no surprise then that the younger brother quickly became labelled as ‘the other Baresi’. As their careers progressed, increasingly it was an epithet that was transferred to the elder brother.
Former manager, the late Nils Liedholm, remarked at the time: “At 18, he already had the knowledge of a veteran.” The Swede was to give Baresi his Serie A debut away to Verona in April 1978 and the youngster took his chance to impress. As the following season dawned, Baresi was now an established member of the first team. During the summer, Liedholm had decided to pin his colours on the ability of his young defender. After taking him to one side following a training session, Liedholm informed the young Baresi that in his manager’s eyes he was now the first choice libero at the club. It was a position he was to hold for the next two decades.
Although an established member of the team, Baresi was still very much the junior by age and his teammates labelled him as Piscinin – Milanese for ‘Little One’. Although in his normal reticent way, he made little of the name; it wasn’t something that he particularly enjoyed at the time. He certainly never thought that it was a something that held back his career. “I think my strong point was never my physique. I was a pretty fast player, but above all I was fast up here, in the head. That’s what helped me a lot. It’s a natural thing. Of course you can improve it, you can grow with experience, but it’s one of those natural gifts.”
That first season with Baresi as a member of the regular starting line up saw Milan dominate the league and end up as Serie A champions. It was the club’s 10th title and allowed the young defender to gain experience playing alongside such luminaries as Fabio Capello and the legendary Ballon d’Or winner and golden boy of Italian football, Gianni Rivera, who was in the final year of his career.
The libero position was ideal for Baresi. His ability to read the game allowed him to eliminate many attacking threats before they had an opportunity to develop. Prodding his backline into position, tackling and intercepting, before taking the ball forward, he became the leading light of the Rossoneri defence. It was often as much for his dedication to the game, as his lauded skills, that Baresi earned his teammates’ respect. He was acutely aware of the standards he needed to maintain to earn such acclaim: “For people to look up to you, your behaviour needs to be beyond reproach. Training, hard work and an excellent relationship with supporters are guiding principles that should never be taken lightly.”
When asked about the sort of defenders he admired, Baresi’s answer perhaps reveals much about how he perceives the game: “I liked people like Ruud Krol, that kind of elegant, considered defender who liked to play football as well as defend.”
During the 1994 World Cup in the USA, Italy were drawn in a group with Ireland, Norway and Mexico. After losing their initial game to Jack Charlton’s men, they faced Norway in their second game. A further defeat was unthinkable. After a particularly robust challenge, Baresi quickly realised that something was seriously wrong with his right knee. Already down to 10 men after goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca was dismissed for handling the ball outside of his area, the Azzurri were in serious trouble.
Losing their skipper to injury was unthinkable. Despite gallant efforts to carry on, Baresi was forced to leave the pitch and a torn meniscus was diagnosed. In his absence, Italy rallied and Dino Baggio scored a second-half winner. At 34, it seemed that the international stage, let alone this World Cup, had seen the last of Baresi.
Italy, however, were growing into the tournament. They won their final group game against Mexico and qualified for the knockout stages. They defeated Nigeria 2-1 in the last-16 before disposing of Spain in the quarter-finals and Bulgaria in the semi-finals by the same score. The Azzurri were in the final, and their run had given time for Baresi to recover. A mere 25 days after the injury, he returned to the team for the final against Brazil in Pasadena.
As if to exact a perverse revenge, the fates took a hand in the final where, although Baresi and his teammates held Brazil to a goalless 90 minutes and extra-time, the Azzurri were to lose out in a penalty shoot-out. Never one to hide, Baresi was to be one of the Italians brave enough to step up, but unfortunate enough to miss. As he trudged back to the centre-circle, blue shirt untucked as usual, there were tears running down his rugged features. The weeks of work had got him there, only to be denied at the last. Despite the many glories, adversity was no stranger to Franco Baresi.
After the success of his debut season in the first team and the Scudetto, Milan were to experience the embarrassment of relegation in 1980 after being implicated in what appears to be a semi-regular appearance of match-fixing scandals in Italian football. Baresi stayed loyal to the club and was rewarded as Milan bounced straight back as Serie B champions. Their return to the top flight proved arduous, however, and a second relegation followed as they finished in the bottom three of the table.
In 1982 the decision was made that, at just 22, it was time for AC Milan to recognise not only the talents but also the leadership qualities of Baresi: he was made captain of the club.
Promotion quickly followed in 1983 but as the club stuttered along it would be a further three years before AC Milan was purchased by Slivio Berlusconi, under whose ownership the club enjoyed unparalleled success. During this period, Milan won six Scudetti, the European Cup thrice, six Suppercoppa Italiana, three European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups. Although it is true to say that the array of forward players accumulated by the Rossoneri in this period contributed greatly to such success, the miserly defence, marshalled with such excellence by the elegant Baresi, played a more than full part.
Baresi also enjoyed success on the international stage. After collecting his World Cup winner’s medal in 1982, he was named as a member of the FIFA World Cup all-star team after the 1990 tournament when Italy finished in third place on home soil and, as mentioned, above played in the 1994 tournament when the Azzurri lost out in the final to Brazil.
His international career began in 1980 when, whilst still playing for Italy’s under-21 side, he was selected to join his brother in the squad for the European Championships to be played in Italy. He never played in the tournament as Italy finished fourth. Two years later the situation was repeated in the Spain World Cup, although the Italian triumph there surely compensated more than somewhat for his lack of involvement. He played and scored during the 1984 Olympic tournament, but missed out on a medal as the Italians were defeated by Yugoslavia in the bronze medal playoff after losing to Brazil in the semi-final.
He duly made his World Cup debut and was outstanding throughout as Italy progressed to the semi-final stage. Now in his pomp, under Baresi’s guidance the Azzurri backline kept five consecutive clean sheets in the tournament, recording over 500 minutes without conceding and only seeing their defence breached twice in all. Unfortunately, following a goalless draw after 90 minutes and extra-time, they succumbed to Argentina on penalties, when the Italian curse of 17 struck as Roberto Donadoni missed the vital spot kick. Baresi had been the first of the Italians to step up, and duly slotted home his spot-kick. His performances meant inclusion in the FIFA select team of the tournament was inevitable.
For the 1994 tournament – the first to be staged in North America – Baresi had now taken over as his country’s captain from the long-serving Giuseppe Bergomi. Although the finals were to illustrate the determination of Baresi to contribute to the cause, his desire was ultimately foiled as Italy lost out to Brazil – again on penalties – in the final. Perhaps realising that his last chance of tournament glory had gone in that hot Pasadena afternoon, Baresi played only one further match for the national side.
Following a 1-1 draw with Slovenia in September 1994, he pulled down the curtain and retired from international football.
He is considered one of the greatest defenders of all-time and was ranked 19th in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. With Milan, he won three UEFA Champions League titles, six Serie A titles, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, two European Super Cups and two Intercontinental Cups.
Physical Characteristics: Height: 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Quotes from others about the person
"He wasn’t like [Jaap] Stam, a big guy who was strong and fast. He had pace, but he was only 70kg. But let me tell you – when he hit you with a tackle, he was so strong."
His long-time defensive partner, Paolo Maldini
Maldini remarked: “He was a short, skinny guy but so strong. He could jump so high. The way he played on the field was an example for everybody. He wasn’t a big speaker, no, no, no. The way he played, the way he trained was an example. For me, he was the role model. He was a reference. He was also very good with the ball. It is very hard to find a good defender, who is strong and good with the ball. Very hard.”
As youngsters, both players had tryouts for Inter, but Franco was rejected, and purchased by local rivals Milan. As he was the younger player, Franco was initially known as "Baresi 2". However, due to Franco's eventual great success and popularity throughout his career, which surpassed even that of his older brother's, Giuseppe later became known as "the other Baresi", despite also achieving notable success.
