Savicevic: ‘How did Baresi not win the Ballon d’Or? Journalists’ fault!’

Dejan Savicevic finds it baffling that the late Franco Baresi was never recognised with a Ballon d’Or trophy and has laid the blame for that at the hands of journalists who did not vote for the iconic former Rossoneri captain in the voting procedure.

Savicevic on Baresi: ‘He had football running through him, how could they not give him the Ballon d’Or?’

Tributes continue to roll in for the legendary Baresi, who recently died at the age of 66.

Milan icons from various generations will congregate in the city on Tuesday for Baresi’s funeral. Savicevic will be among the attendees, and he stopped to speak about his former captain in an in-depth interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport that was published on Sunday.

“He was a great person, a great man. He was a great teammate and a wonderful player. He had football running through him, he understood everything and had an incredible vision of the game,” Savicevic recalled.

“San Siro used to sing: ‘One capitano, there’s only one capitano’. It was wonderful to listen to those chants, they gave us goosebumps, it gave everyone a boost.

1 Apr 1995: Roberto Baggio (left) of Juventus takes on Franco Baresi (right) of AC Milan during a Serie A match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. Juventus won the match 2-0. Mandatory Credit: Allsport UK /Allsport

“I always knew who he was, a very strong and well-known defender. He was highly regarded at Red Star and in Yugoslavia. Then we met in the European Cup in 1988, first in San Siro and then in Belgrade.”

Some have suggested that Baresi may even rank higher than Franz Beckenbauer in the game’s list of all-time defensive greats.

“I only watched Beckenbauer with his national team, I was a kid, I have distant memories,” Savicevic admitted. “Baresi was like him. He and Paolo Maldini were the greatest in the world. Franco won so much and he could have won even more.”

Some have suggested that Baresi is also among the list of greatest players to have never been recognised with a Ballon d’Or.

“That’s one of them,” said Savicevic. “Come on, that’s a shame. How could you not give the Ballon d’Or to Baresi? But that’s your fault,” he teased La Gazzetta dello Sport.

He clarified: “You journalists. You didn’t vote for him, only the Dutch players (from Milan) won. Rijkaard always finished in front of him in first place.

9 Dec 1992: AC Milan Players Demetrio Albertini, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten form a wall in the European Cup match against PSV Eindhoven. AC Milan won the match 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Chris Cole/Allsport

“Now, with all due respect to Rijkaard, we’re talking about a midfielder with good passing, a good footballer, but Baresi was something else. He was a phenomenon. Don’t talk to me about the Ballon d’Or, that irks me.”

Only three defenders have ever won the Ballon d’Or: The aforementioned Beckenbauer (twice), Matthias Sammer and Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro.

“But not Franceo Baresi, one of the greatest defenders in the history of football,” Savicevic continued.

“I’m not saying it’s a shame, but they weren’t like Baresi. He had another great quality in him as well: He didn’t take anything too seriously. He’d say ‘okay, come on, let’s forget it. Think positively’. He was a leader, he passed that on to everyone.”

MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 15: Franco Baresi looks on during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Genoa at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on December 15, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Savicevic went on to discuss his relationship with Baresi in even greater detail: “He helped everyone, I always felt close to him. He didn’t talk too much, but he was always there.

“I had a bit of a crisis in the early days. I wasn’t playing, I was homesick. Franco gave me a hug and consoled me by saying ‘come on Dean, be patient, there are a lot of us here, we’re all good’. I wanted to leave and he told me: ‘But where do you want to go? We’re here at Milan, where could you feel any better? Don’t get angry, don’t give up’.”