The fifth in AC Milan's "Unsung" Hero Series, Alberigo Évani

After the outbreak of the Serie A "Totonello" incident in 1980, ac Milan involved was relegated to Serie B. It was an event that could jeopardize the club's history, so Milan at that time had to bring in new players.

Among these new players is the legendary defender Mauro Tassotti, who was written about in this series of articles. There is also the protagonist of this article, Alberigo Evani, who made his Serie B debut in 1980-1981.

Evani made his debut in the 1980–81 Second Division Milan vs Pescara, the last game of the season, when Milan had already determined the number one league ranking and would return to Serie A. So they gave the player, who was only 18 years old at the time, some playing time.

Born into a working-class family, Ewani often refers to the hard-working values instilled in him by his parents, which he also brought to the football pitch.

When Milan returned to the top of Serie A in the 1980s, Evani also occupied a place in the Milan squad, in part because of the fact that he grew into a practical player from Milan's youth training, capable of playing as a defender, winger and midfielder.

In the first few years, Evani was used more as a left-back, and when Milan legend savige Sacchi took over the team in 1987, he began playing at left-back as the young Paulo Maldini gradually played the team's left-back position.

Despite the change in position, Evani remained an active player in the squad and he helped Milan achieve good results in the late 80s and early 90s. Under Sacchi, he won his first league title in 1987–88 and his first Champions League title in the following 1988–89 season.

The 1989 Intercontinental Cup (also known as the Toyota Cup) final was one of Evanie's highlight moments. When he came off the bench in the second half, the game was deadlocked until the end of extra time, when both sides failed to score, and it was thought that there would be a penalty shootout.

Just in the last few seconds of the second half of extra time, Milan scored a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area, and Evani scored through the goal guarded by Colombian legendary goalkeeper René Iquita. The goal won Milan their first Intercontinental Cup trophy and Evani was named the best player of the match.

Before joining Sampdoria in 1993, Evani played 393 official matches for Milan.

In Milan, he won 3 Serie A titles, 2 UEFA Champions League titles and 2 Intercontinental Cups.

At Sampdoria, he won his first and only Coppa Italia title with Pagliuca, Pratt, Mancini and former Milan team-mate Gullit.

Although Evani made only 15 appearances for the Italian national team, he competed in the 1994 World Cup. The head coach of the Italian national team at that time was Sacchi, the head coach of his time at Milan. At that World Cup, Evani also scored a penalty in the famous penalty final between Italy and Brazil, but in the end Italy failed to win the cup.

After retiring, Evani began his coaching career. He has accumulated a lot of coaching experience in the ac Milan youth team and has also developed many players. In addition, he has been head coach for the Italy U18, U19 and U20.

Evani is currently (early 2021) an assistant coach for the Italian national team, assisted by Mancini. As Mancini tested positive for COVID-19, he also led the team to two games in November 2020 as a head coach.

Although Evani is not one of the most recognized players in the history of ac Milan, his performance in Milan has made him one of the important factors in the revival of Milan in the 1990s.

His qualities and abilities have also made him a good coach, as he has been able to pass on his qualities as a Milan hero to the latest generation of Italian players.

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Ac Milan's "Unsung" Heroes Series Introduction:

Ac Milan's "Unsung" Hero series, Marco Simeone

Ac Milan's "Unsung" Hero Series, Two, Thomasson

Ac Milan's "Unsung" Hero Series No. 3, Tassotti

Ac Milan's Unsung Heroes series ivy, Verdis