Alessandro Nesta

AC Milan

Just before the 2002–03 Serie A campaign, financial woes forced Lazio to sell many of their best players, including Nesta, who transferred to Milan for €30,987,000 (60 billion lire). During this time, he would form a formidable defensive line alongside Paolo Maldini, Cafu, Alessandro Costacurta and Jaap Stam, among others. Nesta's first two seasons with the Rossoneri were very successful. During the 2002–03 season, he won the Champions League for the first time in his career as Milan defeated rivals Juventus at Old Trafford in the first all-Italian Champions League final in history. Nesta helped Milan keep a clean sheet during the match, which went to a penalty shootout following a 0–0 deadlock after extra time. Nesta was able to score his penalty kick as Milan won the shootout 3–2. Nesta also won the Coppa Italia over Roma during his first season at the club, while Milan finished third in Serie A that season. Nesta was once again awarded the Serie A Defender of the Year award for his performances, Nesta managed to win the European Super Cup with Milan against Porto, however, and captured his second Scudetto that season, during which Milan set an Italian record for points won in a 34–match Serie A season (82). and in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, to eventual winners Lazio, although Nesta managed to score a goal in the quarter-final match against Roma. Nesta was once again elected to be part of the UEFA Team of the Year, for the third consecutive season. Milan also reached the Champion's League final in 2005, losing to Liverpool on penalties, while in Serie A, they finished behind champions Juventus. Despite finishing second in both Serie A and the Champions League, Nesta was elected to the 2005 FIFPro World XI for the first time in his career, for his performances. Milan also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006, losing out to eventual champions Barcelona, while they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.

Despite missing most of the 2006–07 season due to a shoulder injury, Nesta played a vital part in Milan's return to the 2007 Champions League final, where Milan avenged their 2005 final loss, defeating Liverpool 2–1 in Athens. Despite Milan's point deduction during the season, Nesta was also able to return from injury in time to help Milan manage a fourth-place finish in Serie A, clinching the final Champions League spot. Nesta was elected to be part of both the UEFA Team of the Year and the FIFPro World XI for his performances that season. Nesta signed a contract extension that would keep him at Milan until 2011. Nesta went on to score his first goal for Milan since April 2006 in a 1–1 draw with Siena on 15 September 2007. He followed this up with an important goal for Milan in the 4–2 victory over Boca Juniors in the final of the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup. Milan would disappoint throughout the rest of the season, however, finishing fifth in Serie A, and being eliminated in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League and the Coppa Italia.

Serious back injuries forced Nesta out of action for the whole 2008–09 season, which raised concerns about his chances to make a comeback into active football. He fully recovered from his injuries and came on as 77th-minute substitute in Milan's final Serie A away match to Fiorentina on 31 May 2009 for his first competitive appearance of the season. Milan finished the domestic season in third place, qualifying for the Champions League.

The following season Nesta scored his first brace for Milan in a 2–1 victory over Chievo in the Serie A on 25 October 2009. He began to re-emerge as a starter for the club and was one of Milan's most consistent players throughout the entire 2009–10 season under Leonardo, as the team finished third in Serie A. Nesta continued his excellent partnership with fellow centre-back Thiago Silva throughout the 2010–11 season under Massimiliano Allegri, forming a formidable defensive pairing, conceding just 24 goals in 38 games during Milan's victorious Serie A campaign. Milan also managed to reach the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia, but were once again disappointingly eliminated in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Throughout the 2010–11 season, speculation indicated that Nesta would retire at the end of the season. However, he later confirmed that he wanted to play one more season at Milan before retiring and signed a contract extension on 18 May 2011, which kept him on Milan's squad until summer 2012. Nesta was elected to be part of the Serie A Team of the Year for his performances during Milan's successful title run that season. Milan finished second to Juventus in Serie A that season, and were eliminated in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and the quarter-finals of the Champions League. On 10 May, during a press conference, Nesta announced his retirement from Serie A at the end of the season. Three days later, on 13 May 2012, Nesta played his farewell game for Milan, in a 2–1 home win against Novara on the last matchday of the season; having come on as a second half substitute for Alberto Aquilani, Nesta assumed his regista role and played as a defensive midfielder instead of his usual position in central defense. During his ten seasons at the Milanese club, Nesta collected 325 caps, scoring 10 goals. With Milan, he won two Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, two Supercoppa Italiana, two Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups and a FIFA Club World Cup.

Chennaiyin On 28 November 2014, it was announced that Nesta had signed for Chennaiyin FC of the Indian Super League for the remainder of the 2014 season. He was signed by Marco Materazzi, his former international defensive partner. He made his debut on 9 December in a 2–2 draw against Delhi Dynamos, partnering Mikaël Silvestre in central defence in Chennaiyin's last match of a regular season in which they topped the league.

International career Youth Nesta began his career for Italy and was a member of the under-21 squad that won the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship; in the final against Spain, following a 1–1 draw, he took Italy's fourth penalty in an eventual 4–2 shoot-out victory. A few months later, he was named to Italy's UEFA Euro 1996 squad in England by Arrigo Sacchi, but did not come off the bench as Italy were eliminated in the group stage by eventual finalists Germany and the Czech Republic. Later that year, he took part at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta with the under-21 side, where Italy were eliminated in the first round.

Senior Early senior career On 5 October 1996, Nesta debuted for the Italy national football team under Cesare Maldini during a 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, in a 3–1 away victory against Moldova. At the final tournament, Nesta played in all three group games, playing alongside Paolo Maldini, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Costacurta and Giuseppe Bergomi, helping Italy keep a clean sheet against Cameroon. However, he did not make further appearances due to injury as Italy was eliminated by the hosts and eventual champions France on penalties in the quarter-finals.

UEFA Euro 2000 After featuring in defence for Italy during the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign under Dino Zoff, Nesta featured in the Italian starting lineup at Euro 2000, partnering with Paolo Maldini and Fabio Cannavaro in defence throughout most of the tournament. Italy only conceded two goals en route to the final, and kept three clean sheets throughout the tournament; the first coming against co-hosts Belgium in the group stage, and the second against Romania in the quarter-finals, in which he was named man of the match.

In the semi-final, a ten-man Italy overcame co-hosts the Netherlands in a penalty shootout, after a 0–0 deadlock following extra time. Italy advanced to the final where they faced defending World Cup Champions France. Following a goal by Marco Delvecchio in the 55th minute, Italy led the match 1–0 until the final minute of stoppage time, when Sylvain Wiltord scored the equaliser. David Trezeguet then scored the golden goal in extra time for France to defeat the Italians in the second consecutive tournament, as the Italians finished the Euro as runners-up. Nesta, along with his defensive partners Maldini and Cannavaro, was elected to be part of the team of the tournament for his performances. but once again, injury kept him from playing in the second round, and Nesta did not feature in the controversial second-round defeat to co-hosts South Korea. Nesta featured prominently as Italy topped their Euro 2004 qualifying group. However, Italy's disappointment at major tournaments continued at Euro 2004, where they were eliminated in the first round following a three-way five-point tie with Denmark and Sweden, only to be eliminated on direct encounters. Nesta managed to stay injury free and played for a full 90 minutes in all three group games, helping Italy to keep a clean sheet in the opening draw against Denmark.

2006 FIFA World Cup victory and retirement Following two successive disappointments, newly-appointed coach Marcello Lippi kept Nesta in the starting lineup as Italy was on top of their qualification group to the 2006 World Cup. Despite starting the final tournament strongly, helping Italy to keep a clean sheet in their opening win over Ghana, the World Cup turned out to be a personal disappointment for Nesta, as an injury in the final group game against the Czech Republic, which Italy won 2–0, put him on the sidelines while Italy went on to win the trophy. After the World Cup, Nesta made one appearance in the Euro 2008 qualifiers, in a 3–1 away win against Georgia on 11 October 2006, but continuous injuries forced him to retire from the international team. Prior to the final tournament, Nesta rejected Roberto Donadoni's invitation to return to the national team. Two years later, he similarly turned down an invitation from Marcello Lippi prior to the 2010 World Cup. He made 78 appearances for Italy in total. After finishing a combined 7th place in his first season, Miami FC finished in first place in his second, as Spring and Fall champions of the 2017 NASL season. However, the team were defeated in the season playoffs semifinal round to the New York Cosmos following a 6–5 loss in the penalty shootout after a goalless draw. He resigned as coach following the completion of the 2017 season, on 17 November.

Perugia On 14 May 2018, Nesta was appointed manager of Perugia. After a 4–1 loss to Verona in the 2018–19 Serie B promotion playoffs, Nesta parted with Perugia on 21 May 2019.

Frosinone On 17 June 2019, Nesta was appointed manager of Frosinone on a two-year contract. The team finished the 2019–20 Serie B season in 8th, just making it into the playoffs. They lost the playoff final to Spezia after a 1–1 aggregate draw, as the opponents had performed better in the regular season. On 22 March 2021, Nesta was sacked.

Reggiana On 13 June 2023, Nesta was appointed manager of Reggiana on a one-year contract. His team finished 11th in Serie B in his only season.

Monza On 12 June 2024, Serie A side Monza announced the appointment of Nesta as head coach, starting from 1 July. He replaced Raffaele Palladino, who had left for Fiorentina after helping the team to 12th place in their second season in the top flight. He missed the first game of the season against Empoli due to suspension, debuting on 24 August with a 1–0 home loss to a Genoa team led by fellow 2006 World Cup winner Alberto Gilardino.

On 23 December 2024, Nesta was removed from his coaching post with immediate effect following a 1–2 loss to Juventus, the club's third consecutive loss, which left Monza at the bottom of the league table with just 10 points after 17 games.

However on 10 February 2025, Nesta was again reappointed as AC Monza's head coach just after 7 weeks of sacking him.

Avellino On 11 June 2026, Nesta was announced as the new head coach of Serie B club Avellino, signing a two years contract. While possessing a strong and imposing defensive, athletic and physical presence, he was noted for his agility, ball skills, vision, and passing ability., which allowed him to bring the ball out of the defence and start plays from the back after winning back possession; these abilities led him to be compared to former Milan captain Franco Baresi.

Although Nesta was usually deployed as a centre-back during his career, he initially started out as a right-sided full-back; his technical skills, athleticism and defensive ability made him a versatile player from a tactical standpoint, who was capable of playing anywhere along the backline, and also allowed him to be deployed on the left, or even as a sweeper on occasion. Nesta was also excellent in the air, and was unusually quick for a centreback; he often stood out throughout his career for his pace, acceleration, and stamina.

In addition to his class, as well as his technical and physical abilities, Nesta also possessed an excellent positional and tactical sense, as well as an acute capacity to read the game, which enabled him to anticipate and close down opponents in one on one situations, and prevent attacking plays; his defensive intelligence enabled him to maintain a consistently high level of performance even towards the end of his career, as he lost his pace and stamina. Due to his ability to lead from the back and organise his teammates, he excelled in a zonal marking system, but was also known for his tight marking of opposing players. An accurate and tenacious ball-winner, he was known for his artistic sliding tackles, acrobatic clearances, and ability to time his challenges well. Despite his talent, Nesta's career suffered from the many injuries he encountered, which hindered him from playing in the knockout stages at each of the three World Cups at which he participated.

Media Nesta appeared in the 1998 Italian film Paparazzi, directed by Neri Parenti. He was also on the cover of the Italian edition of SCEE's This is Football 2002. Nesta features in EA Sports' FIFA football video game series; he has been included as an Ultimate Team Legend/Icon since FIFA 16.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial statistics

Honours Player Lazio Serie A Defender of the Year: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Serie A Team of the Year: 2010–11 UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2000 UEFA Team of the Year: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 ESM Team of the Year: 2000–01 Onze de Onze: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 FIFPro World XI: 2005, 2007 FIFA 100 UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll: No. 47 AC Milan Hall of Fame All-time UEFA European Under-21 Championship dream team: 2015 UEFA Ultimate Team of the Year (published 2015) Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2021

Manager Miami North American Soccer League: 2017 Spring/Fall champions

Orders