FOOTY FAIR

5 European Champions Relegated The Very Next Season

2016-08-15T11:25:00.001-04:00

With the Premier League now under way and newly promoted side Hull City shocking reigning title holders Leicester City in the season opener, there is a lot of talk about the odds of the already unlikely champions' odds of battling relegation during a year the Foxes are tasked with defending their title. With that in mind we take a look at five European clubs that found themselves in this exact scenario in the past.

#5 - Juventus (Italy)

Not exactly the same as the rest on this list, Italy's 2006 champions were relegated right after winning the Serie A title without even having to play another season. The club was implicated in the Calciopoli scandal for rigging matches and as a result were relegated to the lower tier. Juve managed to get back up despite point reductions.

#4 - Herfolge Boldklub (Denmark)

Danish side Herfolge BK claimed the Danish title for the first time at the end of the 1999-2000 season. While attempting to defend their title, Herfolge lost 6-0 on aggregate in their only round of the 2000-01 UEFA Champions League to Scottish champions Rangers and finished in 11th of 12 places in the Danish domestic league which sent them down to the second tier.

#3 - Manchester City (England)

While all the talk is about current champions Leicester City, it is Manchester City FC that is still the only champions of England that managed to get relegated immediately after winning the title. In 1937 City claimed their first title after finishing 3 points ahead of Charlton Athletic, all while watching bitter rivals United get relegated. The following season however, while United was getting promoted back up, City joined West Brom as the two relegated sides.

#2 - FC Nurnberg (Germany)

After winning their 10th (and so far last) German title in 1968, FC Nurnberg manager Max Merkel decided to rebuild the team with younger players. As a result, Germany's defending champions would finish 17th in the table and would be relegated to the second tier.

#1 - AC Milan (Italy)

Another Italian champion and another one that involves a scandal. After winning their 10th Italian title in 1979, AC Milan would effectively finish in third place the following season. Their involvement in an underground betting ring scandal named Totonero however, cost the club precious points which meant relegation to Serie B.

10 Terrific New Kits for the 2016-2017 Season

2016-07-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

The Euros might be over, but with some European clubs already kicking off their preseason friendlies while other sides around the world continue to battle for domestic supremacy there is plenty of football still on tap.

With many of the top tier leagues starting into their league schedule in a few weeks, several have taken the opportunity to release new kits that their fans will invariably want to get their hands on. Here are ten that have caught our eye so far:

1.) FC St. Pauli - Third Kit

2.) Bayern Munich - Away Kit

3.) Pumas UNAM - Home Kit

4.) Pumas UNAM - Away Kit

5.) Newcastle United - Away Kit

6.) River Plate - Home Kit

7.) Club America - Away Kit

8.) Flamengo - Home Kit

9.) Fiorentina - Home Kit

10.) AC Milan - Home Kit

Football Origins: The 5 Big Clubs Formed in 1899

2016-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Today we begin a new series at FootyFair and we call this one Football Origins. This will be an opportunity to go back in time and take a look at the beginnings of football, not necessarily something old, but a start of something related to the game nonetheless. We start off with the year 1899 and the five big clubs that were formed less than 12 months before the turn of the 20th century.

1899 was a great year for football, with the formation of an iconic French club, storied Italian and German sides, as well as a club from Spain that would change football as we know it in the new millennium. Here are The 5 Big Clubs of 1899:

Werder Bremen - Germany

Founded on February 4th as Fußballverein Werder, this popular German club was launched by a group of high school students who won a package of sports equipment and decided it would be a good idea to create a football club. Over a century later and SV Werder Bremen has enjoyed 11 seasons as the top two in the German Bundesliga including 4 league titles. Also, the club has won the German cup on multiple occasions as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup tournament in 1992.

Club Nacional de Football - Uruguay

A merger between two clubs in Uruguay's capital Montevideo on the 14th of May 1899, saw the creation of one of South America's biggest and most successful clubs. Combining the existing Montevideo Football Club and Uruguay Athletic gave birth to a club that is now referred to simply as Nacional; one of Uruguay's two most followed and rivaled sides. Since its formations, the club has gone on to win the Uruguayan league title a whopping 45 times and has even managed 3 Copa Libertadores titles, a competition that is dominated in most years by clubs from Brazil and Argentina.

The club's colors (blue, white and red) were decided upon as tribute to national hero José Gervasio Artigas who was associated with this combination.

Olympique de Marseille - France

Originally launched in 1982, France's most successful football club to-date Olympique de Marseille would be renamed to its current form on August 31st, 1899, to honor the city's Greek founders. French sports official René Dufaure de Montmirail was the founder of the multi-sport club, but despite rugby being the most popular sport in the organization's early existence, football would go on to dominate European sports and the French club's presence as well.

Currently, Marseille holds the record for most domestic cup wins, just one league title less than French record holders Saint-Étienne and are still the only French club to have ever won the UEFA Champions League.

Barcelona - Spain

On October 22, 1899, a Swiss football pioneer by the name of Joan Gamper launched an ad in a paper called Los Deportes, expressing his interest in starting a football team in Barcelona. On November 29 11 players who showed interest in the advertised message met at the Gimnasio Solé and one of the world's most successful clubs was born under its original name; Foot-Ball Club Barcelona. Eleven years later one of the club's players Carlos Comamala won a contest in which he had designed what is the most similar look to the club's current crest, consisting of the St. George Cross and the Catalan flag.

AC Milan - Italy

One of Italy's most storied clubs, AC Milan was founded just 18 days before the turn of the 20th century, when a club known then as Milan Cricket and Foot-Ball Club was formed on December 13, 1899, by English expats Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin from Nottingham. To this day, the city's English spelling "Milan" instead of its Italian name Milano is associated with the club and the St. George Cross is still present in the club's crest. Two years after its formation the club had won their first Italian league title; one of its 18 to date, coming second only to Italy's most successful club Juventus.

The Fall of AC Milan

2016-04-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

When one thinks of the giants of Italian club football, the two names that invariably come to mind are Juventus and AC Milan. But while Juventus are nine points up on second place Napoli at the top of the Serie A table and will almost certainly be crowned league champions for the fifth straight time, AC Milan are 28 points behind the Turin club and are in disarray.

Since 2014 the club has gone through a staggering five managers and I wouldn't put any money on managerial stability finding it's way to their side of the San Siro any time soon.

Milan followed up a disappointing eighth placed finish in 2013-2014 with a tenth place finish last term, far from where you'd expect a club like Milan to finish.

This season isn't going much better with the club sitting in a very distant sixth place with no hope of Champions League qualification and even the Europa League looking like a long shot.

This week, Milan played out a dull 0-0 draw with 17th placed Carpi that was memorable for what happened before than match rather than what happened during it.

Prior to kickoff, a group of actors dressed to look like the first team squad came out onto the pitch a performed a cringe worthy version of New Zealand's pre-match war dance the haka.

It was a marketing stunt for the club's sponsors Nivea. Milan dubbed the pre-match dance the Tekitanka and came out with some embarrassing nonsense about it being meant to promote male skin care.

Predictably, Milan's supporters were not impressed and neither were the people of New Zealand who aren't too fond of people or companies making fun of their traditional dance.

It's the latest embarrassing episode for the once proud club. But where did it all go wrong exactly?

A number of factors are involved, chiefly among them is the financial difficulties suffered in the past decade by the club's parent ownership group headed up by the controversial former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The successful Milan sides of the mid-2000's that won Champions League titles in 2003 and 2007 contained players like Alessandro Nesta, Filippo Inzaghi, Clarence Seedorf and Gennaro Gattuso were all kept past their sell by date and when these players were finally offloaded in 2012 and 2013 the club didn't bring in players of a sufficient quality to replace them.

This was compounded by the fact that the club lost two of its greatest stars, that still had some gas in the tank, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to big spending PSG.

While the club used to be among Europe's big spenders, the more frugal Milan side of today have had to make do with low cost signings and loans to get by.

The misstep hirings and then subsequent firings of former playing greats Clarence Seedorf and Filippo Inzaghi turned out terribly, as did the lack of patience afforded this season to Sinisa Mihajlovic who was fired earlier this month.

All in all, without additional investment and a bit of stability on the touchline it's hard to see Milan challenging Juventus for domestic supremacy any time soon.

Football's Greatest Sides - Part 1 of 5: AC Milan (1988 to 1990)

2016-03-25T10:21:00.000-04:00

Nearly thirty years ago this week, AC Milan made the first of three signings from the Netherlands that would come to reestablish the club as one of the giants of not only Italian, but European football.

Stuck in the shadow of Juventus for much of the 1970's and 1980's, and even suffering through the humiliation of twice being relegated to Serie B as a result of their part in the Totonero scandal and then their struggles to recover from its effects, Milan were suddenly transformed by the arrival of entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi in 1986.

Within a year the flamboyant Berlusconi had signed Dutch star Ruud Gullit from PSV for a world record £6 million and he followed that up by landing Ajax's goalscorer supreme Marco van Basten.

As part of a side that also included Italian internationals Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Roberto Donadoni, Milan stormed to the 1987-1988 Serie A title.

That summer Milan signed a third Dutch international, Frank Rijkaard from Ajax, and the core of one of Italy's greatest ever sides had fully taken shape.

Under manager Arrigo Sacchi, Milan romped to the final of the 1989 European Cup with their grandest statement handed down via a 5-0 thrashing of Real Madrid's much vaunted "Vulture Cohort" in semi-final second leg at the San Siro.

To claim their first European champions crown since 1969, Milan would dispatch Steaua Bucharest 4-0 at the Camp Nou in one of the most lopsided finals in the competition's history.

Two goals apiece from Gullit and Van Basten saw off the Romanian champions, who were no slouches, having been European Cup semi-finalists the season before and European Cup winners as recently as 1986.

But Milan were simply too good for them and in truth the final score could have been even more damning.

The memorable part of this Milan side was that they swam against the tide of an Italian football culture that had been in place for decades. While most sides played in the safety first catenaccio style, Sacchi, an obsessed student of the Netherlands Total Football of the early 1970's, had his side press the opposition and not simply wait for counter attacking opportunities.

The following year, a single goal from Rijkaard was enough to see off Benfica in the European Cup Final in Vienna.

This great Milan side would run it's course as they were knocked out of the 1991 European Cup by Marseille in the quarter-finals and weakened further still when the hard driving Sacchi was let go that year following a dispute with Van Basten.

The great Dutch striker himself would then see his career cruelly cut short following an injury in 1993.

To this day though, Milan are still the last side to repeat as European champions. Even the great Barcelona sides of Pep Guardiola didn't manage that.

Football's Biggest Ever Scandals (Part 4 of 5): Olympique de Marseille's Epic Run of Corruption and Lies

2016-02-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

With a star studded side containing players such as Didier Deschamps, Alen Bokšić, Rudi Völler, Abedi Pelé, Basil Boli, Marcel Desailly and Fabien Barthez the Olympique de Marseille side of the early 1990's should have been set up for success, but their colourful owner Bernard Tapie wasn't in the habit of taking chances.

For five straight season between 1988-1989 and 1992-1993, Marseille owned the French league title. But besides hoovering up some of the most talented players from across Europe and beyond, Tapie was also regularly buying off opponents to ensure his side's success.

Despite rumours of his impropriety swirling around the French domestic game, and an increasing number of strange looking results, the footballing authorities refused to pursue the matter and Tapie's scandalous subterfuge continued on unimpeded.

Besides the club's dominance in France, the prize Tapie really had his eyes on was the European Cup and although it's never been proven, there are allegations that Marseille's corruption didn't stop at their own borders.

In 1991 the club made it through to the final of Europe's premier cup competition, but were undone on penalty kicks by a brilliant Red Star Belgrade side.

Undaunted, Tapie added to what was already a glittering squad and in 1993 they returned to the final where they would meet up against the dominant team of the era, Fabio Capello's AC Milan.

Before the final, Marseille defeated Valenciennes to wrap up the French title in a match that would later have dire consequences for the club. They were well rested as they took on Italy's finest and although they were the underdogs, they were quietly confident of victory.

Milan, with Marco van Basten and Paolo Maldini among their ranks, started well and had great chances to score through Van Basten and Daniele Massaro. Eventually though, they were undone by a 43rd minute header by Ivorian-born French international Basil Boli. Despite a few threatening attacks in the second half, Milan were unable to find an equalizer and fell 1-0.

In becoming the first French side to capture the European Cup, it should have been a glorious time in Marseille's history. But Tapie's house of cards was about to come tumbling down.

Prior to the aforementioned match with Valenciennes, several of their players alerted their manager Boro Primorac that they had been offered money to take it easy on the soon to be crowned league champions.

Primorac notified the French authorities, and finally after years of turning a blind eye to Tapie's machinations they fully investigated the matter and found the club guilty of wide reaching corruption.

The club were subsequently banned from European competition for the following season, stripped of their 1992/1993 French League title and relegated to the second division.

They did however get to keep the European Cup, despite allegations of bribery in a few of their Champions League matches leading up to the final. In particular, their 1-0 over Brugge came under investigation for potential match fixing and the 6-0 drubbing of CSKA has also come under suspicion.

No evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Marseille that year has ever been proven though and their name remains on the list of European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners.

Tapie, for his role in the scandal, was removed as president of Olympique Marseille and would later be sentenced to two years in jail.

___________________________________
Football's Biggest Ever Scandals:
(Part 1 of 5): Manchester City's Under the Table Payments
(Part 2 of 5): Totonero 1980
(Part 3 of 5): Maradona Gets Kicked Out of USA '94
(Part 4 of 5): Olympique de Marseille's Epic Run of Corruption and Lies
(Part 5 of 5): Bad Santa - The Unbelievable Story of Chuck Blazer

Concepts: Rebranding AC Milan

2015-11-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

This week on Concepts we feature the work of @BlurDzn, a London based graphic artist who had previously been featured on our site with his concept of fictional Australian football club Canberra United. This time around the artist takes on an existing club and a big one at that, Italian side AC Milan. From the club badge to the brand's incorporation into social media and merchandise, here's the designer's own description of the project:

Around eight years ago my aunt bought my brother and me Milan shirts. She gave my brother an Inter shirt and gave me an AC shirt. Since then I have been supporting Milan as my Italian team, as I already supported Chelsea.

By chance I am supporting AC Milan instead of Inter just because they thought red suited me.

I thought I would share this story as it is a bit different to the cliché of the football team runs in the family and it sets up this project quite well.

This type of project is not new to me as I did a similar thing with Calgary, except that was a fantasy team. I have had a lot of fun doing this project and I have tried some new things like app and web design. Hopefully I have done them to do a good standard and maybe I have created something, which will inspire people.

After my Calgary project I quickly became eager to start another similar project. The hard part was deciding which team I was going to pick. At first I thought of doing Manchester City as I thought their logo was old fashioned but a friend of mine influenced me to do the mighty Rossoneri.

So I will let you begin and I hope you like my project!

For the logo I was inspired by three things. First the shape was inspired by the current badge on the home kit which I thought looked more traditional than an oval shape. Other parts where inspired by past and the present logo as I stayed with similiar colours and a gold outline.

In this project I spent a lot of time on the logo and different concepts but after creating the logo I started creating other concepts of the rebrand such as Twitter revamp, Website revamp, App revamp etc.

Below is the extra things I created for this project.

Using Mario Balotelli Tweets to Score on Tinder

2015-11-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Why always me? That was the question the madcap Italian international Mario Balotelli once famously had printed on a t-shirt he revealed after scoring in the Manchester Derby while playing for City.

Since then the walking headline of a striker has had a stint at AC Milan, a disastrous spell with Liverpool and has now landed back with Milan for another run out.

In the meantime he's continued to court controversy, occasionally via his random musings on social media.

According to 101GreatGoals, this week a man came up with the genius idea of using only Mario Balotelli tweets to answer a prospective match on the scuzzy dating service Tinder. Here are the results of one of his conversations.

Get in there Mario, lad.

Throwback Thursdays: Milan v Estudiantes - The Culmination of All That is Evil in International Football

2015-10-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Conceived in 1960 as a showdown between the European Cup and the Copa Libertadores holders, the Intercontinental Cup had a very rough start.

Due in no small part to the aggressive tactics and intimidation used by clubs from Argentina and Uruguay in particular, the competition was in danger of falling apart on numerous occasions.

In particular the 1967 edition between Argentina's Racing Club and Scotland's Celtic F.C. was an extremely violent affair, with the decisive game being dubbed "The Battle of Montevideo".

This infamous showdown saw two players from the Argentine side sent off and three players from Celtic sent to an early bath. In the middle of some outrageous carnage, a fourth Celtic player was sent off but refused to leave the field and ended up playing on.

The following year saw England's Manchester United against Argentina's Estudiantes in another brutal match-up that saw United's Nobby Stiles sent off for retaliation in the first leg that was won 1-0 by Estudiantes at home. The second leg at Old Trafford saw United star George Best kicked and punched constantly until he traded punches himself with Jose Medina, with both players being sent off towards the end of the 1-1 draw.

If the 1967 and 1968 competitions had been violent, they were just warm ups for the main event.

On 22 October 1969, AC Milan took on Estudiantes, returning for another final, in a match that one paper described as "the culmination of all that is evil in international club soccer."

After winning the first leg 3-0 in Milan, things seemed to be pretty straight forward for the Italian side as they went into La Bombenera for the return leg.

But the situation became extremely hostile even before the opening kick-off as fans dumped hot coffee on Milan's players as they emerged from the tunnel and Estudiantes players kicked balls at the visiting team during the warm-ups.

Once the match kicked off Milan's Pierino Prati was violently challenged and ended up with a concussion. He was ordered back on the field by the referee but collapsed and had to be replaced.

The Estudiantes players used every trick in the book to get under the skins of the Rossoneri with a series of sly kicks and digs. The Italians later claimed that they had even been pricked with pins by the Argentine players.

The legendary Gianni Rivera was punched in the face by Estudiantes goalkeeper Alberto Poletti, but got some sort of justice with a goal in the 30th minute.

The worst treatment of all was reserved for Milan's Argentina-born French striker Nestor Combin who was called "a traitor" all match, was dug at, clawed and kicked numerous times before the keeper Poletti kicked him full on in the face.

As if that wasn't enough, Combin later had his nose and cheek broken thanks to an elbow by Estudiantes defender Ramón Aguirre Suárez.

To complete his evening from hell, Combin was arrested after the match and ended up spending the night in jail, on charges of evading his mandatory Argentinian military service. Fortunately in the morning he managed to convince the authorities that he had completed his service in France, where he was a citizen.

The match itself ended in a 2-1 win for the home side, with Milan winning the cup by virtue of a 4-2 aggregate score.

Estudiantes faced severe criticism from the media and the international football community after the match. As a result of their actions on the night the Argentine Football Association came down hard with Poletti receiving a lifetime ban, Eduardo Manero a 20-game suspension, and Suárez being handed a 30-game ban.

The following decade would see several European Cup winners duck out of the competition to avoid similar problems and the cup only survived after it was reorganized in 1980 as a one off match held annually in Japan.

Mario Balotelli's Code of Conduct

2015-08-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

After Italian striker Mario Balotelli's disastrous first season for Liverpool, it was always likely that he would be on the move again this summer.

For his part, Balotelli defended his time at Anfield: “I must accept my faults but the formation chosen by (Brendan) Rodgers was not suited to my characteristics,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“At the beginning I missed several easy chances, then I had fewer chances to score, a bit of bad luck, injuries. A mess of things.”

Regardless, quite a few eyebrows were raised when it turned out that his next destination was none other than his old stomping grounds at the San Siro for his former club AC Milan.

Milan know what they're getting themselves into with Mario and understandably they're trying to put some measures in place to keep him in line.

First off the club have hired a personal "minder" to keep an eye on him and hopefully keep him out of trouble.

According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Milan have also sought to cover themselves by imposing a strict ‘code of conduct’ on their returning wild child, which was inspired by the regulations in place for the Italian Air Force.

Drawn up by Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani and head coach Sinisia Mihajlovic, the code of conduct states that:

Ensuring Balotelli will not damage the image of the club and his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram posts will be closely monitored.
Toning down his ‘extravagant hairstyles’
Wearing clothes ‘in keeping with the style of a club like Milan’
Cutting out his smoking habit
Always showing up on time and banned from visiting nightclubs

I give it three months before it all goes spectacularly wrong.

Zlatan Ibrahimović to Play Against Boyhood Club Malmö FF in Champions League

2015-08-27T16:00:00.000-04:00

With the recent draw of the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League group stage, Sweden's star striker Zlatan Ibrahimović will face his first professional club Malmö FF with his French side Paris Saint-Germain (given of course he stays with the club through the transfer deadline).

Malmö will join a long list of clubs Zlatan has played both for and against in the Champions League. Last season with PSG Ibrahimović and his team were drawn into a group with two of Zlatan's previous clubs in Barcelona and AFC Ajax. Since leaving Dutch side Ajax Ibra has faced his former team in Champions League play with Juventus in 2004-05 and with Juventus in 2010-11.

Against former club Inter Ibra played both before and after joining the Italians. First, Zlatan faced Internazionale with Ajax in his first Champions League season in 2002-03, in the same CL season he would also face future club AC Milan in the quarterfinal of the tournament. Almost immediately after leaving Inter for Spanish side Barcelona the Swede would take on his former side both in the group stages and the semi-finals in the 2009-10 edition of the tournament, losing out to his former side who would eventually win the trophy.

Whether a side he would later join, or as his former club, in Champions League play Zlatan Ibrahimović has faced five of the seven clubs he had played for. Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain will (for now) remain the two clubs Zlatan hasn't tried to defeat with another club in the CL.

Ink: AC Milan

2015-08-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

This week on Ink we take a look at Italian club AC Milan and the fans that have dedicated their lives to their beloved team by placing its symbols onto their body for the rest of their lives. Here are some awesome AC Milan tattoos.

Foto Friday: AC Milan Memories

2015-07-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Milano based photographer Andrea Donadoni had recently had a fantastic opportunity to shoot portraits of a few AC Milan greats and the result was amazing. You can check out the photographer's portfolio by clicking here.

Marco Van Basten

Roberto Donadoni

Mauro Tassotti

Daniele Massaro

Filippo Galli

Pietro Paolo Virdis

Stefano Nava

Paolo Maldini

Happy Birthday Paolo Maldini - "Il Capitano" (Video)

2015-06-26T12:00:00.001-04:00

Today, one of the greatest defenders and a true one-club legend Paolo Maldini has turned 47 years old. Arguably the most iconic footballer to have ever worn the AC Milan shirt has only worn one other jersey in his professional career, that of the Italian national team.

In celebration of a true legendary footballer's birthday, here is the SkySports short documentary, talking about the man himself, Paolo Maldini.

Umberto Gandini's Classy Letter to AFC Ajax After 1995 Champions League Final Defeat

2015-05-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Having defeated Barcelona in the 1993-94 UEFA Champions League finals and just missing out the year before after a loss to Marseille, Italian club AC Milan was on a roll having qualified to their third consecutive UCL final in 1995. Their opposition, Dutch super-power AFC Ajax with the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Marc Overmars, Edgar Davids, Ronald de Boer, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and of course former Milan Dutchman Frank Rijkaard.

Milan would go on to lose the match by a final score of 1-0 after second-half substitute Patrick Kluivert slotted the ball into the back of Sebastiano Rossi's net with just 6 minutes remaining in the match. But being obviously crushed about losing their second Champions League final in three years did not stop AC Milan Director of Sports Umberto Gandini from penning a super classy letter (sent via fax) to AFC Ajax's Gerard Holsheimer.

The image of the scanned facsimile is below, together with a transcript of the letter for your reading comfort.

TELEFAX MESSAGE FOR: Mr. Gerard Holsheimer - Ajax F.C.

FROM: Mr. Umberto Gandini - Milan A.C.

Milan, May 26th, 1995

Dear Gerard,

May we congradulate you, your staff and all your club for the conquest of the Champions Cup in Vienna.

It has been a bitter sensation for us, as you imagine, but sincerely it was softer to lose with your club, because of the friendship among the Directors, among the players and for Frankie. (Referring to Frank Rijkaard)

We are glad for him, and I hope you will tell him, because he will always be something special for Milan, as well as Ajax.

Best wishes for the Champions League next year, and please remember to everybody who is Milan (did you see the T-shirt "Who the .... is Milan"?).

Sincerely yours,

Umberto Gandini

Milan A.C.

Throwback Thursdays: 1963 - Benfica Denied a Third European Cup

2015-05-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

Before it came to be known as the hyper commercialized UEFA Champions League, the greatest cup competition on the continent was known as the European Cup. In the early days it was a nice two-legged knockout tournament that included only actual league champions and concluded with a single match final.

For the first five years of the competition the cup was the sole possession of the great Real Madrid side of Alfredo Di Stefano and friends. In 1961 though their stranglehold on the cup finally ended when they were beaten in the semi-final by Barcelona, who would themselves fall in the final to Portuguese champions Benfica in Switzerland.

Benfica, bolstered by the emergence of the mercurial Eusébio, would repeat as European Cup winners in 1962 when they hammered Real Madrid, in a symbolic last hurrah for the old champions, by a score of 5-3.

On 22 May 1963 at Wembley Stadium in England, Benfica were widely tipped to add a third straight title as they took on AC Milan and thus keep the cup in Southern Europe.

The great Eusébio rocketed his side into the lead in the 18th minute when he blasted one of his trademark right foot thunderbolts past Milan keeper Giorgio Ghezz to the delight of the watching 45,700 strong crowd.

Although Benfica were initially in the ascendancy, AC Milan held strong and finally in the 58th minute they found a breakthrough with a goal from Brazilian born striker José Altafini.

Eight minutes later Altafini found the net again to put the Italian side into a lead they would not squander and Milan had won the first of their eventual seven European Cup titles.

As for Benfica they would go on to four more European Cup Finals, but would lose all of them. They have also finished as runners-up in the UEFA Cup/Europa League on another three occasions.

Wembley Stadium itself would prove to be a very unhappy venue for Eusébio as he would break down in tears after losing the 1966 World Cup semi-final to England under the famous twin towers and also lose in extra-time to Manchester United in the 1968 European Cup Final at the same venue.

Foto Friday: Paolo Maldini

2015-05-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

This week on Foto Friday we take a look at some shots of Italy and AC Milan legend one-club man Paolo Maldini, one of the world's most prolific defenders.

Throwback Thursdays: Wonder of Istanbul

2015-03-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

Known as the “Wonder of Istanbul” the 2005 Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan will go down in history as not only one of the greatest matches of all time but the most epic Champions League final ever played.

Liverpool were the clear underdogs heading into this match, and when by halftime AC Milan had scored three unanswered goals, this looked to be one of the most lopsided games in the history of the tournament.

Maldini scored only after 57 seconds and Hernan Crespo added two more to give the Italian giants a comfortable lead in what looked to be an easy victory.

Nobody watching the game or perhaps even playing it believed that the trophy would be going anywhere else other than San Siro, with the exception of one man, Steven Gerrard. The Liverpool captain led the fight and got Liverpool on the board with a header shortly after the start of the second half.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, had made a critical move at halftime, by bringing in midfielder Didi Hamann to cover Kaka and stop the quality balls getting towards the Milan front line. This allowed for Xabi Alonso and Gerrard to have more room in midfield and assert themselves in a position to be able to recover the ball and launch quick attacks.

A minute after Gerrard scored, Vladimir Smicer took a tremendous shot that went low and through Dida’s hands. Only five minutes after that Liverpool had leveled the game. Xabi Alonso scored after Dida saved the initial penalty shot from Alonso. In the span of five or six minutes, Liverpool had done what most had thought to be the impossible, and tied the game at three apiece.

The game ended in a 3-3 draw and the extra time did nothing to change the score line with both teams playing on an empty tank and clearly waiting for penalties to decide their fate, but it was Liverpool’s keeper Jerzy Dudek that would end up being the hero of the game by making two incredible saves in the 117th minute, stopping Shevchenko from giving AC Milan the win.

His heroics continued to the penalty kicks where he saved a penalty kick from Pirlo and Shevchenko to give his team the 3-2 win on penalties and complete one of the most incredible comebacks in football history.

5 Most Incredible Derby Performances

2015-03-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

There is nothing better in football than derby day, not only for the fans of both teams but for anybody that enjoys the game of football and a high octane match.

These matches tend to always bring a certain level of anger, despair and emotions to the table and by most part are well played affairs with a low scoring result. That seems to be the norm and also the expected outcome when you have two bitter rivals facing each other in a game that has more on the line than just three points.

While most derby games have the low scoring as the norm, there are always those matches that break all rules and boundaries and become epic matches that will be remembered forever. These games tend to take a life of their own in the team’s folklore and for the losing side, time will not ever allow for that wound to heel.

To me, these are the five most incredible derby performances.

Inter Milan 0-6 AC Milan (2001)

This is a very special derby with both teams playing there home games at the San Siro. During this match, Inter Milan was the home side, but it didn’t mean much as far as the result is concerned. The game went into the history books as the biggest margin of victory in the Milan derby.

Before the match both teams had the same points in the standings, but AC Milan came in determined to break apart from their rivals and put an exclamation mark on their season. AC Milan dominated the match and completely destroyed Inter Milan, in a result that we will perhaps never see again.

Chelsea 6-0 Arsenal (2014)

The feud between Mourinho and Wenger is not new, and during this incredible derby Mourinho was able to spoil Wenger’s party in a way that nobody will ever forget.

Wenger was celebrating 1000th game in charge of Arsenal, and what went down on the field couldn’t have been a worst present.

After only seven minutes of play, Chelsea already had a two goal lead and they never looked back. Kieran Gibbs saw a red card for a foul that Chamberlain had committed in what will be one of the most bizarre moments in Premier League history.

Mourinho’s Chelsea had defeated Wenger in his 500th game in charge and 500 games more they would do it again. In 12 games that Mourinho has coached against Wenger he has never lost. This is an interesting stat to add to the developments that surrounded this great derby.

Arsenal 5-2 Spurs (2012)

More than the goals was the way in which Tottenham lost this game. The game started well for the Tottenham side that was looking at defeating their arch rivals in back-to-back league games.

Two early goals from Saha and Adebayor gave Spurs the early lead and everything look set for a confortable win away from home against their hated rivals, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Arsenal never quit and before halftime whistle the game was leveled at two’s. Rosicky gave Arsenal the lead and a quick brace from Theo Walcott put the game completely out of reach for Tottenham.

A Scott Parker sent off did very little to help a complete distort Tottenham side, and what seemed to be at their reach at the start of the game was nothing more than a memory. Arsenal had control of the game and nothing was holding them back.

The result could have been even more embarrassing for Tottenham, and that fact that it wasn’t is perhaps the only positive Tottenham fans will take from this match.

Liverpool 4-0 Everton (2014)

No other derby match in Premier League history has seen more red cards than the Merseyside Derby.

On the 21st minute of the match, Gerrard put his team ahead with a header. In a single play, Everton seems themselves go down one goal, and lose Lukaku due to injury. He collided with team mate Gareth Barry and had to be substituted.

Sturridge scored two goals and Suarez added a fourth to put the game to rest. The result could have been larger, but Sturridge missed the opportunity to expand the lead and get his hat trick when he missed from the penalty spot.

This was a game full of goals and emotion, what more to ask for from a derby.

Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (2011)

Of all the derby matches I have seen, this is perhaps the one that will always be etched in my mind as one of the greatest of all time. Perhaps it was because of the incredible lop sided scoreline, or maybe the Balotelli t-shirt, whatever it was I am not sure, but the dramatics, the goals and all that went on during that game made for one of the most if not the most derby match in Premier League history.

I will never forget the scoreline, but the “Why Always Me” t-shirt will hold a special place in my mind when it comes to everything that the game symbolized to the viewers at home or at the stadium.

Balotelli, is who he is today, in large part for what he did on that day, and I don’t think any single player’s career has ever been so impacted by one derby match as Balotelli’s has.

This was United’s worst home defeat since 1955 when they also lost to City. This was also the first time United conceded six goals in a game since 1930 matches against Huddersfield and Newcastle United.

Top 10 Silvio Berlusconi Quotes

2015-02-10T12:00:00.000-05:00

The AC Milan owner is one of the most charismatic owners in World Football. Not only does he own one of the giants of Italian football he has also been the Prime Minister of Italy for three terms.

Now, one would think that the fact that he has an estimated net worth of US$9.0 billion and is a former Prime Minister would give this loose cannon a bit more stability and accountability. Instead he is a complete maverick, someone who plays by his own rules, says what he wants when he wants it and has no concern for what others may think of him.

Finding quotes to make a top 10 list wasn’t difficult, what was difficult was to narrow it down only to ten.

“Mussolini never killed anyone, he just sent dissenters abroad for vacation.”

“Only Napoleon did more than I have done. But I am definitely taller.”

“Barack Obama being young, handsome and sun-tanned is going to get along with you swimmingly.”

“Obviously the government of [Mussolini's] time, out of fear that German power might lead to complete victory, preferred to ally itself with Hitler's Germany rather than opposing it … The racial laws were the worst fault of Mussolini as a leader, who in so many other ways did well.”

“I am absolutely sure to be the most democratic man to ever become Prime Minister in Italy.”

“Go and read the black book on communism and you'll find that under Mao's China they didn't eat babies but they boiled them to fertilize the fields.”

“The women of the Right are certainly the most beautiful … the Left has no taste, not even when it comes to women.”

“They keep calling me a dwarf, but I'm taller than Sarkozy and Putin.”

“The public prosecutor … should be subject to regular examinations to attest to sanity.”

“I used all my playboy skills and courted the Finnish President.”

5 Interesting Manager Facts - Carlo Ancelotti

2015-01-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

Current Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has been in charge of some of the biggest clubs in the world. Here are 5 interesting facts about Carletto.

Always a winning record

As a manager, Ancelotti has always had more wins than losses with every single club he was in charge of. His worst record to date was with his first club Reggiana, but even with the current 3rd tier club the Italian managed to win 17 times compared to the 10 matches his club lost. He holds his best managerial record with current club, impressively accumulating thus far more than 70 wins and losing just 11 times.

His only Italian goal

As a player Ancelotti was capped 26 times with Italy. Oddly enough, his 1 and only goal for the Azzurri came in his very debut during a tournament called Mundialito in 1980 against Holland.

A Champions League success story

Carlo Ancelotti holds 5 UEFA Champions League gold medals. His first two came when he was a player with AC Milan, winning the tournament then called the European Cup twice in back to back years in 1989 and 1990. As a manager Ancelotti won the Champions League twice more with Milan in 2003 and 2007, and again with Real Madrid just this past year. In 1984 (although not in the lineup on the day) Ancelotti and AS Roma were penalty-shootouts away from winning the tournament also, but eventually lost 4-2 on spot-kicks to Liverpool after a 1-1 final score.

The best Italian manager in France

Ancelotti is the only Italian to ever win the Manager of the Year award in the French Ligue 1, collecting this accolade as the boss of Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the 2012-13 season. As a matter of fact, Carlo became just the second non-French coach to win the award, that after Marseille's Belgian manager Eric Gerets received the award in 2009.

His super hot Canadian wife

In 2014 Ancelotti was married for the second time. His new wife, Canadian business woman Mariann Barrena McClay is not only sexy but possesses an MBA, a PhD and an overall impressive job resume that can conveniently be found on her LinkedIn page :)

5 African Players That Have Won the UEFA Champions League

2015-01-21T16:00:00.000-05:00

As the Africa Cup of Nations kicked off this past weekend in Equatorial Guinea, many club sides around the world gritted their teeth and hoped that their players taking part in tournament would come back healthy.

Although it is certainly an inconvenience to some clubs, particularly in Europe, that the biannual tournament falls in the middle of club season, it's a wonderful competition that pits the best African players against each other. It also provides a showcase for lessor known players that are hoping to capture the eye of one of Europe's big clubs.

Several players that have taken part in this tournament have also good on to great success in Europe and have helped their clubs to win what is still arguably the greatest prize in club, the UEFA Champions League. The following are five of the best African players who played for sides who won European Football's greatest prize.

Didier Drogba

One of the greatest African footballers ever, the Ivory Coast superstar Didier Drogba was the hero in the 2012 Champions League final as he scored a late equalizer to cancel Thomas Müller’s opener and send the game into extra time and eventually penalties. During the penalty shootout, Drogba scored the final spot kick to secure 4-3 win for the Blues. His countryman Salomon Kalou was also in the starting lineup in that 2012 final, alongside Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel.

Samuel Kuffour

Despite playing a terrific match for Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League Final and keeping Manchester United's potent attack of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke off the scoresheet, the former Ghanaian star is largely remembered from that final for letting Ole Gunnar Solskjær score the winner deep into stoppage time. The pain of that last minute defeat would be washed away two seasons later for Kuffour and Bayern though, as they surged to victory in the 2001 final with a win over Valencia.

Yaya Toure

On his day, Manchester City's Yaya Toure can be the most dominant player in the Premier League, but it with injuries affecting his former club Barcelona's backline heading into the 2009 Champions League Final against Manchester United, Toure was asked to fill the role of a centre back. The Ivorian filled the role superbly, as his side went on to a comfortable 2-0 victory in Rome.

Abedi Pele

Considered to be one of Ghana's finest ever players, Abedi Pele starred for the controversial Marseilles side of the late 1980's and early 1990's that upset AC Milan in the 1993 Champions League Final. Pele, the three time African Footballer of the Year, provided the cross to Basil Boli for the lone goal against the favoured Italian side.

Samuel Eto'o

The record four time African Footballer of the Year, and one of the finest strikers that has taken part in the Champions League over the past decade. Samuel Eto'o levelled the scores in the 2006 final against Arsenal for his former club Barcelona, in a match that the Catalan giants would go on to win 2-1. The Cameroonian legend, again opened the scoring for Barcelona in the 2009 final, which they would go on to win 2-0 against Manchester United. He was later a key player for Jose Mourinho's Inter side that downed Bayern Munich 2-0 in the 2010 final.

Sunday Trivia - 5 Faceless Players - i Rossoneri Edition 2.0

2014-12-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

A second edition of our faceless AC Milan footballers.

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5 Matches to Watch This Weekend

2014-12-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

With an array of exciting matches on the go this weekend, we will be watching action from Scotland, Italy, England and of course the FIFA Club World Cup finals.

Dundee United vs. Celtic (Scotland - Sunday)

A good one on display in the Scottish Premier League this coming Sunday as third place Dundee United hosts league leader Celtic. With The Terrors sitting just 7 points behind the Glasgow club, a home match with the leaders is just what the club needs if they are planning to catch up to the number one spot. Celtic on the other hand have the previous meeting to look at for motivation as The Bhoys ran riot over their opponents on the 16th of August with a 6-1 final win.

Roma vs. AC Milan (Italy - Saturday)

Perhaps Milan is not the same successful club it used to be in years past, but meetings between capital city club AS Roma and AC Milan are almost always entertaining. Milan is having a mediocre season by their standards so far, picking up 6 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses in their first 15 matches; occupying the 7th spot in the Serie A table. AS Roma on the other hand is experiencing a resurgence in the past few years, sitting in the second spot in the table 4 points behind league leaders Juventus (with a game in hand). Roma has yet to lose on home ground this year and tend to look like a much better outfit at the Stadio Olimpico.

Liverpool vs. Arsenal (England - Sunday)

Wenger in, Wenger out, what's the story with The Gunners' supporters this year? Whatever the case, Wenger seems to now be safe from the boo-birds as a couple of good recent results have now turned around the opinions of those who were asking for the sacking of the manager that has been at the club for 18 years. At Liverpool the story is quite a bit different. After finishing in second place last season Brendan Rodgers' side has been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League competition in the group stages, and the club is currently sitting 11th in the EPL table. Last weekend's 3-0 defeat to rivals Manchester United pretty much summed up Liverpool's season to date, and it doesn't get much easier when they host Arsenal. Liverpool can be hopeful however as The Gunners are nursing a few injuries and the fact that Arsenal suffered all but one of their four losses this year on the road. Liverpool on the other hand lost 7 times already this year, but only two of those defeats were on home soil at Anfield.

Newcastle United vs. Sunderland (England - Sunday)

The big derby of North-East London will be on display this Sunday and regardless of their record in the league when these two meet in the Tyne-Wear derby the competitive nature of this fixture almost always creates for entertaining football and atmosphere.This weekend's match is hosted in Newcastle's St. James' Park ground and the home team will surely look to bounce back after two heavy defeats in North London to Arsenal and Chelsea, where The Magpies conceded 8 goals between the two matches, scoring just once. Sunderland on the other hand are just two points clear of the relegation zone and will feel that a win against their arch rivals who sit fairly comfortable in the 8th spot would be a perfect way to turn their season around.

Real Madrid vs. San Lorenzo (FIFA Club World Cup - Saturday)

The debate is on whether the FIFA Club World Cup matters at all and whether fans around the world even care about this very oddly formatted competition. Nonetheless, as a football fan if they are going to crown the world's best club of the year, we will be watching. It seems like this year it's a no-brainer with Real Madrid very much looking unbeatable and with Argentinian side San Lorenzo's not so convincing semi-final extra-time win over New Zeland's Auckland City FC the competition seems to be quite a bit predictable. However, South American sides in this competition have surprised Europe's power-house clubs such as Liverpool, Barcelona and Chelsea on a number of occasions. On the other hand, those South American clubs were all from Brazil, while the two Argentinian sides that managed to reach the finals both lost.

The 5 Greatest African Players of All Time

2014-12-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

Whenever you compile a list with the title of "greatest x of all time" you're most certainly welcoming a lot of debate.

Most reasonable football fans can roughly agree on irrefutable facts like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi being the most dominant footballers on the planet for the past five years, but ask them to name who is the better player of the two and debates will rage. Open the debate up to having people name the top five players in the world right now and you're guaranteeing yourself a long night of arguing.

So with much trepidation I've put together a list of the five greatest African footballers of all time. The one stipulation I set for myself is that I had to have seen the players in my lifetime. So in fairness to African greats of the past, I suppose this list could have been more fairly labelled 'The 5 Greatest African Players of the Past Twenty Five Years", but regardless of that the five players I've selected were definitely World Class footballers and would presumably make most people's top five or top ten lists.

Let the debates begin.

5 - Hossam Hassan

Although Hossam Hassan didn't make much of an impact away from North Africa, the Egyptian striker supreme is rightly lauded for his remarkable success with the Pharaohs, which whom he won African Cup of Nations titles in 1986, 1998, and 2006. Hassan scored 68 goals in 176 appearances for his country and led Egypt to a World Cup appearance in 1990 where they narrowly missed out on progressing out of the group stages.

Hassan also enjoyed a successful career in Egyptian club football where he won thirteen league titles, five Egyptian Cups and one African Champions League with Cairo based giants Al-Ahly. He would later move to Al-Ahly's bitter rivals Zamalek, where he would win another three Egyptian league titles, an Egyptian Cup, and another African Champions League title.

4 - Abedi Pele

The three time African footballer of the year is widely regarded as Ghana's greatest ever player and one of the finest footballers to come out of Africa. Born with the name Abedi Ayew, after his football career began to take off he was given the moniker of the famous Brazilian and the name stuck. Abedi Pele was a skillful attacking midfielder who first came to prominence with Ghana after winning the 1982 African Cup of Nations.

After beginning his club career in Ghana with Real Tamale United, Pele moved around between several clubs at home and abroad before finding success with the dominant Olympic Marseilles side of the late '80s and early '90s. With the French side he won three Ligue 1 titles and the 1993 UEFA Champions League crown. A key part of that all conquering side, the later controversy and scandal that plagued the club shouldn't diminish the accomplishments of this pioneering African footballer who found great success in Europe.

3 - George Weah

Although the great George Weah didn't enjoy much international success with the small footballing nation of Liberia, the explosive striker had a major impact on club football. After being brought to Europe by then Monaco manager Arsene Wenger, Weah flourished in Ligue 1, scoring 47 goals in 103 appearances for the club on his way to winning the 1989 African Footballer of the Year award, as well as helping the club to the 1991 French Cup.

Subsequent moves to Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan brought further success as he secured a Ligue 1 title and two Serie A titles respectively. He also won two more African Footballer of the Year awards in 1994 and 1995, and became the first African player to win the coveted Ballon d'Or in 1995.

There's also the small matter of THIS famous goal he scored against Verona for AC Milan.

2 - Samuel Eto'o

The four time African Footballer of the Year could undoubtedly top this list, and perhaps many feel he should do, after a brilliant career for club and country. Samuel Eto'o helped his country, Cameroon to three World Cup appearances, one Olympic title and two African Cup of Nations wins.

He was perhaps even more successful at club level though, with three league titles and two Champions League wins at Barcelona which he followed up with a Serie A title and another Champions League win for Inter Milan. Eto'o scored an incredible 108 goals in 145 appearances for the Catalan giants, before bagging 33 goals in 67 matches for Inter.

The Cameroon international is still going strong for Everton in the English Premier League at the tail end of what has been a wonderful career.

1 - Didier Drogba

Ivory Coast's all time top scorer with 65 goals in 104 appearances, besides being his countries greatest player, Didier Drogba could also stake a claim at club level to be the greatest Chelsea player ever as well. Known for his physical strength, powerful presence in the air and his ability to bully defenders, Drogba is the prototypical 'lone striker'.

Scoring 101 goals in 233 appearances for Chelsea, who he initially joined after a successful season with Marseilles, none of his goals were more important than his late equalizer against Bayern Munich in the 2012 Champions League Final and his final successful penalty that handed the West London club their first win the top European competition. To go along with that win, he also played a key role in the club winning three Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two League Cups.

At international level, despite not winning any silverware with his country, he did lead his nation to two African Cup of Nations Finals that they subsequently lost on penalty kicks, and he also helped the Ivory Coast to qualification for the last three World Cup tournaments.