Arrigo Sacchi, legendary former coach who wrote history with the red and black, spoke to Gazzetta dello Sport about the game against Red Star Belgrade. He recalled the iconic and historic match of Milan against the Serbian team in Belgrade.
On the way back, the famous fog:
"At the kick-off, we immediately understand the trend: they pass the ball to us… You go ahead, that makes us laugh. After almost an hour of play, a great fog falls on the Marakana, nothing could be seen. We didn't realize what was happening a few meters from the bench. We have not seen their goal. When the match has been suspended, but not yet postponed, on returning to the locker room we find Virdis fully dressed. “Peter, why have you already changed?” We ask. 'He expelled me!' he said."
The emergency Milan restarted from 0-0, and not from 1-0, according to the regulations of the time
"We weren't brilliant at that time, but we still had to play it all out. After the first match postponed, we didn't even have Ancelotti, who was warned by a caution. So we decide to get Gullit, in recovery mode, from Holland. Ruud comes by private plane with his physiotherapist Troost, who reassures us: he could have played at least in time, I'll take him to the bench. Among the starters I used Mannari, a rookie in the Cup at 18 and a half. Back then the club squads weren't like the current ones: you had 16 basic ones, plus the three goalkeepers and the kids. On the eve I speak to the group: now we will see our class, the character of someone who is overwhelmed, but knows how to get up and is still alive."
An atmosphere full of its own ...
"Those were tense hours. A reporter whispers to me 'I have to give you bad news. I'm in the same hotel as the referee team. I saw strange movements: the managers of the Red Star, with four-five girls, went out with the three'."
"Already in the morning of the replay when we went for a little athletic awakening session, we hear very strong bangs on the sidelines. Casino, smoke: the boys are shaken, the shots came from a crowd of ultras of the Red Star. Then we found out that the commander Arkan was involved. At the time I went to the shooting range, I had an ear for explosions. I pacify my players with a lie. "Come on, they're firecrackers, everything okay". But they weren't firecrackers, damn it. And Galliani warns us: 'Tonight at the stadium all the doors will open, where there was a line of spectators there will be three'. Gullit urges him: 'Usually how many enter?'. Adriano throws there: “In 40 thousand. Maybe today there will be 120,000. The other 80,000 will come to see us."
In a dramatic match...
“In the repetition match, we did very well. We concentrated, absolute domination. We scored very well, I'm not exaggerating. But in the interval I take the referee by the collar: he doesn't make a turn. To Van Basten's goal, they respond with Stojkovic on the counterattack. But we were a real team, with a capital T. We have suffered a lot of harassment on their part: very strong, technical, but very foul. Donadoni stunned goes to the hospital. Tragedy emerges. Several players rush to the bench. But in the field there was already Doctor Monti who rescued and saved Roberto on the ground. In the confusion, it had not been noticed. With Donadoni out of danger, everyone teases Monti: "See how players view you, huh?" On the list for penalties I put Cappellini, 17, as the fourth shooter. Rijkaard approaches: 'Mister, the child is trembling. If you want, I'll shoot first'. "Yes, if you score, though!'. So it went, we pass. Later, he mayor of Belgrade and the president of the Red Star get on our bus: 'We salute the future champions of Europe, congratulations'. We were just in the second round, but that qualification was a signal: when you win like this ... Now I think to myself: 'I lost a World Cup on penalties, but I'm very calm', because we had given everything and Brazil had done better than us in the tournament. In Belgrade we deserved it, as we have seen even later. We have earned our luck. And we went beyond a dream, in Europe they elected us the greatest team of all time. Ancelotti repeats: 'We did not understand what we have done'. That is true: I gave birth to football, all the stress allowed me to be a peaceful adult. Yes, but Belgrade remains Belgrade."
