Remembering Milan & Italy legend Franco Baresi
Today's Football Italia LIVE Show is entirely dedicated to Milan and Italy legend Franco Baresi, who has died at the age of 66.
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Welcome to the Football Italia live show and today is a deeply sad day for Italian football because we remember the passing of Milan and Italy legend Franco Baresi who died today at 66. This entire episode is dedicated to Baresi's career, his achievements, the memories, the fans as well as well have not just my guests here with me, Giancarlo Rinaldi and Richard Hough that joining me to pay tribute to one of the greatest defenders in football history. Thank you very much, Giancarlo. Thank you very much, Richard for joining me today. >> It's a pleasure to admit in a in a strange way a pleasure a privilege and an honor to speak about you know one of the greatest players Italy and Milan have ever had. >> When go on, Richard, sorry. >> No, I was just going to echo that 100%. I think it's uh Yeah, it's a sad day for all of anyone who's involved or watches or in Italian football or lives in Italy. It's just in football in general. I think it's it's amazed me when looking at social media. Normally something can happen in Italy and in the UK things can sort of pass it by but the tributes pouring out all over the world are a testament to him today. >> Gianc, when when you think about Franco Baresi, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? >> It's an odd thing but the two things that come to my mind are one with one hand in the air claiming an offside and the other with two hands in the air claiming he hadn't fouled somebody. Baresi they used to joke or we used to joke certainly in my family that you didn't need a referee if if Franco was on the pitch because he could give in that legendary Milan offside trap, he led that defense. I mean, you think of who was in that defense, it Maldini, Costacurta, Tassotti. He was the leader of that group, you know, I mean, and that says an enormous amount about him. But, he was also, as I say, that arm up in the air to claim an offside became something of a trademark. And in my own family, we still if you if you want to see you want to believe in for something, you throw both hands up in the air and say Franco Baresi. And because in truth, he didn't need to fall very often because his reading of the game was so amazing. And I think that's to me, that's the the first thing I think of of him as a player is is how he understood space on the football field and could just read a game. I I've not seen many players could read a game like Franco Baresi did cuz he he wasn't a giant defender, under 6 ft His nickname Picinin, the the little one, tells you that was, you know, when he was playing sort of age groups up with with Milan. But, yeah, my my abiding memory was just a man who could lead a defense, lead a team, run a game, amazing influence on on the field of play. >> The coverage of Italian media today is obviously dominated by this tragic news. There's no transfers, there's no anything else going on in Italy today, at least in sports, that is as big and as tragic as this news. I've seen interview on Sky Sport Italia with Fabio Capello, with Filippo Galli. Um Fabio Capello highlighted especially uh not just the important aspect of obviously on the pitch how influential Baresi was, but also uh the way he conducted himself on the pitch and off the pitch and the respect that he had mostly for opponents and mostly for Inter. His brother, Beppe, is just 2 years older than than Franco and and was was an Inter player and so there was this dichotomy between a great Milan defender, a great a great Inter Inter defender. And Inter were one of the few of the first few teams to of the first teams to pay tribute to Baresi. There have been so many as Richard said as so many reactions. Inter, Juventus, everyone, obviously every Serie A club, but also a lot of foreign clubs such as Barcelona and Real Madrid. It's a terrible loss, but it's it's a loss that how can I say will help us remember the way that football was few years back and and just how just how good it was to watch these players not just on the field, but also the way and what how they conducted themselves off the pitch. I got this message from Matthew, who's always following us. Thanks, Matthew. Lifelong Inter fan, but I always had tremendous respect for the Milan backline of the early '90s anchored by Baresi. I think it's fair to say, Richard, you feel something similar. >> Yeah, massively. I mean, for your start I mean, that Baresi for me, you know, is childhood. It's simple as that. And you know, the interesting thing is an Inter fan, of course you have respect for it because even though Inter had some good seasons back then and won the Scudetto, Milan were there. They were just different That's who you had to catch. Now, a part of that was obviously the likes of Maldini, but mainly as well Baresi in that defense. And you know, we were talking before about the fact of how much both of the Baresi brothers meant to to to Milan, but also as well how much Milan meant the clubs meant to them because they were I think Baresi was 16 and Baggio was 18 when they were orphaned. And you know, both of the clubs, I mean, Franco didn't get turned down, can you believe it, by Inter at the time and he ended up going to to Milan and Inter have always suffered because of it. And um you know, it's it's one of those stories really where both clubs almost adopted each brother. And I think that that sort of brought that rivalry into that sort of uh respectful rivalry that carried through. Um and really, you know, for for my point of view, you know, you think back about those days when you had you had the three Germans, you had the three Dutch players, but really the the Italian sort of back line of Milan was the real big difference why they achieved as much as they did. And and like Giancarlo said, the memories of Baresi always in that sort of long-sleeved shirt with his hand in the air, I think just epitomized that sort of era. Um but you know, I mean, like uh Giancarlo said as well, you know, 5'9" or whatever he was, it's incredible really that, you know, that sort of stature of a player, he was the stature of him personally was much bigger than his his frame. And I think that, you know, when you talk to anyone now, I mean, just as a fact that we talk about Buffon maybe in a goalkeeper respect, I think it's really a really privileged that not just in who are the best defenders in the world in Italy, but who are the best defenders in world football, the likes of Maldini and Baresi are probably the first two on the on the team sheet. So, it's a huge loss, but that respect, I think, if you asked about that Inter Milan rivalry, because of the two brothers and what they meant to the clubs, always gave it that respect because like you said, Lorenzo, they both operated with professionalism off the pitch as well. >> You mentioned Gigi Buffon and I want to share with you and our viewers the message that Buffon wrote for Franco Baresi this morning. Um you see here November 1995 I've made my I made my Serie A debut against Milan. I was 17 and on the other side there was the captain of that team Franco Baresi. For a guy of my age to be on the pitch against somebody like him was something is something incredible. Uh, from that day it got even clearer what what what represented what represented football with class, leadership and respect meant. Uh, farewell Franco rest rest in peace. As we said there are so many reactions uh, uh, from world football obviously not just Italian football because uh, Baresi was an absolute legend an absolute like icon of uh, world football. Uh, I can see that from um, uh, like reactions and views that we got on Football Italia in the past. There are not many Italian legends you know, the Italian football is past its prime but you still have those legendary figures such as Maldini, such as Roberto Baggio, such as Franco Baresi who whatever they said, whatever they did they they were always there as big stars. Whatever we had a story out on Franco Baresi it was like he retired just the day before. He was just that big. And he actually retired in 1997 I think Milan were the first team to retire the shirt of a player and in that case obviously it was Franco Baresi and then many other teams did the same with other legends um, in the following years. I think what like one thing that struck with me today when I was going through his his career, his numbers, his achievements he became the Milan captain when he was 22. That is remarkable. Gianni Rivera >> The moment that tells you the kind of person he was. I mean, I think in you know, you can understand now why Milan fans um of a certain age are, you know, so disappointed in the current team because he was a threat. I remember reading his autobiography a few years ago, libero di sognare, free to dream, a play on the on the word libero libero, obviously. And you know, he said that he came into that Milan team, Gianni Rivera was still playing, and he was the and he was the silent leader, if you like, of that team. And he credited him with kind of giving him a an understanding of how what Milan meant, that sort of Milan DNA, but also how you could lead without being, you know, shouting and and bawling and and kind of remonstrating with your with your teammates. So, that was, you know, I think it was a clear message from the club. You've got to remember as well that Milan weren't great when Baresi first broke through. They they had been down to Serie B a couple of times, you know, and they were really quite a shambles until Berlusconi came along and then Arrigo Sacchi came along and Baresi was part of that. So, this was a statement, I think, of rebuilding the club, a statement of, you know, what the values of the club were. There was a clear link to the the glorious past, if you like, of the of the 1960s and the the Rivera era. And it was a rebuilding and it was a rebranding almost of Milan. And the Baresi was absolutely a symbol of that um of that reconstruction. He was a He was a guy I mean, I'm so old, I can actually remember that people thought Betti was the better footballer than than than Franco and he was a great footballer in his own right but but you know Franco would go on to become a legend and you know he went to Milan as Richard said as a as an orphan his his parents had died and Milan became a second family for him he's said that himself and you know in that in those surroundings who better to captain Milan who better to lead Milan than than Baresi and you know just the other images you have of him is of lifting up trophies all the time with Milan you know that that team just won everything repeatedly and he was at the he was at the heart of that and you know and as I say at 22 he was part of Italy's World Cup winning squad as well he didn't actually play in the 82 World Cup but you know Enzo Bearzot saw something in him that you know was clearly going to go on to become a great player as well so you know whilst it I mean yeah it's unusual for somebody to become a captain so young wasn't surprising in the sense that he represented the club already was a clear he was a link to the past but he was also a kind of embodiment of the the future that they wanted for the club as well >> Rich as an opponent you already mentioned the of course the bond with his with his brother the respect with with Inter Javier Zanetti the Inter vice president was another one who sent a message for Baresi and his family this morning after the news the news of his passing like from the Inter's perspective how was it like to take to the field against somebody like like Franco Baresi and obviously Inter and Milan share the same stadium. They've been sharing the same stadium for for many years and the last appearance of public appearance of Franco Baresi was this past February when he carried the Olympic torch inside San Siro for the Winter Olympics alongside an Inter legend such as Beppe Bergomi. I think this the last appearance sum up a little bit of his of his whole career. Last time at San Siro hand in hand with a rival but a friend as well and yeah, I think it just if you look backwards it just sums up everything perfectly about the laughing career of Baresi. >> Yeah, massively and I think they like you say we're sharing the stadium. It's the memories of Baresi quite is is a strange way cuz they're quite poignant because you associate the stadium as an Inter fan. So but the same point being I mean like you mentioned then Beppe Bergomi, you know, it he and for me when you look at you mentioned Zanetti, you mentioned Bergomi, they kind of embody what it is to be Inter and the best way to put it is that Baresi embodied what it was to be Milan. I mean AC Milan Giancarlo mentioned about how that sort of torch for excuse the pun was passed down to him and how to sort of say listen, this is how you act when you come into this club and through Baresi's game you know, they did rebuild themselves. You had then the stars of the Milan lab, the way that they acted, the way everyone wanted to be Milan and he was the embodiment of that. I know that people like Maldini of course go I've gone to do it but he managed to do that and I think it's that that sort of quiet leadership that really did make Milan so feared and from it yeah, of course in that era, you know, like I said when I grew up there's some fantastic players the Klinsmanns, the Matthaus, the Ferraris, the Zenga's, the Bergomi's. That team was brilliant. But yeah, and Sampdoria team at the time. But Milan were just so far ahead. And a lot of that was down to the the back line that was marshaled so well by him. And I think as well, you know, what we haven't mentioned as well is that you know, from an attack well, you mentioned actually Giancarlo about 1982, but you know, he was part of that defense that only conceded the the one goal to to Caniggia up until that point. Um in 1990 World Cup, that was so fantastic. And at the same point, we forget, you know, his his mental sort of strength was also there in the '94 World Cup when he had to come back from the injury. So, there's so much about him that I I've said this before on the show about other things, but there's a few players and you look at Maldini's, the Buffon's, potentially the Pirlo's, the Baggio's. And Baresi's in that element, too. If not one of the higher ones there that embody uh football where it transcends boundaries. And that sort of um love for him will I think that's why he's so sorely missed at the moment. And and like you say, in in to being in the same stadium, in the same city, of course it's it's heavily felt. And uh as it should be. >> Yeah, you you see now the video of his last appearance uh public appearance last time he Baresi went to San Siro uh passing the torch to Annamaria who's a star of the female Italy volleyball team alongside um Beppe Bergomi uh seen that Baresi described as the biggest emotion of his sporting life uh and it says a lot about his sporting life because we're talking about somebody who won plenty of trophies with Milan as Giancarlo mentioned, won the World Cup with Italy as well despite never being involved in the 1982 World Cup, he did reach the final in a legendary way in 1994 which I guess we're going to discuss later on. Um six Serie A titles, three Champions League titles with Milan, second player with the most appearances with the Rossoneri with 719 uh games played with Milan only second to Paolo Maldini who actually wrote a message obviously for his ex-captain which we're going to to read later on. He was part of the great Milan. He was second ranked at the 1989 Ballon d'Or after his teammate Marco van Basten. Um we know it's very hard for defenders to win that sort of trophy. It was especially for Baresi in the area with the team like just like saying full of of stars probably is not enough. You can't even think about not even nowadays, not even the current Real Madrid squad. You can't even compare that side to any other team that we have nowadays. It was just it just just incredible the number of stars they had and Baresi was the second best player in the in the world that year but he's he's been the one of the best players in the world for his entire 20-year career I would say. What about his career at Milan? Obviously he spent his whole career at Milan Giancarlo. His biggest achievements, the the thing you remember the most but also some some of his failures and how he managed to come back after those failures. There weren't many but there were some anyway. >> Yeah, I mean I think that's I think that's the thing. I think that say themselves that you don't really you measure people more by how they how they react to to failure, to to disappointment, to loss than you do in winning. And I think, you know, that he had a a background really. I mean, I always think it was quite fitting that he was he was born in a place called Travagliato, which you know, means sort of troubled. That is, you know, difficult. And and and his definitely his his childhood, his upbringing was that it was it idyllic in the countryside, but then lost lost his parents. And then, as you say, you know, Inter didn't want him. Milan initially didn't want him. And he spoke often about how hard it was as a young lad to come from the sort of the the countryside and go to go to Milan and play there, you know, and that formed his character, I think, in a lot of ways, you know, the way he was determined to come back. So, when you know, as I said, he was part of a Milan team that yes, was initially successful, but then went backwards, very much backwards. And he could have, I'm sure, left, you know, that that kind of a 1982 Milan were getting relegated. He was part of a World Cup squad. I'm sure there would have been teams would have wanted a young up-and-coming player, but he made that commitment to you know, to play for them. And I also one I don't know why this game sticks in my mind, but I think there was a game against Malta where he he handled ball. It was the most one of the most outrageous handballs you've ever seen in the history of football. It was almost like he was playing volleyball. And got sent off, but yet, you know, came back from that as well, you know, he'd he'd be just doing what he thought was best for his team and came back. But, I mean, the biggest adversity, I think, that he came back from, which he touched upon, was was a thing was on in football in terms anyway was in the USA when he suffered an injury that you know most would have ruled most players out especially at that time for for 3 to 6 months and he was back in 25 days I think playing in the World Cup final playing a great game you know didn't look like he'd been injured and he had this sort of mentality that you know pain was only a kind of a concept it was the only felt pain if you believed you felt pain which is incredible but you know I think that determination that drive got him to that World Cup final I mean sadly he was another penalty taker another you know the the penalties never went in that day and yet he was he was actually in his career a pretty dependable penalty taker for a for a center back but you know that that focus that drive to to come back to help his country to do everything he could and turned up I I didn't really I mean I knew it but I didn't realize it until I read it in print today that he's one of the few players to have won sort of gold silver and bronze at the World Cup he'd been he was part of the '82 squad that won it obviously then lost the final in '94 and was third in in in '90 Italian '90 so you know it certainly unique accolades in a career but you know I think trophies and titles are are one thing but I think the the kind of respect that he gained I saw um Filippo Galli's tribute to him and I thought it was telling that he said even after they'd retired he was at a game at San Siro watching with Baresi and he got up to leave a few minutes early and he looked round and he saw Fran