On this day 22 May 1963 (Exactly 56 years ago) A. C. Milan became the first club to win the European Champion Clubs’ Cup at Wembley . Nereo Rocco’s team, also became the first Italian side to win Europe’s top club competition when two goals from José Altafini in the 1963 decider cancelled out Eusébio’s opener for SL Benfica.
Brazilian striker Altafini inspired the first of Milan’s seven European Cup successes and that success went some way to overlaying lingering bad memories of the 1957/58 decider, which Milan lost 3-2 against Real Madrid CF after extra-time. Former Republic of Ireland coach, the 80-year-old Trapattoni would win they trophy two more times as a player and coach, but that first victory remains the special one. Captain Cesare Maldini won his only European Cup at Wembley, though – as he recalls here – he felt he had climbed a mountain by the time he lifted the trophy.
Giovanni Trapattoni
There are stadiums which, for whoever plays football, were back then called cathedrals, like huge churches – and Wembley is one of those, where English football dominated in Europe. Back then the players said, I am going to play in a cathedral comparable to the Vatican. To play at Wembley meant to play in the best stadium in the world. There was Wembley, and then also the Maracaña.
Cesare Maldini
We got to the final [in 1958], we lost in extra time. Against Real Madrid. I remember it very well – the third goal went through a tangle of a hundred legs. And then we were back in a final with Benfica. At Wembley. We played well – two goals from Altafini. And they had a really strong team – Eusébio, lots of players.
AC Milan: Ghezzi, David, Maldini (capt), Benitez, Trebbi, Dino Sani, Trapattoni, Pivatelli, Altafini, Rivera, Mora
Benfica: Pereira, Cavem, Raul, Cruz, Humberto, Coluna (capt), Jose Augusto, Santana, Torres, Eusebio, Simoes
On this day 22 May 1996 (Exactly 23 years ago) Juventus beat Ajax (1-1, 4-2 on penalties) at at the Estadio Olympico in Rome to win their last Champions League crown.
The final was held Rome which gave Juventus an obvious advantage, but with eight players starting their second successive Champions League final, Ajax had the benefit of big match experience. The game was only twelve minutes old when Juventus took the lead. Ajax defender Frank de Boer attempted to head a long ball away, but his clearance only looped up in the air and as goalkeeper Van der Saar came out, the grey haired Fabrizio Ravanelli stole in to nip the ball away before scoring from an almost impossible angle. But on the stroke of half time, Ajax hit back. Frank de Boer was involved again. This time it was his free kick which Juve goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi could only parry, and in the ensuing scramble, Jari Litmanen held his nerve to steer the ball home. The game then swung backwards and forwards with both goalkeepers being forced to make impressive saves. The closest either team came to scoring during the remainder of the 90 minutes and extra time was when Vialli hit the crossbar for Juventus. But there were no further goals and so the game was decided on a penalty shootout.
Davids took the first penalty for Ajax, but it was a tame effort and Peruzzi saved with some ease. Ferrara, Pessotto and Padovano all scored for Juventus while Litmanen and Scholten were successful for Ajax, but when Peruzzi dived to his left to beat away Silooya spot kick, it just needed Jugovic to score for Juventus to take the trophy. The Serbian midfielder duly drilled the ball low into corner and Juventus were European champions. The majority of the Olympic Stadium erupted with joy as they were finally able to celebrate a Juventus European Cup victory untainted by tragedy. As their former striker Roberto Bettega said after the game: This is for real. We could never celebrate winning in 1985. We have waited a long time for this.
Juventus: Peruzzi, Ferrara, Torricelli, Vierchowod, Pessotto, Conte (Jugovic), Sousa (Di Livio), Deschamps, Del Piero, Vialli, Ravanelli (Padovano)
Scorer: Ravanelli (Penalty Scorers: Ferrara, Pessotto, Padovano, Jugovic)
Ajax: Van der Saar, Silooy, Blind, Davids, F de Boer (Scholten), R de Boer (Wooter), Litmanen, Musampa, Kluivert, Finidi, Kanu, Bogarde
Scorer: Litmanen (Penalty Scorers: Litmanen, Scholten)
On this day 22 May 2010 (Exactly 9 years ago) Jose Mourinho wrote his name into the history books as Diego Milito inspired Inter Milan to Champions League glory against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu.
Milito set Inter on their way against the run of play with a clipped finish.
And he wrapped up a win built on the foundations of a solid defence with a solo effort that saw Inter become the first Italian side to win the Treble.
It means Mourinho, who won the cup with Porto in 2004, became the third man in history to win it with two clubs.
He joins Ernst Happel and Ottmar Hitzfeld in earning that remarkable accolade – at the age of only 47 – and, in doing so, ends a wait of more than 45 years for the Nerazzurri to regain Europe’s top prize.
That he did so by overcoming his mentor Louis van Gaal, with whom he worked at Barcelona in the 1990s, in the process only served to complete the ultimate season of personal vindication for the Portuguese
Inter Milan: Julio Cesar, Zanetti, Lucio, Maicon, Samuel, Chivu (Stankovic 68),Sneijder, Cambiasso, Eto’o, Milito (Materazzi 90+1), Pandev (Muntari 79)
Bayern Munich: Butt, Van Buyten, Demichelis, Lahm, Badstuber, Altintop (Klose 63), Van Bommel ,Schweinsteiger, Robben, Olic (Gomez 74), Mueller
Referee :: Howard Webb
Attendance : 80,100
On this day 22 May 2004 (Exactly 15 years ago) Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice as Manchester United overcame valiant Millwall to win the FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Lions keeper Andy Marshall had denied Roy Keane before Cristiano Ronaldo nodded in Gary Neville’s cross.
Dennis Wise headed off the line but Van Nistelrooy doubled United’s lead from the penalty spot after David Livermore had brought down Ryan Giggs.
Van Nistelrooy then tapped home a driven Giggs cross to ensure United’s disappointing season ended on a high.
Van Nistelrooy then tapped home a driven Giggs cross to ensure United’s disappointing season ended on a high.
Man Utd: Howard (Carroll 84), Gary Neville, Brown, Silvestre, O’Shea, Ronaldo (Solskjaer 84), Fletcher (Butt 84), Keane, Giggs, Scholes, van Nistelrooy.
Subs Not Used: Phil Neville, Djemba-Djemba.
Millwall: Marshall, Ryan (Cogan 74), Ward, Lawrence, Elliott, Sweeney, Livermore, Wise (Weston 89), Ifill, Cahill, Harris (McCammon 75).
Subs Not Used: Gueret, Dunne.
Booked: Wise.
Attendance: 71,350
Referee: J Winter (Cleveland).
BY: GEORGE ‘Alan Green’ MAHAMAH