Milan legend Alessandro Costacurta says the Rossoneri miss their former President Silvio Berlusconi and reveals his former teammate Christophe Dugarry was the ‘King of the nights in the French Riviera.’
“Milan miss Berlusconi,” the former centre-back told Rai Radio Due on Wednesday.
Milan legend Alessandro Costacurta says the Rossoneri miss their former President Silvio Berlusconi and reveals his former teammate Christophe Dugarry was the ‘King of the nights in the French Riviera.’
“Milan miss Berlusconi,” the former centre-back told Rai Radio Due on Wednesday.
“He looked at the list of Ballon d’Ors and went straight to buy them. I will always be grateful to Berlusconi, even though I criticized his entry into politics. I often criticized his Government allies, once I spoke well of [one of his rivals] Walter Veltroni and he got annoyed".
Costacurta’s Milan was one of the best teams of all time and based its success on an incredible defensive department.
“[Mauro] Tassotti, Costacurta, [Franco] Baresi, [Paolo] Maldini. We became what we became thanks to [Arrigo] Sacchi. He was a crazy freak, and I say it with affection.
“At first we didn’t understand if he was a genius or a fool. At first, it was difficult to accept the heaviness of his training. Then we understood. It was thanks to his training that we had so many joys.”
Milan’s successes continued also under Fabio Capello.
“For me he was more than a coach. He was my coach when my father died. He took my father’s place in a certain sense, I will always thank him.
“If I managed to overcome certain moments of difficulty it is thanks to Capello. For me has was like a father. He was a great motivator, this was his strength.
"I played with fourteen Ballon d’Or winners," Costacurta continued.
“Van Basten arrived at 23-year-old playing with a single ankle and Ronaldo ‘the phenomenon’ was the most difficult to mark in my entire career".
The 54-year-old did also revealed some background stories of his footballing career.
“At that time, some nights were used to relax a bit and lose the tension, but the night for professionals, for athletes, must be used to rest.
“Maldini was one of my closest mates, we went to the disco, but without drinking and smoking.
“Some others exaggerated with alcohol and cigarettes and when they woke up in the morning to go to training, they were not in perfect shape. Don’t ask me for names.
“I only make one: Nicola Berti. He had wonderful parties, I also remember a night in France with [Christophe] Dugarry, who was the king of nights in the French Riviera…".
Costacurta, now a pundit for Sky Sport Italia, came close to winning the World Cup in 1994 when Italy lost the final on penalties against Brazil.
"I saw the training before the match of Roberto Baggio and I realized that we could not win because [Roberto] Baggio was not standing".