Arrigo Sacchi

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Lore & Background

Sacchi was never a professional football player and, for many years, worked as a shoe salesman. This led to his famous quote directed at those who questioned his qualifications: 'I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first.' Another famous Sacchi quote is that 'football is the most important of the least important things in life'.

In Their Own Story

The rain fell heavily on the training pitch in Paris, blurring the white lines where Arrigo stood with hands clasped behind his back. He watched his players run through drills, their movements synchronized to a rhythm only he could hear. There was no shouting, just intense focus. When a defender hesitated by half a second during a pressing trigger, Sacchi blew his whistle sharply. The silence that followed was heavier than the storm clouds overhead. He knew this tournament would not bring him glory like Milan had, but it would prove whether his philosophy could survive the highest pressure of international football.

Reader's Guide

Sacchi started his career managing his local club, Baracca Lugo, because he was not good enough to play for them. He next coached at Bellaria before joining Cesena as a youth team coach. He then took over at Rimini, who were playing in the Serie C1, and almost led them to a title. He received his breakthrough when he moved to Fiorentina as a youth coach. His achievements with the youth team earned interest from Parma, who were then playing in Serie C1. He led Parma to promotion in his first season, and in the following season took them to within 3 points of promotion to Serie A. In the Coppa Italia, Parma beat AC Milan 1–0 in the group stages, and beat them again 1–0 on aggregate in the first knockout round. This attracted interest from Milan club owner Silvio Berlusconi, who appointed Sacchi as manager. At Milan, Sacchi led the team to its first Serie A title in nine years in his debut season, followed by a Supercoppa Italiana in 1988. He won back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990. In November 1991, Sacchi was appointed manager of the Italy national team. He led Italy through the qualification campaign to reach the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Despite losing their first match 1–0 to the Republic of Ireland and finishing third in their group, Italy reached the final, where they were defeated by Brazil in a penalty shoot-out, the first ever shootout in a World Cup final. Under Sacchi, Italy qualified for UEFA Euro 1996, but were eliminated in the group stage. After leaving the national team, Sacchi returned to Milan in December 1996, but the second spell was unsuccessful with Milan finishing 11th in the league. He had brief spells in La Liga with Atlético Madrid in 1998, and briefly returned to Parma in 2001, resigning after only 3 matches for stress reasons. He later returned to Madrid as director of football at Real Madrid for the 2004–05 season.

Did You Know?

• Sacchi was never a professional football player and worked as a shoe salesman.
• His Milan side won back-to-back European Cups in 1989 and 1990.
• The 1994 World Cup final was the first ever shootout in a World Cup final.
• Sacchi's famous quote: 'I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first.'