Franco Baresi

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Franco Baresi was born Franchino Baresi on 8 May 1960 on a farm in Travagliato, near Brescia. He did not watch football on television until he was 10. In 1999, Baresi legally changed his name to Franco. He was initially rejected by the Inter Milan youth team, who chose his brother Giuseppe instead, so the Milan youth team signed him. He made his Serie A debut at age 17 on 23 April 1978. After Aldo Maldera and Fulvio Collovati left the club in 1982, Baresi was appointed Milan's captain at age 22, a position he held for 15 seasons. He retired at the end of the 1996–97 season. Milan retired his number 6 shirt and handed the captain's armband to Paolo Maldini.

In Their Own Story

The San Siro vibrates with the electric tension of the 1994 World Cup Final. In the center circle, Franco Baresi stands unnervingly still, his eyes dissecting the chaotic dance of Brazilian attackers. He does not sprint; he glides. When a lethal through-ball is sliced toward the penalty area, Baresi has already shifted his weight, intercepting the striker's path milliseconds before the ball arrives. In a storm of variables, he is the only constant—the conductor who turns panic into possession.

Reader's Guide

Baresi spent his entire 20-year career with AC Milan, playing as a central defender or sweeper. He won six Serie A titles, three European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, two Intercontinental Cups, three European Super Cups, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, two Serie B titles, and a Mitropa Cup. He scored 31 goals for Milan, 21 of which were on penalties. He was the top scorer of the Coppa Italia during the 1989–90 season, the only trophy he failed to win with Milan, reaching the final twice. With Italy, he was part of the 1982 World Cup-winning squad, played in the 1990 World Cup (named in the All-Star Team, finishing third), and captained Italy to the 1994 World Cup final, missing a penalty in the shoot-out as Brazil won. He also played at Euro 1980, Euro 1988, and the 1984 Olympics, reaching the semi-finals each time.

Did You Know?

• Baresi was nicknamed 'Piscinin', Milanese for 'little one', and later 'Kaiser Franz', a reference to Franz Beckenbauer.
• He was voted Milan's Player of the Century in 1999.
• He was named by Pelé one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers at the FIFA centenary awards ceremony in 2004.
• Baresi was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2013.