Arrigo Sacchi
Encyclopedia
Arrigo Sacchi is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 coach. He is best known for his success coaching Italian teams, particularly with Milan where he won back to back European Cups as coach in the late eighties where he was head coach
Coach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

 of the Italy national football team
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 (1991–1996). He was twice manager of A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

 (1987–1991, 1996–1997).

Sacchi never played football professionally, and before becoming a coach he was a shoe salesman. This led to his famous quote to the ones that questioned his qualifications: "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first".

Coaching career before Milan

Sacchi had grown up watching attacking sides, such as Honved
Budapest Honvéd FC
Budapest Honvéd FC |football]] team. "Honved" means the Homeland Defense. Originally formed as Kispest AC, they became Kispest FC in 1926 before reverting to their original name in 1944. The team enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s when it was renamed Budapest Honvéd SE and became the Hungarian...

, Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...

, Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

 and Holland. This meant that his coaching style would be set aside from the defensive mentality of Italy at the time.
He started his career managing his local club, Baracca Lugo, because he wasn't good enough to play for them. He did have trouble winning them over, however. Sacchi said "I was twenty-six, my goalkeeper was thirty-nine and my centre-forward was thirty-two. I had to win them over". He then moved on to Bellaria before joining A.C. Cesena
A.C. Cesena
Associazione Calcio Cesena is an Italian football club based in Cesena, Romagna. The club was formed in 1940 and won the first promotion to Serie A in 1973. Since then, the club have been in the Italian Premier League for a total of in 11 seasons, reaching the best achievement in 1976 with the 6th...

, who were in the Serie B. He worked there with the youth team. He then took over at Rimini
Rimini Calcio F.C.
Associazione Calcio Rimini 1912 is an Italian association football club based in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna....

 who were playing in the Serie C1, and almost led them to a title. He got his breakthrough when he moved to Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...

 as a youth coach. His achievements with the youth team earned interest from Parma F.C.
Parma F.C.
Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...

 who were in Serie C1. He got Parma promoted in his first season, and the following season took them to within 3 points of the Serie A, narrowly missing out on promotion. However, the importance of his time at Parma was due to the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

. In the group stages, he beat Milan 1–0 and beat them again 1–0 on aggregate in the first knockout round. This was enough to attract interest from Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

, owner of A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

. He appointed Arrigo Sacchi as manager.

Milan

At Milan, Arrigo Sacchi again faced problems of credibility. The press argued that such an inadequate player could never go on to be a successful coach, and that even Berlusconi- who had played football at amateur level- was probably a better player. However, Sacchi coined a witty term: "A jockey doesn't have to have been born a horse".
Sacchi's success at Milan gained him two back-to-back European cups- an incredible achievement. The success he gained was largely attributed to the Dutch trio he had purchased- Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit
OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...

 and Frank Rijkaard
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...

. However, other great players such as Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and former player. He played as a sweeper and spent his entire career with Serie A club AC Milan, acknowledged as one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game. Baresi was nicknamed "Piscinin", Milanese for "Little one"...

, Roberto Donadoni
Roberto Donadoni
Roberto Donadoni is an Italian football manager and former player, last in charge of Serie A club Cagliari.An attacking midfielder or winger known for pace and technique, he was a pillar of the powerhouse AC Milan teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s and one of the pioneers of Major League...

 and Paolo Maldini
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club...

 were also a key to his success.

The first European final in 1989 was against Steaua Bucharest, who were beaten resoundingly 4-0. Gullit and Van Basten scored two goals each and Milan lifted the European Cup for the first time in over twenty years. On the way, however, Milan had dispatched Real Madrid 6-1 on aggregate in the semi-final, a result which almost represented the passing of the mantle for best European club. The quarter final against Werder Bremen was a tight affair, however: Milan only went through 1-0 on aggregate thanks to a Van Basten penalty. The second round was shrouded in controversy, however. Donadoni had his life saved only through the quick-thinking of the Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade
Red Star Belgrade is a football club from Belgrade, Serbia. The club is a part of the Red Star Sports Society.Red Star Belgrade is the most successful Serbian club, with a record of 25 national championships and 23 national cups in both Serbian and ex-Yugoslav competitions...

 physio, who broke his jaw to make a passage for oxygen to reach his lungs after he had suffered a bad foul and lay unconscious. The first leg ended in a 1-1 draw and the second leg got called off in 64th minute and rescheduled to be replayed the next day due to the thick fog (Milan was losing 0-1 at the moment). A penalty shoot-out was how Milan progressed eventually.

Coaching career after Milan

Sacchi also had brief spells in the Primera Liga. In 1998 after his second spell with the Rossoneri, Sacchi took charge of Atletico Madrid but could only guide los Colchoneros to a disappointing 13th place in the league in his only season at the Vicente Calderon
Vicente Calderón
Vicente Calderón Pérez-Cavada . He was a Businessman and president of Atlético Madrid for twenty years.-Early life:...

. They did, however, qualify for Europe having finished as runners-up in the Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....

. He later returned to Madrid, this time at the Bernabeu as director of football at Real Madrid for the 2004/05 season. Recently after Milan finished their opening match in their Champions League campaign in which Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....

 scored two goals, Sacchi made a comment directed towards Ibrahimovic stating, "If it wasn't for his big feet he wouldn't have scored." Ibrahimovic took offense to the remark, and the two were engaged in a heated exchange.

Sacchi has also been a coaching guru of czech manager and TV pundit Josef Csaplár
Josef Csaplár
Josef Csaplár is a Czech football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Czech Republic U17 team.-Playing career:...

, who is the current coach of Czech republic U17 team.

Club

Parma:
  • Serie C1 League Championships
    Serie C1
    Lega Pro Prima Divisione is the name of the third highest football league in Italy. It consists of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 18 teams each. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1....

     (1)
  • 1986


Milan:
  • Serie A
    Serie A
    Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

     (1)
  • 1988
    Serie A 1987-88
    The 1987/1988 Serie A season marked A.C. Milan's first Scudetto under the Silvio Berlusconi era and their first since the 1978/1979 season. S.S.C. Napoli, with a team including Diego Maradona, Ciro Ferrara and Careca were pre-season favourites. The championship went down to the last day of the...

  • Supercoppa Italiana
    Supercoppa Italiana
    The Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...

     (1)
  • 1988
    1988 Supercoppa Italiana
    The 1988 Supercoppa Italiana was a match played by the 1987–88 Serie A winners Milan and 1987–88 Coppa Italia winners Sampdoria. It took place on 14 June 1989 at the San Siro in Milan, Italy, and was the first edition of the trophy...

  • European Cup (2)
  • 1989, 1990
  • European Supercup (2)
  • 1989
    1989 UEFA Super Cup
    The 1989 European Super Cup was the 14th UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's European Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup competitions. The 1989 Super Cup was played on a home-and-away basis, and was contested by Milan, winners of the 1988–89...

    , 1990
    1990 UEFA Super Cup
    The 1990 UEFA Super Cup was played between A.C. Milan and U.C. Sampdoria, with A.C. Milan winning 3–1 on aggregate.-First leg:-Second leg:-External links:*...

  • Intercontinental Cup
    Intercontinental Cup (football)
    The European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...

     (2)
  • 1989
    1989 Intercontinental Cup
    The 1989 Intercontinental Cup was a football match played on 17 December 1989 between Milan of Italy, winners of the 1988–89 European Cup, and Atlético Nacional of Colombia, winners of the 1989 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the neutral venue of the National Stadium in Tokyo in front of...

    , 1990
    1990 Intercontinental Cup
    The 1990 Intercontinental Cup was a football match played on 9 December 1990 between Milan of Italy, winners of the 1989–90 European Cup, and Olimpia of Paraguay, winners of the 1990 Copa Libertadores. The match was played at the neutral venue of the National Stadium in Tokyo in front of 60,228...

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