Today, AC Milan legend Alessandro “Billy” Costacurta is 59 years old. The defender started his career with AC Monza, but left for AC Milan after just one season. With AC MIlan Costacurta won seven national titles, one Coppa Italia, five Italian Supercup, five Champions Leagues, four European Supercups and two World Cups for club teams. In total, Costacurta played 59 international matches for the Azzurri and was active at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups and the 1996 European Championship
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All the sports of Pope Francis ⚽️❤️
“In the oratory I have a field where you can play: I will grant it to you. But you, in exchange, come to Mass and catechism”. We could begin the story of the relationship between Francis and sport from this “barter”: the phrase is not his but by Father Lorenzo Massa who at the beginning of the 20th century, in the Barrio de Almagro of Buenos Aires, laid the foundations for the birth of San Lorenzo, the very club the Pope was a fan of.
Bergoglio has never hidden his passion for this club and, in any case, it would not have been possible: on the day of his election as Pope, March 13, 2013, the San Lorenzo Twitter account published a photo of a prelate holding the team's blue and grana pennant in his hands. The caption honored "the first South American and Argentine Pope", complete with membership number 88,235. And in the Nuevo Gasómetro curve, San Lorenzo's stadium, you can sometimes see fans with Francis' face applied as a mask on their faces.
But San Lorenzo also marks the link between Francis and other sports: his father Mario had been a player in the basketball section of the same sports club and Bergoglio also played basketball, although he loved soccer and was deployed as a defender but had to deal with his own limitations (“I was a tough nut,” he said, a “stiff leg”). Indeed, the pontiff, years ago, chose an expression from basketball to communicate with priests: “Know how to be a pivot and that pivot is the cross of Christ. Then one moves, protecting the ball, with the hope of making a basket and trying to understand who to pass it to.”
✍️ Francesco Rizzo
“In the oratory I have a field where you can play: I will grant it to you. But you, in exchange, come to Mass and catechism”. We could begin the story of the relationship between Francis and sport from this “barter”: the phrase is not his but by Father Lorenzo Massa who at the beginning of the 20th century, in the Barrio de Almagro of Buenos Aires, laid the foundations for the birth of San Lorenzo, the very club the Pope was a fan of.
Bergoglio has never hidden his passion for this club and, in any case, it would not have been possible: on the day of his election as Pope, March 13, 2013, the San Lorenzo Twitter account published a photo of a prelate holding the team's blue and grana pennant in his hands. The caption honored "the first South American and Argentine Pope", complete with membership number 88,235. And in the Nuevo Gasómetro curve, San Lorenzo's stadium, you can sometimes see fans with Francis' face applied as a mask on their faces.
But San Lorenzo also marks the link between Francis and other sports: his father Mario had been a player in the basketball section of the same sports club and Bergoglio also played basketball, although he loved soccer and was deployed as a defender but had to deal with his own limitations (“I was a tough nut,” he said, a “stiff leg”). Indeed, the pontiff, years ago, chose an expression from basketball to communicate with priests: “Know how to be a pivot and that pivot is the cross of Christ. Then one moves, protecting the ball, with the hope of making a basket and trying to understand who to pass it to.”
✍️ Francesco Rizzo
Alessandro Costacurta, one of the best defenders in the history of Italy, turns 59 today
Alessandro Costacurta
Birth date: April 24, 1966
Place of birth: Lombardy, Italy 🇮🇹
Position: Defender
Matches (Goals): 753 (5)
National Team:
1991-98 Italy 🇮🇹 59 (2)
Clubs:
1986-07 AC Milan 🇮🇹
1986-87 Monza (loan) 🇮🇹
Honours:
Serie A: 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
Coppa Italia: 2002–03
Supercoppa Italiana: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004
European Cup / UEFA Champions League: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 2002–03, 2006–07
European Super Cup / UEFA Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994
Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990
Individual:
Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 2000
AC Milan Hall of Fame
Alessandro Costacurta
Birth date: April 24, 1966
Place of birth: Lombardy, Italy 🇮🇹
Position: Defender
Matches (Goals): 753 (5)
National Team:
1991-98 Italy 🇮🇹 59 (2)
Clubs:
1986-07 AC Milan 🇮🇹
1986-87 Monza (loan) 🇮🇹
Honours:
Serie A: 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04
Coppa Italia: 2002–03
Supercoppa Italiana: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004
European Cup / UEFA Champions League: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 2002–03, 2006–07
European Super Cup / UEFA Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994
Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990
Individual:
Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 2000
AC Milan Hall of Fame
Steve Finnan, the great Irish right-back, turns 49 today
Stephen John Finnan
Birth Date: April 24, 1976
Place of Birth: Limerick, Ireland 🇮🇪
Position: Defender
Matches (Goals): 684 (21)
National Team:
2000-08 Ireland 🇮🇪 53 (2)
Clubs:
1993-95 Welling United 🏴
1995-96 Birmingham City 🏴
1996 Notts County (loan) 🏴
1996-98 Notts County 🏴
1998-03 Fulham 🏴
2003-08 Liverpool 🏴
2008-09 Espanyol 🇪🇸
2009-10 Portsmouth 🏴
Honours:
Football League Third Division: 1997–98
Football League Second Division: 1998–99
Football League First Division: 2000–01
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2002
FA Cup: 2005–06
FA Community Shield: 2006
UEFA Champions League: 2004–05
UEFA Super Cup: 2005
Individual:
Football League Second Division PFA Team of the Year: 1998–99
Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01
FA Premier League PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02
Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year: 2001–02
Stephen John Finnan
Birth Date: April 24, 1976
Place of Birth: Limerick, Ireland 🇮🇪
Position: Defender
Matches (Goals): 684 (21)
National Team:
2000-08 Ireland 🇮🇪 53 (2)
Clubs:
1993-95 Welling United 🏴
1995-96 Birmingham City 🏴
1996 Notts County (loan) 🏴
1996-98 Notts County 🏴
1998-03 Fulham 🏴
2003-08 Liverpool 🏴
2008-09 Espanyol 🇪🇸
2009-10 Portsmouth 🏴
Honours:
Football League Third Division: 1997–98
Football League Second Division: 1998–99
Football League First Division: 2000–01
UEFA Intertoto Cup: 2002
FA Cup: 2005–06
FA Community Shield: 2006
UEFA Champions League: 2004–05
UEFA Super Cup: 2005
Individual:
Football League Second Division PFA Team of the Year: 1998–99
Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year: 2000–01
FA Premier League PFA Team of the Year: 2001–02
Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year: 2001–02