Although Alessandro Nesta has just lost his position as manager in Perugia, this still does not affect his lofty historical status in Italian football. In the eyes of matthew Santangelo, author of the famous Maldini and Theese Football Times, Nesta as a player has become the last classic "Italian centre-back" in the football world.
In today's world, football has evolved into a unique sport. According to the different differences of regions and cultures, its expression form has also undergone major changes. Letting football carry the honor and pride of a country has become a common practice around the world.
Diverse lifestyles and cultural differences allow people around the world to freely express themselves in the greenery in the way they think they want. And the successful models of some countries, once they leave the soil on which they depend, often prove to be "unrepeatable.". Although football has become a lingua franca on the planet, different styles of football play can still be seen as a variety of accents.
Italy, the country's beautiful and glorious artistic history from the 14th century onwards, has been faithfully recorded in the annals of history. The various works of art produced during the Renaissance – from Michelangelo's Creation of Adam at the Vatican to Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper – have become an important part of the image of Italian culture today. In the world of football, the Italians have finally formed a unique football style through a hundred years of hard work, that is, the well-known "Italian defense" system.
Since the 1930s, Italy has won four World Cup titles, and clubs from Italy have repeatedly achieved remarkable successes in international competitions – and when we analyze these successes, we will find that defense is always treated as a top priority by Italians. They found a torch from an early age that would illuminate the way ahead, and generation after generation of Italy's top defenders would pass the torch to their successors, making the fire of defense passed on from generation to generation.
1950-60 was an era of loyal, glorious legends forged by Trapattoni, Bourganic and Maldini the Elder. Italian football entered its most prosperous golden period in the 1980s and 90s, with Juve legend Sirea and Milan legend Barresi both the most outstanding defenders of this era.
During his time at AC Milan, Baresi played an important role in the growth of his younger brother Paulo Maldini. With his elegant style and acclaimed career, Maldini dedicated his entire career to the club, which was dominated by red and black, and thus achieved the transformation from prince to king in the city of Milan. The man who later took center stage became Cannavaro in his heyday, the short defender from Napoli who led the "Blue Army" to the Hercules Cup in Germany as captain of the national team in the summer of 2006, and beat Buffon, Henry and other stars to become the winners in the Ballon d'Or awards at the end of the year.
Maldini played for AC Milan from 1984 to 2009
Obviously, all the players described above are "legends within legends". However, we also missed a player who is active in modern football and whose defensive style is the most suitable for using the word "art", and he is Alessandro Nesta. Nesta, who grew up in the city of Rome, naturally understood where the strong hostility between roma and Lazio clubs came from. Residents of the capital must carefully consider choosing a color between red and blue, because once a decision is made, the color will follow you all the way to the end of your life.
Because of this, when Roma club scout Rocca visited the Nesta family in 1985 to persuade the 9-year-old Nesta jr. to join the "Red Wolves" academy, he was flatly rejected by Nesta's father. Because the father of the young player believes that Alessandro must be like himself, with a deeper love for the "sky blue side" of the city. When Nesta entered lazio's youth team, he played in different positions including midfielder and striker, but eventually settled down in the position of center-back. On 13 March 1994, then Lazio boss Zoff gave Nesta his first Serie A appearance against Udinese. From the 1994–95 season, Nesta began to become a high-profile star of hope in Serie A.
A season later, Zeman, the famous "alternative coach" in Italian football for advocating offensive football, became the manager of Lazio, and in the tactical system designed by the Czech master, Nesta's role began to be highly valued - after all, a strong attack must rely on a solid defense as a basis to achieve. Ever since being helped by Zeman to become the Blue Hawks' main center back, Nesta has begun to mature rapidly. In an interview with the Corriere della Sera, Nesta said of his mentor Zeman: "I can't forget my guide. Zeman has played a huge role in my career and he has a strong belief in my abilities. I believe he is a genius who has been misunderstood by the outside world. ”
His strong body allows Nesta to always build an overwhelming advantage in defense, and his smart and compatible choices (both for area defense and staring defense) allow him to play in any formation set by any coach. Nesta, who has excellent physical fitness, technical ability and psychological endurance, has been awarded the captain's armband by then club manager Eriksen since 1997. Inspired by his new role, Nesta's performance has become "closer to perfection" each season and has sparked coveting from other European clubs.
Many good players in their careers will not be able to get fair evaluation because of the lack of a few decent trophies, but Nesta is lucky not to join the ranks of these lonely heroes. During Nesta's 20-year career as a professional player, he has won enough collective/individual trophies to fill several showcases.
Beginning in 1997, Nesta was appointed captain by Lazio
As captain, Nesta caught up with one of Lazio's most glorious periods of history. After losing the league title by one point in 1998-99, then-club president Clargnotti began to collect a large number of star players in the transfer market at any cost, including Diego Simeone, Veron, Nedved and Mancini. Lazio, who had significantly increased in strength, immediately became the most popular club in Europe in the 1999-2000 season, and successively included two championships in serie A and the Coppa Italia.
However, the team, which was built of gold, was forced to disintegrate in less than 2 years due to an internal financial crisis. In order to raise money to survive, Kraniotti even put a price tag on the head of the first team, Nesta. Nesta's loyalty to Lazio has been respected by all Blue Eagles fans, but in the face of an existential crisis, the marriage can only be sadly ended.
In the transfer market, the then president of AC Milan Club, Berlusconi, made a decisive move to get the Italian international with long hair and flowing hair for about 60 billion lira (about 30 million euros). As it turns out, Nesta is precisely the important piece of the board that helped AC Milan achieve another "dynasty model". Ancelotti's team already had captain Maldini, Brazil international Cavo, who has lifted the World Cup twice, veteran Costa Kuta and the tall and mighty Dutch tough man Stamm, while Nesta's addition makes the entire defense line owned by the Rossonera truly explain what is called "airtight" and "watertight".
In total, Nesta played 224 Serie A games for AC Milan, scoring seven goals
In his first season as a member of AC Milan (2002-03), Nesta followed the team to kill Juventus in the Champions League final and won the third Coppa Italia of his career.
As a young man, Nesta never imagined that his career at AC Milan (10 seasons) would be 1 year longer than his time playing for Lazio. During this period, Nesta also won two Serie A trophies (2003–04, 2010–11), another UEFA Champions League (2006–07), 1 Club World Cup, 2 UEFA Super Cups and 2 Italian Super Cups. He played a total of 224 Serie A games for AC Milan, and while injuries always jumped out of the way of his performances, Nesta was always an indispensable member of Milan's squad thanks to his unique understanding of football over the years – even in his closing season (2011-12).
In the summer of 2012, Nesta, along with Seedorf, Inzaghi, Gattuso and Pirlo, shed her red and black stripes. A few months later, the 36-year-old Nesta set out for the North American continent to join the Montreal Impact Club. After 18 months at MLS, Nesta officially announced his retirement on 10 October 2013. However, a year later, the Italian made a brief comeback at the invitation of his former national team teammate Materazzi to become a member of Indian Premier League side Chennai Titans.
Between 2000 and 2004, Nesta was named "Best Defender of the Serie A Season" for four consecutive seasons. Unlike a rewarding club career, Nesta's national team career was much more lonely – after 78 games for Italy, Nesta received only one collective honour. Thankfully, however, this only honor is precisely the World Cup that all players "dream of"! In the summer of 2006, Nesta was forced to recuperate from injury in the group stage, but still lifted the Hercules Cup in Germany as a member of the championship team.
From 1996 to 2006, Nesta was the main centre-back of the Italian team
To some extent, being imitated by future generations is the greatest affirmation of the achievements of the predecessors. Italy's current international and Juventus' main centre-back Bonucci once confessed that he was a "loyal fan" of Nesta when he was a child. In an interview with the media, Bonucci said: "I admire Nesta very much, he has set the benchmark for a new way of defending – possession style of play. He was always so gracious and decisive and timely. He has always been a great role model. I've had the pleasure of playing with him on the pitch, and for the first time in my history, I've had the urge to ask a star for a jersey. ”
In addition to the recognition of Nesta's strength by a new generation of peers, the older generation of legendary stars like Maldini has also praised it. In May 2012, just as Nesta was coming to the end of his 10-year career in red and black, Maldini said in an interview with AC Milan's official television: "A great history that belongs to the club, to Italian football, is about to disappear." It's not easy to find a player as good as he is. Technically, tactically and humanly, he is one of the few unforgettable stars in the history of Italian football. He revived AC Milan's tradition of having great centre-backs, and [his appearance] reminds me of the pomp and circumstance when I first debuted 20 years ago. ”
After hanging up his boots and retiring, Nesta did not leave the football circle, and he began to apply the football wisdom he had accumulated to the coaching position. American NASL team Miami FC became the starting point of his coaching career, and in the summer of 2018 he was appointed head coach of Serie B side Perugia. In May 2019, Nesta was also released from his contract after the game due to Perugia's 4-1 defeat to Verona in the promotion play-offs.
Nesta spent a season at Italian second division club Perugia
Over the years, Catenaccio (chain defense) has become a common label for all Italian teams. When it is talked about, it usually has a negative, conservative, narrow extension. But in fact, many veteran football fans who have been watching football since the 1990s know that it is absolutely unfair to describe Italian football so arbitrarily, and that "Italian football" has never lacked passion, talent and creativity while ensuring that the defense is solid.
All the masters are perfectionists, and they still refuse to relax their demands on themselves even when they create their last work. The same goes for Nesta. In the 2011-12 Champions League, the 36-year-old Nesta left a classic skate in the penalty area at camp Nou when he met the 24-year-old "new king" Messi. Even after being eroded by injuries and age, this is still the Nesta we remember: still brave, elegant and skilled.
(Dapeng)