AC Milan Legend Franco Baresi Dies Aged 66
Quick Look
- Franco Baresi, the iconic AC Milan sweeper and captain, widely regarded as one of football's greatest defenders, has died aged 66.
- He spent his entire 20-year career at Milan, making 719 appearances, and the club retired his No.
- 6 shirt in his honor.
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Why It Matters
Franco Baresi, an iconic sweeper and captain who embodied AC Milan’s dominance, has died aged 66, widely regarded as one of football’s greatest defenders.
Franco Baresi, the iconic sweeper and captain who embodied AC Milan’s dominance in the 1980s and 1990s and was widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders in football history, has died aged 66.
A one-club man throughout a 20-year career, Baresi made 719 appearances for Milan between 1977 and 1997, becoming synonymous with the club’s red-and-black colours and earning a place among the game’s all-time greats.
Baresi wore Milan’s No 6 shirt with such distinction that the club withdrew the number after his retirement.
Born in Travagliato, near Brescia, Baresi overcame personal tragedy at a young age after he and his brother Giuseppe were orphaned as teenagers.
“What I went through made me become a little withdrawn. When I was on the pitch, I gave everything and perhaps expressed all the things I couldn’t express away from football,” Baresi would later say.
While Inter Milan signed Giuseppe, Franco joined their local rivals, beginning a bond that would last a lifetime.
