Football Update: Serie A Special- Capocannoniere Candidate Diego Alberto Milito
Principe del Bernal as he is fondly called, Diego Alberto Milito is one of the most underrated strikers in the world football. His recent exploits in the 2009 edition of the Champions League and Italian Serie A with Internazionale got him some much deserved
praise.
Milito started his career from Racing Club de Avellaneda in Argentina. He was not a prolific striker early on in his career. He scored 34 goals in 137 appearances for the club. These statistics earned him a move to Genoa C.F.C who was plying their trade
in the second tier of Serie B. Genoa gave a breath of fresh air to the striker who scored a fantastic 33 goals in just 59 appearances. Unfortunately, Genoa were relegated Serie C1 after a match fixing scandal surfaced. Due to this, Milito moved to Spain with
Real Zaragoza.
Milito scored 16 goals in his first season in Spain, the club’s top scorer. Together with his younger brother, Gabriel Milito, Diego earned some outstanding results for the club. His best performance in the club’s stripes was his 4 goals against Real Madrid
in the Copa Del Rey semifinal of 2006. In the three seasons hat he spent with Zaragoza, he scored 15, 23, 15 goals respectively. As of 2008, he averaged a goal every two games for Zaragoza which is a brilliant record.
Genoa earned a promotion back to Serie A under current coach Gian Piero Gasperini and asked for Milito’s services a year later. Milito duly answered the call from his former employers and the prodigal son returned home. Milito’s blistering performances were
still fondly remembered by the Genoa faithful and his return was wildly celebrated. Milito scored 24 goals in just 31 Serie A appearances and was second in the Capocannonieri charts behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Like classical wine which gets better with age, Milito was a late bloomer getting better and better each year. The talent was identified by Jose Mourinho who quickly acquired him in 2009. Mourinho played his favourite 4-3-3 formation at inter with Milito
leading the line flanked by likes of Eto’o and Goran Pandev. Milito was in devastating form all season scoring on all fronts. In his debut season with the club, Milito scored 22 Serie A goals. His most significant contribution came in the final of the Champions
league, where he scored a brace against Bayern Munich. His contribution ensured that Inter Milan won their first Champions League trophy in forty six years. Former Argentine Coach Diego Maradona’s snub of the striker is no secret. His form made Maradona recall
the striker for the world cup though he hardly started any games as Argentina crashed out to Germans in a humiliating 4 – 1 defeat.
Now that Jose Mourinho has left for the riches of Bernabeau, it would be interesting to see how new coach Rafa Benitez plays him in his team. Rafa prefers a 4-3-2-1 formation in which either Samuel Eto’o or Milito himself will lead the line. It is very much
likely that Rafa will continue playing Milito as a lone striker. Like they say, ‘don’t fix it if it’s not broken’. Milito’s movement off the ball is second to none while his intelligence is matched by few. The only thing that will keep him away from Capocannonieri
title is Rafa Benitez’s horrifying rotation policy that he used frequently at Anfield much to the dismay of club fans. If he does indeed play the striking role and that too consistently, expect fireworks from him in the current Serie A season. Diego Alberto
Milito is a safe bet to put your money for the Capocannonieri position this season.
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