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Alessandro NestoFootball player
Date of Birth: 19.03.1976
Country:  Italy |
Content:
Biography of Alessandro Nesta
Alessandro Nesta is a former Italian football player and a central defender. In the current era, when Italian football is not as rich in world-class players as it used to be, Nesta is one of the few who can be considered a guarantee of success for the Italian national team for years to come. His reading of the game, impeccable composure and resilience, intuition, and ability to perform with equal confidence in different areas of the field make him a ready leader of Italy's defense when the time comes for their current captain, Paolo Maldini, to retire.
Early Career
It was in mid-November 1995 when Alessandro Nesta received a phone call that would kickstart his journey to fame. He was traveling with his friends to the island of Elba when his mobile phone rang. It was a call from Lazio, informing him that the coach of the Italian Under-21 national team, Cesare Maldini, was calling him up for a European Championship qualifying match. For the 19-year-old Nesta, this call marked the beginning of his path to glory. Playing a key role in the victory against the Ukrainian youth team, which secured Italy's place in the final stage of the tournament, Alessandro immediately secured his place in the starting lineup. Six months later, in a memorable evening in Barcelona, he scored the decisive goal in the penalty shootout in the final match against Spain, leading Cesare Maldini's team to victory and becoming a champion.
Club Career
Nesta's rise in the national team had a significant impact on his position in the Italian squad. Just days before the selection for the European Championship, Italy's national team coach Arrigo Sacchi included him in the 22-man squad, even though he did not feature in any of the three matches Italy played in Euro 96. Alessandro made his debut for the senior national team three months later in an away qualifying match for the World Cup against Moldova. By the end of the qualifying campaign, he was already considered an automatic starter.
Nesta's position in the national team was further strengthened when, before Christmas of 1996, Sacchi resigned and was replaced by Cesare Maldini, who knew everything about this young defender. The same can be said for Dino Zoff, who took over from Maldini two years later. It was Zoff, as the interim coach of Lazio, who gave Nesta his first taste of Serie A football in March 1994, just six days before his 18th birthday.
"I remember he was trembling like a leaf," recalls Zoff. "But when he stepped onto the field, he looked like a hero. I never had any doubts about his abilities." Just two weeks after his Serie A debut, Nesta made headlines for the wrong reasons. He was the "little-known reserve" involved in the incident where Lazio superstar Paul Gascoigne broke his leg during a training session. It was not Nesta's fault; Gascoigne himself made a reckless tackle. Nevertheless, Nesta was deeply upset and shed tears when Gascoigne was taken to the hospital. Gascoigne reassured the young defender, telling him there was no need to blame himself and that respected coaches like Zoff, Maldini, and Sacchi all recognized his exceptional qualities.
However, long before these experts recognized his talent, scouts from Roma had already spotted him when he was just 10 years old playing for his first team, which was called "Chinichitta." Roma recognized the boy's talent so clearly that they offered Chinichitta $6000, which was intended to cover the expenses of Alessandro's development over the next four years before joining one of Roma's youth teams.
But why didn't the money bring any results, and why didn't Nesta join Roma? The reason is simple for a city where half of it supports one big club and the other half supports another. Unfortunately for Roma, Alessandro's father, Giuseppe, a railway worker, had been a passionate Lazio supporter all his life and didn't want to hear anything about his son joining the "enemy."
Four years later, Giuseppe himself took his son by the hand and brought him to Lazio. "I was amazed at how he behaved on the field," recalls Volgango Patarka, the first coach from Lazio's system to encounter Nesta. "He held his head high and did everything with genius simplicity. I called his father and asked him not to have any contact with other clubs. Three weeks later, we signed a contract with Alessandro."
International Career
In the current era, when Italian football is not as rich in world-class players as it used to be, Alessandro Nesta is one of the few who can be considered a guarantee of success for the Italian national team for years to come. His reading of the game, impeccable composure and resilience, intuition, and ability to perform with equal confidence in different areas of the field make him a ready leader of Italy's defense when the time comes for their current captain, Paolo Maldini.
As a central defender adept at playing as a libero, sweeper, or stopper, Nesta is a key player whose class allows his teammates to focus on their attacking duties without worrying about the backline. Nesta is seen as the heir to the lineage of classic Italian center-backs such as Gaetano Scirea, Franz Beckenbauer, Giuseppe Bergomi, and Franco Baresi, personalities who combined defensive solidity with creativity, capable of equally dismantling opponent attacks and initiating their own. Many forwards would envy his ball control.
At the age of 24, Nesta already has a two-year captaincy experience among the "Sky Blues" of Lazio. Winning numerous valuable trophies with the club, he has gained significant experience in a short period. In one of the Italian Cup victories (1998), Nesta's contribution was pivotal as he scored the decisive goal against AC Milan in the final. This goal allowed his team to win a trophy they had not lifted in four decades.
"Lazio" with Nesta and without him are two completely different teams. His absence in the national team usually has a painful impact. In this regard, the friendly match against Belgium in November 1999 comes to mind, which ended in a humiliating 1-3 defeat for the "Azzurri." Without Nesta, who was injured at the time, Italy's defense appeared shockingly naive and powerless.
The partnership of Cannavaro and Nesta was first tested by Cesare Maldini at the Tournoi de France in the summer of 1997. The Italian national team did not shine particularly in the World Cup in France, and Nesta's injury (ligament tear) in the final group stage match against Austria further limited the team's capabilities. In the knockout stage, they had to fight without him. Interestingly, Cagliotti presented a bill of 7 million dollars to the Italian Football Federation, demanding compensation for the damage caused to his club by the injury of Lazio's strongest defender. Cagliotti's demand was rejected, as expected.
During Euro 2000, Nesta's outstanding performance alongside Maldini and Cannavaro in defense nearly led to an illogical outcome: the most defensive team came close to winning where offensive football dominated. In the semifinal against the Netherlands, one of the most striking examples of this paradox, Nesta was the reason for the second penalty awarded to the Dutch, although it was unclear how he committed a foul against Patrick Kluivert, only referee Markus Merk knows. However, the penalty was not converted, and Merk's mistake did not have any consequences.
Club Success
When Sven-Göran Eriksson was asked why his Lazio team narrowly missed the Scudetto in 1999, he replied that it was not due to the defeats against Roma and Juventus in April but rather the loss of a significant number of points in the autumn of 1998, at the beginning of the season when two key players, Alessandro Nesta and Christian Vieri, were sidelined due to injuries.
By December 1998, when Nesta returned to the squad, Lazio had dropped to 10th place in the table. However, once he returned, the team transformed instantaneously and went on a 16-match unbeaten streak, ascending to the top of the league. Although they couldn't hold on to the top spot, in the following season (1999/2000), Lazio made up for it when Nesta remained fit throughout the season.
It is symbolic that Eriksson placed Vieri and Nesta on the same level. Vieri had become the world's most expensive player a year earlier, joining Inter Milan for $50 million. If any club were to try to sign Nesta now, they would have to pay a similar, if not higher, sum. However, Nesta is currently the only player whom Lazio's president, Sergio Cragnotti, considers "incedibili" - meaning unsellable! He is under contract with Lazio until 2004, and there are no indications that Nesta will leave the club. It is quite possible that he will continue the tradition of the best Italian defenders such as Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, and Giuseppe Bergomi, who spent their entire careers at one club.
