Alessandro Costacurta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alessandro Costacurta
Personal information
Date of birth	April 24, 1966 (1966-04-24) (age 42)
Place of birth	Orago, Italy
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Youth clubs
?–1986	A.C. Milan
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1987–2007 1986–1987	A.C. Milan → Monza (loan)	458 (3) 030 (0)
National team2
1986–1990 1991–1998	Italy U-21 Italy	008 (0) 059 (2)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of June 18, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 2005. * Appearances (Goals)

Alessandro Costacurta (born April 24, 1966 in Orago, Varese) is an Italian former professional football defender. Especially known for his defensive role alongside Paolo Maldini, he has played for AC Milan from 1987 to 2007, with a brief period spent in AC Monza. Since the 2007-08 season he is Carlo Ancelotti's assistant at AC Milan along with Mauro Tassotti.

He is married to former Miss Italy Martina Colombari, and has one son, Achille.

Contents 1 Club 2 Country 3 Coaching career 4 Trivia 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Club

Costacurta won the Scudetto seven times with Milan, and the European Cup/Champions League five times (1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007). He was set to retire from Milan at the end of the 2005-06 season, but later signed a one-year extension at the age of 40.[1] He became the oldest footballer ever to play in the Champions League, in Milan's 1-0 loss to AEK Athens on November 21, 2006, at 40 years and 211 days, topping the previous record held by Belgian goalkeeper Dany Verlinden at 40 years and 116 days.

On May 7, 2007, at age 41, he announced his retirement, effective at the end of the 06-07 season. He will, however, remain with the club, as a second assistant to coach Carlo Ancelotti. He made his final home start in Milan's 3-2 loss to Udinese on May 19, 2007, converting a penalty that marked his first Serie A goal since the 1991-92 season, and left the pitch near the end of the match to a standing ovation. After the match ended, his teammates entered the pitch wearing a replica of his jersey as a tribute.

[edit] Country

A mainstay in the Italian national team throughout the 1990s, Costacurta played for his country in 1994 and 1998 World Cups, as well as Euro 96. He retired from international duty with 59 caps in 1998. In 1994, Costacurta's bad luck had him miss both the World Cup final (lost by Italy) and the Champions League final (won by Milan) through suspensions.

[edit] Coaching career

Costacurta has been offered the vacant coaching position at Getafe CF, after the departure of Danish legend Michael Laudrup.

[edit] Trivia

• Costacurta is a fan of the New York Yankees. He threw the ceremonial first pitch at a home game against the Baltimore Orioles in August 2004.
• He and Milan assistant coach Mauro Tassotti were teammates on Italy's 1994 World Cup squad that finished runner-up to champions Brazil.
• He is the oldest scorer in Serie A, at the age of 41 (previous record-holder was Silvio Piola).^{[citation needed]}

Now he is works as a assistant Coach in AC Milan

[edit] References

• View from America - BBC Sport, 8/3/04
• Costacurta to assist Ancelotti on Milan bench - sports.filbalad.com, 5/7/07
• Costacurta signs off at San Siro - UEFA.com, 5/20/07

[edit] External links

• Profile at ACMilan.com

v • d • e Italy squad - 1994 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Pagliuca • 2 Apolloni • 3 Benarrivo • 4 Costacurta • 5 Maldini • 6 Baresi • 7 Minotti • 8 Mussi • 9 Tassotti • 10 R. Baggio • 11 Albertini • 12 Marchegiani • 13 D. Baggio • 14 Berti • 15 Conte • 16 Donadoni • 17 Evani • 18 Casiraghi • 19 Massaro • 20 Signori • 21 Zola • 22 Bucci • Coach: Sacchi

v • d • e Italy squad - UEFA Euro 1996 1 Peruzzi • 2 Apolloni • 3 Maldini • 4 Carboni • 5 Costacurta • 6 Nesta • 7 Donadoni • 8 Mussi • 9 Torricelli • 10 Albertini • 11 Baggio • 12 Toldo • 13 Rossitto • 14 Del Piero • 15 Di Livio • 16 Di Matteo • 17 Fuser • 18 Casiraghi • 19 Chiesa • 20 Ravanelli • 21 Zola • 22 Bucci • Coach: Sacchi

v • d • e Italy squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Toldo • 2 Bergomi • 3 P. Maldini • 4 Cannavaro • 5 Costacurta • 6 Nesta • 7 Pessotto • 8 Torricelli • 9 Albertini • 10 Del Piero • 11 D. Baggio • 12 Pagliuca • 13 Cois • 14 Di Biagio • 15 Di Livio • 16 Di Matteo • 17 Moriero • 18 R. Baggio • 19 Inzaghi • 20 Chiesa • 21 Vieri • 22 Buffon • Coach: C. Maldini