"I remember that match very well: we won 1-0 against Reggina with a goal from Leonardo, and I was very satisfied with my performance. But I come here often; it's my second home. This city has given me so much. I arrived very young, and when I left, I was a man."
"Obviously not, because Silvio Berlusconi is no longer here. And more generally, Italian football as a whole has changed. When I arrived, Serie A was the best league in Europe, and there were world-class players not only at Milan, Inter, and Juventus, but also at Parma, Fiorentina, Lazio, and Roma. Today, there's much less quality on a technical level."
"Pippo was incredible. In training, we used to tease him because he couldn't dribble the ball ten times. But, guys, he had something innate that made him a formidable attacker."
The former AC Milan defender became one of Georgia's most famous exports and is serving a third term as Mayor of Tbilisi. The defender joined Milan from Dynamo Kyiv for €16m in 2001 and won the UEFA Champions League in 2003 and 2007. Prior to Milan, three Ukrainian league titles were lifted with Dynamo Kyiv. The playing career finished at Genoa between 2010 and 2012. Eighty-three appearances were recorded for the Georgia national team, with 50 as captain. The Milan debut was a 1-0 win over Reggina and remembered as formative. The Berlusconi-era Milan and Serie A are contrasted with the present squad, citing reduced technical quality and praising teammates such as Pippo Inzaghi.
Read at SempreMilan
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