My Take
Franco Baresi is, without any real argument, the gold standard of what a central defender can be. I grew up watching highlights of that AC Milan side — the late '80s and early '90s Sacchi and Capello era teams — and Baresi was the spine that made all of it work. The man spent his entire 20-year career at one club, captained Milan for 15 of those seasons, and redefined what a libero could do: reading the game two moves ahead, gliding into tackles that looked effortless, marshaling a back line that conceded almost nothing. What still gets me is the 1994 World Cup final — he missed the tournament with a knee injury, came back just weeks later, and then stepped up to take a penalty in the shootout. He missed, Italy lost, and yet somehow it barely dented the legend. That's how untouchable his reputation was.
Overview
Franchino Baresi (Italian pronunciation: [ˈfraŋko baˈreːzi; -eːsi]; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining the club for 15 seasons.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Franco Baresi
- Name (Japanese)
- フランコ・バレージ
- Reading
- ふらんこ・ばれーじ
- Born
- May 8, 1960 (age 66)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rat
- Origin
- Travagliato, Province of Brescia, Italy
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 176 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- association football player / association football coach
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1991 Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
- 2017 Gold Collar for Sports Merit
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.