Question:

Top 50 foreigners of all time in Italian football: Part 2

by Guest44914 | earlier

43 - Karl-Heinz Riedle (Germany)
The German international was one of the best players in the air in the Italian game. He stood at only 1.77m but Riedle always defied the laws of gravity and leaped higher than his taller and more powerful adversaries. Karl-Heinz Riedle spent three years
in Lazio whom he joined from Werder Bremen in 1990. He ended the 1991-92 Serie A season with 13 goals.
42 - Ramon Diaz (Argentina)
The Argentinean had a miserable start to his career in Italy when he first signed for Napoli where he scored only 3 times in 25 games and was sold to Avellino. The Argentinean striker rebuilt his reputation at Avellino and earned well deserved moves to Fiorentina
and then Inter Milan. Diaz was the part of the Inter Milan side that won the Scudetto in 1989 where he netted 12 league goals.
41 - Diego Simeone (Argentina)
El Cholo had an average start to Italian football when he was at Pisa in the early 90s but he returned to Italy by signing for Inter Milan from the Spanish outfit Atletico Madrid. The Argentinean midfield enforcer was sold to Lazio after getting very close
to winning the Scudetto with Inter Milan. It turned out to be a big mistake as Lazio won the Scudetto with Diego Simeone in the Argentinean’s first season with Olimpico.
40 - Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany)
Ramon Diaz was sold by Inter in 1990 to accommodate for German international Jurgen Klinsmann in a bid to strengthen the 1989 Championship winning side Inter. But the German failed to win the Scudetto with Nerazzurri and ended up collecting a UEFA Cup and
Italian Super Cup winner’s medal. His first two seasons in Italy saw Klinsmann scoring 27 goals in 64 games. He later moved to Sampdoria in a forgettable short spell before eventually heading to England to play for Tottenham.
39 - Aldair (Brazil)
‘Pluto’ played for Roma for 13 years before hanging his boots. Such was the impression that the Brazilian left at Rome that the club decided to retire the No. 6 shirt that he wore in his honor. Aldair was one of the most elegant and graceful defenders produced
by Brazil. Legendary Roma President, Dino Viola signed the South American from Benfica in 1990 and the Brazilian wore the Captain’s armband before the emergence of another Roma legend Francesco Totti.
38 - Youri Djorkaeff (France)
The mesmerizingly acrobatic strike against A.S Roma has now become a part of Serie A legend. ‘DJ’ joined Inter Milan from Paris St Germain in 1996 and finished his first season with 14 goals. The Frenchman was a stylish and a tactically astute player who
some consider very unfortunate to play in the Zinedine Zidane era and was sold to German outfit Kaiserslautern in 1998-99 due to Inter’s financial problems. The Frenchman won the World Cup with France in 1998 and then the European Cup in 2000.
37 - Jurgen Kohler (Germany)
The German was a no-nonsense central defender who rarely took any prisoners and was an extraordinary man marker. Kohler was a rock for Juventus during his 4 years at the club. The German was very strong in the air and was one of the main reasons of Giovanni
Trapattoni’s Juventus team for winning the UEFA Cup in 1993. He also won the double under Marcello Lippi.
36 - Andreas Brehme (Germany)
In his 4 years at Inter Milan, Brehme was the best left-back in the world before being overshadowed by A.C Milan legend Paolo Maldini. He was bought from Bayern Munich in 1988 along with fellow German Lothar Matthaus and was a part of the record breaking
1989 Inter Milan side. The German left back was a potent attacking option as well and he ended his Serie A career with 11 goals in 116 appearances.