Diego Milito

Lore & Background

Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian side Genoa in 2003. In 2005, he was acquired by Spanish club Real Zaragoza, where he remained for three seasons, before returning to Genoa in 2008. His prolific goalscoring exploits during his second spell at Genoa earned him a move to defending Serie A champions Inter Milan. He was pivotal in Inter's 2009–10 treble-winning season, scoring 30 goals in all competitions, including two in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. He returned to Racing Club in 2014, where he retired in 2016. At the international level, Milito earned 25 caps for Argentina, scoring 4 goals, and represented his country in two Copa América tournaments and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Reader's Guide

Milito started playing at Argentine first division team Racing Club in 1999, where he won the 2001 Apertura tournament. During this time, his younger brother Gabriel played for Racing's main rival, Independiente, as a defender. At the beginning of 2004, Milito moved to Italian second division club Genoa for £8 million. After two very successful seasons, where he scored 33 goals in 59 matches in Italy, Genoa were relegated down to Serie C1 as a punishment for an alleged match-fixing case. Due to this, Milito was forced to leave Genoa and would ultimately join his brother Gabriel at Real Zaragoza in the Spanish La Liga. Milito scored four goals in the first semi-final of the 2006 Copa del Rey to beat Real Madrid 6–1. He finished the season as Zaragoza's top scorer with 16 goals in the first division. Milito was one of the top scorers in the 2006–07 La Liga season, scoring 23 goals. He became the club captain at Zaragoza, taking over this role from brother Gabriel, who departed for Barcelona in 2007. His contract was extended in August 2007 with a buy-out clause of €100 million. In total, he managed 61 goals during his three seasons with Zaragoza. On 1 September 2008, Genoa completed the transfer of Milito from Zaragoza after the Spanish team were relegated to the Segunda División. He made his Serie A debut on 14 September against Milan. Genoa won the game 2–0 with Milito assisting the first goal and scoring the second. He finished the season with 24 goals in 31 league appearances, placing him second behind Zlatan Ibrahimović in the Capocannonieri scoring title. On 20 May 2009, La Gazzetta dello Sport confirmed that Diego Milito was transferred to Inter Milan alongside teammate Thiago Motta. The transfer fees were €28 million and €10 million respectively but Genoa also received Robert Acquafresca, Leonardo Bonucci, Riccardo Meggiorini, Francesco Bolzoni, Ivan Fatić and cash in exchange. Milito finished the 2009–10 season with 30 goals in all competitions, 22 of which came in the league, 2 in Coppa Italia and 6 in the Champions League. Milito was not included among the nominees for the 2010 Ballon d'Or. On 9 August 2010, Milito signed a new four-year contract with the Nerazzurri.

Did You Know?

• Milito scored two goals in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final to seal a 2–0 victory over Bayern Munich.
• He scored the only goal in Inter's 1–0 win over Roma in the 2010 Coppa Italia final.
• Milito's goal on the final matchday of the 2009–10 Serie A season secured Inter's 18th Scudetto with a 1–0 win over Siena.