Demetrio Albertini

Demetrio Albertini

Personal information
Date of birth	23 August 1971 (1971-08-23) (age 40)
Place of birth	Besana in Brianza, Italy
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Milan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988–2002	Milan	293	(21)
1990–1991	→ Padova (loan)	28	(5)
2002–2003	Atlético Madrid	28	(2)
2003–2004	Lazio	23	(2)
2004	Atalanta	14	(1)
2005	Barcelona	5	(0)
Total		393	(31)
National team
1989	Italy U18	7	(0)
1990–1992	Italy U21	17	(0)
1992	Italy Olympic Team	5	(2)
1991–2002	Italy	79	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Demetrio Albertini (born 23 August 1971) is a former professional Italian football midfielder who spent most of his career with AC Milan of the Italian Serie A, winning five Serie A titles and three UEFA Champions League titles with that club. He also played for FC Barcelona in the Spanish League before retiring winning La Liga that year.

Also a member of the Italian national team, Albertini was part of the squads that competed at the World Cups of 1994 and 1998, as well as the 1996 and 2000 European Championships.

Biography

Albertini, born in Besana in Brianza, province of Milan, emerged as a product of AC Milan's youth system, and went on to spend 14 highly successful years with the club after debuting as a 17-year-old in 1989. He spent part of the 1990/91 season on loan at Padova Calcio, but established himself in the Milan side in 1991/92 and went on to make almost 300 appearances for the club, claiming three successive Serie A titles between 1992 and 1994 and further scudetti in 1996 and 1999. In addition, he made 41 Champions League appearances, helping the Rossoneri reach three consecutive finals between 1993 and 1995, lifting the trophy in 1994. He also won three UEFA Super Cups.

Albertini was at Milan from 1988 to 2002, after leaving Milan, Albertini bounced around different teams; he spent 2002–03 on loan to Atlético Madrid, 2003–04 with Lazio,[1] and started 2004–05 with Atalanta [2] before transferring to FC Barcelona in January.[3]

For the Italian national team, Albertini has been capped 79 times, scoring 3 goals. He made his debut on 21 December 1991. He played for his country at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, Euro 96, and Euro 2000. In 1992 he competed with the national squad at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He has also captained Italy on 6 occasions.

Albertini's key strengths were his mentality, his vision but most of all his brilliant passing and shooting ability. There were very few players considered as good a long passer as Albertini and many have likened his ability to that of Ronald Koeman.^{[citation needed]}

Retirement

In December 2005 Albertini announced his retirement from professional football and now hopes to become a full time coach [4]. A Milan vs Barcelona celebration match, featuring great names past and present (such as Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Franco Baresi) was played on 15 March 2006. Milan won 4–2 at the San Siro, with Albertini scoring the first goal from a textbook swerving free kick.

FIGC

On 18 May 2006, following the Italian football scandal involving Juventus F.C. and Luciano Moggi which led to the resignation of Franco Carraro from the Italian Football Federation presidency and the appointment of a temporary commissioner, Guido Rossi, by the National Olympic Committee, Albertini was named vice-commissioner of FIGC.

On 19 September, following resignations of Guido Rossi, who was in the meanwhile appointed as chairman of Telecom Italia, Albertini announced his resignations too.

Statistics

Club	Season	League	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1988/89	Milan	Serie A	1	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	1	0
1989/90			1	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	1	0
1990/91			0	0	2	0	-	-	-	-	2	0
1990/91	Padova	Serie B	28	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	5
1991/92	Milan	Serie A	28	3	5	0	-	-	-	-	33	3
1992/93			29	2	6	0	7	1	1	0	43	3
1993/94			26	3	0	0	13	1	2	0	41	4
1994/95			30	2	4	0	11	0	2	0	47	2
1995/96			30	0	3	0	5	0	-	-	38	0
1996/97			29	8	2	0	5	1	1	0	37	9
1997/98			28	0	9	2	-	-	-	-	37	2
1998/99			29	2	3	0	-	-	-	-	32	2
1999/00			26	1	1	0	5	0	1	0	33	1
2000/01			12	0	2	0	11	2	-	-	25	2
2001/02			24	0	4	0	8	0	-	-	36	0
2002/03	Atlético Madrid	La Liga	28	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	30	3
2003/04	Lazio	Serie A	23	2	4	0	8	0	-	-	35	2
2004/05	Atalanta	Serie A	14	1	2	1	-	-	-	-	16	2
2004/05	Barcelona	La Liga	5	0	-	-	1	0	-	-	6	0
Total for Milan			293	21	41	2	65	5	7	0	406	28
Career totals			391	31	49	4	74	5	7	0	521	40

*European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup

^[1]

Italy national team
Year	Apps	Goals
1991	1	0
1992	4	0
1993	6	0
1994	14	0
1995	8	2
1996	7	0
1997	9	0
1998	10	0
1999	6	0
2000	11	0
2001	2	0
2002	1	0
Total	79	2

Honours

AC Milan

• Serie A: 5

1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99

• Supercoppa Italiana: 4

1988, 1992, 1993, 1994

• UEFA Champions League: 3

1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94

• UEFA Super Cup: 3

1989, 1990, 1994

SS Lazio

• Coppa Italia: 2003–04

FC Barcelona

• La Liga: 2004–05

References

1. ^ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/albertini-intl.html

External links

• Statistics at FIGC official site (Italian)

Persondata
Name	Albertini, Demetrio
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	23 August 1971
Place of birth	Besana in Brianza, Italy
Date of death
Place of death