37 Facts About Franco Baresi

Franchino Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager.

Franco Baresi mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining the club for 15 seasons.

Franco Baresi is considered to be one of the best defenders in the history of the sport.

Franco Baresi was ranked 19th in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century.

Franco Baresi played in the 1990 World Cup, where he was named in the FIFA World Cup All-Star Team, finishing third in the competition.

Franco Baresi represented Italy at two UEFA European Championships, in 1980 and 1988, and at the 1984 Olympics, reaching the semi-finals on each occasion.

The younger brother of former footballer Giuseppe Baresi, after joining the Milan senior team as a youngster, Franco Baresi was initially nicknamed "Piscinin", Milanese for "little one".

Franco Baresi was named by Pele one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at the FIFA centenary awards ceremony in 2004.

Franco Baresi was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Franco Baresi grew up in a farmstead on the outskirts of a small north Italian town, Travagliato.

Franco Baresi did not watch football on television until he was 10.

Franco Baresi initially been rejected by the Internazionale youth team, who chose his brother Giuseppe instead, hence the Milan youth team signed Franco Baresi.

Franco Baresi won three consecutive Supercoppa Italiana under Capello, in 1992,1993 and 1994.

Franco Baresi managed to win the 1994 European Super Cup, although Milan were defeated in the 1994 Intercontinental Cup, the 1993 European Super Cup and the 1993 Intercontinental Cup.

At age 20, while still playing in the Italy under-21 side, Franco Baresi was named in Italy's 22-man squad for the 1980 European Championship by manager Enzo Bearzot.

However, unlike his brother, Franco Baresi did not play a single match in the tournament.

At age 22, Franco Baresi was named in Italy's squad for the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Franco Baresi was a member of the Italy squad that took part in the 1984 Olympics.

Franco Baresi scored a goal against the United States during the group stage.

Franco Baresi was not included in Italy's squad for the 1986 World Cup by coach Enzo Bearzot, who saw him as being more of a midfielder than a defender.

Franco Baresi returned to the team for the 1988 European Championship, playing as a sweeper, where Italy reached the semi-finals under Azeglio Vicini, becoming an undisputed first team member and playing in every match.

Franco Baresi made his first appearance in a World Cup finals match in the 1990 tournament, which was held on home soil, and he played in every match as one of the starting centre-backs, as Italy finished in third-place, after being eliminated by defending champions Argentina in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals.

Franco Baresi helped the Italian defence to keep five consecutive clean sheets, only conceding two goals, and going unbeaten for a World Cup record of 518 minutes, until they were beaten by an Argentinian equaliser in the semi-final.

Franco Baresi's performances earned him a spot on the 1990 World Cup Team of the tournament.

Franco Baresi returned to the squad 25 days later, in time for the final, with a dominant defensive performance, helping Italy to keep a clean sheet against Brazil, despite the key defensive absences of his Milan teammates Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti.

Franco Baresi subsequently retired from the national side at age 34, passing the captain's armband to his Milan teammate Paolo Maldini.

Franco Baresi amassed 81 caps for Italy, scoring one goal in a friendly win against the Soviet Union, and he is one of seven players to have achieved the rare feat of winning Gold, Silver and Bronze FIFA World Cup medals during his international career.

Franco Baresi is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time.

Franco Baresi played his entire 20-year career with Milan, becoming a club legend.

Franco Baresi was a complete and consistent defender who combined power with elegance and was gifted with outstanding physical and mental attributes, such as pace, strength, tenacity, concentration and stamina, which made him effective in the air, despite of his lack of notable height for a centre-back.

Franco Baresi's passing range, technical ability and ball control allowed him to advance forward into the midfield to start attacking plays from the back, enabling him to function as a secondary playmaker for his team, and play as a defensive or central midfielder when necessary.

Franco Baresi was known for being a strong and accurate tackler, who was very good at winning back possession, and at anticipating and intercepting plays, due to his acute tactical intelligence, speed of thought, marking ability and positional sense.

On 1 June 2002, Franco Baresi was officially appointed as director of football at Fulham, but tensions between Franco Baresi and then Fulham manager Jean Tigana led to resignation from the club in August.

Franco Baresi was appointed head coach of Milan's Primavera Under-20 squad.

Franco Baresi retired from coaching and was replaced by Roberto Bertuzzo.

Franco Baresi is the younger brother of Internazionale legendary defender Giuseppe Baresi.

Franco Baresi was named in the Ultimate Team Legends in FIFA 15.