Mauro Tassotti

Mauro Tassotti (born in Rome, 19 January 1960) is an Italian manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a right back.

He currently serves as an assistant coach at Genoa.

After making his Serie A debut with Lazio, he went on to play with AC Milan for 17 years.

He won 17 major titles with Milan, including five Serie A championships and three UEFA Champions League tournaments, reaching five finals in total.

He is mostly remembered for his role alongside Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Filippo Galli and Christian Panucci in the Milan backline under managers Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello, forming what is considered by many in the sport to be one of the greatest defensive lineups of all time.

Born in Rome, Tassotti played his first professional season with local club Lazio in 1978–79, where he soon became a first team member the following season, making his Serie A debut on 5 November 1978.

During his two seasons with Lazio, he made 41 appearances in Serie A and 47 in all competitions.

Following Lazio's and AC Milan's relegation to Serie B due to their involvement in the 1980 match-fixing scandal, he was called upon by the Milanese squad and transferred to the side, becoming a first-team member alongside captain and defender Franco Baresi, as well as Filippo Galli, during a dark period in Milan's footballing history, under manager Nils Liedholm.

He made his Milan debut on 24 August 1980, in Serie B, in a 1–0 home win over Catania.

Milan won the Serie B title that season to return to Serie A, with Tassotti emerging as one of the club's best performers.

Despite winning the Mitropa Cup the following season, Milan were unable to remain in Serie A, finishing third last, and were relegated once again to Serie B. Milan were able to win Serie B again the following season to return to Serie A.

Tassotti became a central figure in the Milan squad of the late 1980s and early 1990s under Arrigo Sacchi, and subsequently Fabio Capello, usually wearing the number 2 shirt.

Tassotti was a key component of a strong defence alongside Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta, playing predominantly as a right back and on occasion as a centre back, in front of goalkeepers Giovanni Galli, and subsequently Sebastiano Rossi.

The back four of the Milan side of this period is regarded as one of the greatest of all time.

Although this was a fairly bleak period in the club's history, as they failed to dominate in the league or capture a trophy, the squad did reach the Coppa Italia final during the 1984–85 season, and were able to regularly qualify for the European competitions, frequently finishing in the top half of the table.

Under Sacchi, Tassotti was named vice-captain after Baresi, and he won the 1987–88 Serie A title, followed by the Supercoppa Italiana, and consecutive European Cup titles, in 1989, and 1990.

During the 1987–88 season, Tassotti helped Milan to only concede 14 goals in Serie A, finishing the year with the best defence.

Prior to his Italy senior career, he had previously also represented Italy at under-21 level, and participated at the 1988 Olympics with the under-23 team, finishing in fourth place.

Tassotti had previously played for Italy at under-21 level, and he represented the nation at the 1988 Summer Olympics, alongside Paolo Maldini, where Italy reached the semi-finals, finishing in fourth place.

In addition, Tassotti won two Intercontinental Cups (1989, 1990) and two UEFA Super Cups (1989, 1990), also reaching the 1989–90 Coppa Italia final.

An Italian international in the early 1990s, Tassotti only came into the national side under Sacchi, when he was already in his 30s, helping Italy to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Tassotti would go on to represent his nation at the final tournament, winning a runners-up medal, although he was banned for the latter half of the tournament.

He also won three consecutive Serie A titles with the club in the 1991–92, 1992–93 and the 1993–94 seasons, adding another during the 1995–96 season, in addition to the 1994 UEFA Super Cup and three consecutive Supercoppa Italiana titles between 1992 and 1994.

In the 1991–92 season, Milan won the title unbeaten, scoring a record 74 goals, and remained undefeated for a record 58 matches in Serie A. In 1993–94, Tassotti once again helped Milan finish the league with the best defence, only conceding 15 goals.

In his last few seasons at Milan under Capello, he began to be used less frequently, due to his advancing age and the emergence of Christian Panucci in his position.

Tassotti did not win his first cap for Italy until age 32, under Arrigo Sacchi, in a 2–2 home draw against Switzerland in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 14 October 1992.

This was partly because of an abundance of other world class Italian defenders, as he was constantly overlooked by Sacchi's predecessor Azeglio Vicini, who preferred to deploy full backs he had worked with during his tenure as Italy's under-21 coach, despite Tassotti's excellent club performances.

Under Capello, Tassotti would go on to reach three consecutive Champions League finals with Milan, winning the Champions League in 1994 as captain, due to the absence of Franco Baresi, and also reaching the final in 1993 and 1995.

After featuring in Italy's 1994 World Cup qualifying matches and international friendlies under Sacchi, Tassotti played in the 1994 edition in the United States, where Italy went on to reach the final, losing to Brazil on penalties.

This would be the only tournament in which he would participate with Italy.

In the group stage, Tassotti started the 1–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland and his next appearance was the quarter-final match against Spain.

However, in the quarter-final match, Tassotti elbowed Spanish midfielder Luis Enrique in the face during stoppage time in the second half, breaking the Spaniard's nose.

The gesture was not seen by the referee, and Tassotti was not called for a foul or cautioned at the time.

Italy won the match 2–1.

Along with his teammate Baresi, Tassotti retired from the club at the conclusion of the 1996–97 season.

In total, he made 429 Serie A appearances with Milan, scoring 8 goals, and 583 total club appearances, scoring 10 goals.

After retiring in 1997, Tassotti remained connected to Milan in several positions: he worked as a youth coach, as an assistant manager, as a caretaker manager and subsequently as a talent scout, until he left the club in 2016 to join the Ukrainian national side as an assistant coach.

After reviewing the game, FIFA officials banned Tassotti for eight matches, the longest-such ban in World Cup history until Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez's ban in 2014 for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in his team's final group match.

Tassotti never played internationally again.

Tassotti later stated he had instantly and deeply regretted his actions, describing them as "stupid", although he would also state the gesture had not been premeditated but purely instinctive, as Luis Enrique had been pulling his shirt.