He was a mixture of Zlatan and Ronaldo

Claudio Balesini is a former professional footballer who played striker for Italian giants AC Milan, where he shared a dressing room with the likes of Paolo Maldini, Frank Rijkaard and Carlo Ancelotti, to name only a few! He has since traded in his boots for a whistle and cones as he is now a UEFA licensed coach and scout, having previously led AC Milan’s youth academy as its technical director. Claudio

Kamogelo Motecwane: Buongiorno (Good morning), Claudio!

Claudio Balesini: Buongiorno, amico (mate).

KM: So, what brings you South Africa?

CB: I am working in South Africa with WWS (World Wide Scholarships), who are allowing me to find and develop talent that can be showcased internationally. When they offered me this opportunity to work with World Wide Scholarship and Italian Calcio Coaching, I jumped immediately at the opportunity.

KM: After you headed the academy at one of the biggest clubs in the world in AC Milan, what compelled you to work with World Wide Scholarships?

CB: Because I know that World Wide Scholarship has been around for over 20 years and has been doing a fantastic job connecting talent to scholarships overseas. WWS has had a strong partnership over the last 15 years with Italian Calcio Coaching. When I heard about Munya Maraire (CEO of WWS) and his strategy to build a soccer academy that trains and develops talent, I just knew that I had to be a part of it. After 20 years of working around the world, I think this project is something different.

KM: Having been heavily involved with Milan, both as a player and as a coach, and following matters so closely, when you watch the African players who play for the club, such as

Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer, as well as South Africa’s very own Refiloe Jane for the women’s side, is that a contributing factor in you coming to South Africa?

CB:

Yes. I have always been interested in developing talent and Africa has many talents, but not everybody gets the opportunity to get scouted to top teams like those players. But with the right coaching and commitment from an institution such as WWS, people looking out for African talent has become real.

KM: That’s beautiful, Claudio. Are you the only Italian coach here or are there other coaches from Europe here to help you out?

CB:

The whole of Europe is here – Danish, English, Belgian, Dutch. As you know, there are African players playing in all the top five leagues in Europe. If you think about world champions France, they have 10 players who are originally from Africa! In Italy, for example, in almost every team there are about five, six, seven African players. This is a reality, so it is important that we push young African players to help them reach their dreams.

KM: Very true! What has fascinated you most about the young players in South Africa?

CB: They are good. They are humble guys, so different from the new generation of Italian guys. There are some kids that run two, three miles to get to the field because they want to train with us with a lot of enthusiasm. They want to learn. The coaches, too, are good, but they can improve, of course. This is a new methodology; it is not easy, but it is complete. It gives full learning opportunity for the guys.

KM: So, you are also here to develop the coaching aspect?

CB:

Of course. The local coaches are very important because the coaches transmit our methodology. They know the language. There are some words that can get lost in translation, so they can get them across so they

don’t lose impact.

KM: We see. During your time working for Milan’s youth academy, who are some of the most talented youngsters you saw come through?

CB:

During my experience in Italy from 2004 up until 2017, I was lucky to grow many good players, such as (goalkeeper Gianluigi) Donnarumma. Yes, he was a baby when I started with him, very baby (young)… he wasn’t always big. A lot of them play in Serie A and the national team too, like Donnarumma, (Davide) Calabria, (Manuel) Locatelli, (Daniel) Maldini and (Sandro) Tonali too.

KM: Wow, those are big names, not just in Serie A but world football!

CB: Yes, of course. Because Locatelli plays for Juventus, Donnarumma plays for PSG. Colombo is another. Lorenzo Colombo is a very good player. He plays in Serie B (for SPAL), but I think he will be next forward for the national team because he has good skills. All these AC Milan players develop well at youth level. In the past too, in the 1980s era, they made a lot of great champions like Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, (Alessandro) Costacurta… they are all part of Milan’s history of youth development!

KM: Indeed, the club has a very rich history. Did the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal affect the academies in Italy like it impacted Serie A?

CB:

No. It was very strange what happened in 2006 because during this scandal, a time that was bad for our entire soccer movement involving a lot of corruption with the referees, the Italian national team won the World Cup in Germany and AC Milan won the Champions League (the following year) in Athens against Liverpool. So, it was very strange, but the youth set-up did not suffer any consequences of this very bad corruption scandal. It was very strange. I think it is because the youth is a sector that is very different to that of the professional world. There is not a lot of money and we work with passion, setting the right example.

KM: We’re really glad to hear that! If we’re correct, you played under Arrigo Sacchi...

CB: is currently in South Africa to head up the World Wide Scholarships (WWS) inaugural camps, which will help create a pathway for young African talents to join top clubs in Italy. Soccer Laduma international journalist Kamogelo Motecwane caught up with the ex-player to discuss his involvement in the initiative, the world-class talent he proudly conditioned at the Rossoneri, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marco van Basten and his playing days.

Yes, he was my coach, Arrigo Sacchi. He was a great, great coach. Coach Sacchi created a new winning mentality. He was full of hard discipline. He was strong on discipline, on respecting the rules and hard work during training. He didn’t want weak training. He changed the mentality, the Italian mentality because I remember before Arrigo Sacchi, we were more defensive than offensive when we approached the games. He created a perfect machine where he won everything in four, five years. Of course, there were great players, Italians and foreigners, such as the Dutch – (Marco) van Basten, (Frank) Rijkaard, (Ruud)

Gullit – and the amazing Italian players like Baresi, Filippo Galli, Maldini, Ancelotti, (Daniele) Massaro. Great players. It was a wonderful mix, an incredible mix!

KM: It must have been crazy to play alongside all those great players. What lessons, if any, did you take from Sacchi?

CB:

Me, in my playing career, when I was younger, I didn’t like this way of coaching because sometimes he (Sacchi) was rude. Today, as a coach, I understand there was a reason. I try to follow his example. He taught me to play soccer at such a high level. You have to sacrifice, to be always humble, you have to work hard, you have to always care about your professionalism and your life outside because there is no other way to reach such a high level. I always tell my guys that, “Your body is an instrument.” (Cristiano) Ronaldo is a good example of that. (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic too – 40 years old and still doing amazing.

KM: Speaking of Zlatan, do you think it is good he is still with the Milan side considering the inexperience of the team, or is he potentially blocking the pathway of some of the younger guys?

CB:

Yes, Zlatan is an amazing player because he is a great, great champion with his charisma and personality. He has improved the mood in the dressing room a lot with his winning mentality because he has won many things in his career. It shows during the game, but most of all, in training because he pushes everybody to reach their maximum

level. He is, however, 40 years old and sometimes he gets injured. In my opinion, AC Milan need another good striker on the bench, but he needs to be younger. Younger is better. In the last two years, AC Milan always choose old strikers. Last year, it was Mario Mandzukic, but he didn’t play a lot because he was always injured. And this year (Olivier) Giroud too, but he is 35 years old and sometimes he gets injured too. For me, it would be better for Milan to play a young striker.

KM: That is a nice segue to our next question. As a striker in Serie A during the ’80s, who was the best defender you ever played against?

CB:

(Laughs) You broke my heart with this question. For me, it was my captain, Franco Baresi.

KM: So, toughest competition was in training?

CB:

Yes, I think Franco Baresi was absolutely the best defender that I have seen in my life. There has been

a lot of great defenders, like Paolo Maldini. Maldini was an amazing defender. (Alessandro) Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro too, they are a little bit younger than me, but I know them. In Italy, we produce a lot of good defenders – just look at Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. But yes, I think Franco Baresi is the best defender of all-time. I don’t know how he did not win the Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or).

“He taught me to play soccer at such a high level. You have to sacrifice, to be always humble, you have to work hard, you have to always care about your professionalism.”

KM: Lastly, of the legendary Dutch trio you played with, who was the best?

CB: You break my heart again with this question (laughs)! I had the luck to train and play with them, not too much, because sometimes I was on the bench, but for me, it must be Marco van Basten. He was the best. The best forward at that time. Rijkaard and Gullit were good midfielders, but Marco van Basten was something different. He was a mixture of Ibra and Cristiano Ronaldo. He had the physicality of Ibrahimovic but the speed and technique of Ronaldo. Twofooted, always scoring in different ways, he was amazing. It was just those ankle injuries that stopped him at a young age. He won three Golden Balls, scoring more than 200 goals for AC Milan in 200 games. He was incredible!

“He was the best. The best forward at that time. Rijkaard and Gullit were good midfielders, but Marco van Basten was something different.”

KM: That’s a beautiful note to end the interview, Claudio. We don’t want to waste any more of your time, so thank you so much! CB: It’s a pleasure. I want to meet you soon because you are funny and you know football, you are good.

KM: Thank you so much, Claudio. That means the world.

CB: Ciao, my friend.

KM: Ciao. ❐