Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays as a striker for F.C. Internazionale Milano. He also plays for the Argentine national team.[1] A prolific and consistent center-forward, Milito has statistically averaged just over a goal every two appearances, over the course of his 10 year professional career. He was pivotal in Inter's 2009/10 treble winning season and his two goals in the Champions League final at last gave him international recognitions as one of the world's most effective strikers.

He has been nicknamed Il Principe del Bernal (Italian for "The Prince of Bernal") or El Príncipe del Bernal (in Spanish) because of his physical resemblance with former Uruguayan footballer Enzo Francescoli, who was nicknamed that way (without "Bernal").

Club career

Racing Club

1999–2004: Early years in Argentina

Diego Milito started playing at Argentine first division team Racing Club in 1999, where he won the 2001 Apertura tournament. During this time, his younger brother Gabriel played for Racing's main rival, Independiente, as a defender. The two clubs would contest the Avellaneda derby with the two brothers lining up against each other.[2]

Genoa

2004–2005: First Years in European Football

At the beginning of 2004, Milito moved to Italian second division Genoa. After two very successful seasons, where he scored 33 goals in 59 matches in Italy, Genoa were relegated down to Serie C1 as a punishment for an alleged match-fixing case in the final match of the 2004–05 season. Due to this, Milito was forced to leave Genoa and ultimately joined his brother Gabriel at Spanish club Real Zaragoza.[3]

Real Zaragoza

2005–2008: Making His Mark in Spain

Diego again showed his potential in Spain, scoring four goals in the first semi-final of the 2006 Copa del Rey to beat Real Madrid 6–1. He finished the season as Real Zaragoza's top scorer with 16 goals in the Spanish first division.

Milito was one of the top scorers in the La Liga 2006–07 season.[4] He scored 23 goals, two less than the top goalscorer Ruud van Nistelrooy and three behind European Golden Boot winner Francesco Totti.

In November 2006, it was reported Zaragoza decided to buy him outright after his 2-year loan was set to expire.[5][6]

Milito became the club captain at Real Zaragoza, taking over this role from brother Gabriel, who departed for Barcelona in 2007.[7] His contract was extended in August 2007 with a buy-out clause of €100M.[8] His goals helped Zaragoza to a sixth place finish in the league. As of January 2008, Diego was averaging higher than a goal every two games for Real Zaragoza, a statistic he also achieved with Genoa.

Genoa

2008–2009: A Return to Serie A

On 1 September 2008, just a few minutes before the transfer window closure time, Genoa completed the transfer of Milito from Zaragoza, after the Spanish team were relegated to Segunda División.[9][10] His agent Fernando Hidalgo confirmed Milito chose explicitly to return to Genoa despite having received more lucrative offers from other major European clubs.[11] He made his debut on 14 September against Milan. Genoa won this game 2–0 with Milito assisting the first goal and scoring the second. On 9 November, Milito scored his first hat-trick for Genoa in the 4–0 victory against Reggina. He finished the season with 24 goals in 31 league appearances, placing him second behind Zlatan Ibrahimović in the Capocannonieri scoring title.

Internazionale

2009–2010: A Treble-Winning Debut Season

On 20 May 2009, La Gazzetta dello Sport confirmed that Diego Milito was transferred to Internazionale (alongside Thiago Motta).[12] The transfer fees were undisclosed but Genoa got Robert Acquafresca, Riccardo Meggiorini, Leonardo Bonucci, Francesco Bolzoni and cash.[13]

The striker adapted to his new surroundings quickly and had an excellent start to his Internazionale career scoring two goals in a 2–0 World Football Challenge win over Milan.[14] Subsequently on 29 August, in his first ever Milan Derby in Serie A, Milito assisted two goals and scored a penalty, his first league goal of the season, to cap off a 4–0 victory.[15] Later, on 13 September, he scored his second league goal in a 2–0 home win against Parma.[16] In the next league match against Cagliari he scored both goals for Inter in a 1–2 away win.[17] These two goals placed him at the top of the all-time Serie A scoring charts for best strike rate, with 28 goals in 35 games, giving him an average of 0.8 goals per game.[18] Milito continued his fine run of form with another goal in the next league match against Napoli, scoring the second goal after Samuel Eto'o scored in the first minute, a game that they won 3–1.[19]

The consistency which Milito had shown at his previous clubs was sustained throughout his debut season at Inter, and after the first few matches he had established himself as a key contributor to the squad. On 30 October, in a 5–3 home victory against Palermo, Milito, who had returned from an injury, came off the bench to make the result safe scoring Internazionale's fifth goal.[20] In the next game, against Livorno he scored another goal,[21] taking his strike rate up to seven goals in nine league matches. Three days later, on 4 November, he scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League in a 1–2 group stage win over Dynamo Kyiv, it was the equaliser which led to Wesley Sneijder's game-winner in the 89th.[22] On 24 February, in another Champions League match, this time in a 2–1 round of 16 win against Chelsea, he scored another important goal, his second in the competition.[23] Four days later, Milito netted the matchwinner which gave Internazionale a 3–2 victory at Udinese, in a thrilling win for the "Nerazzurri".[24] On 27 March, after missing a 3–0 win over Livorno[25] with a hamstring problem, Milito returned for a crucial battle at title contenders Roma, where he scored one goal in a 2–1 loss.[26][27] On 31 March, in a 1–0 Champions League quarter-finals win against CSKA Moscow, he scored the winning goal which enhanced Internazionale's chances of reaching the semi-finals.[28] Diego scored a vital goal in a 3–1 home win against Barcelona in a first leg Champions League semi-final win.

During the very last matches of the 2009–2010 season, Milito proved instrumental in Inter's winning of the first treble in the history of Italian football. The Argentine first scored the only goal in Inter's victory over Roma in the final of the Coppa Italia on 5 May 2010, enabling the nerazzurri to take home their first trophy of the season.[29] Eleven days later, it was also Milito's goal which secured Internazionale's 18th scudetto when they beat Siena 1–0 on the final matchday of Serie A. With only two points separating the top two teams in Serie A, the goal lifted Inter to the summit of the table after being in a position to lose the league title to Roma at the half-time break as Roma, playing simultaneously, were winning their own match against Chievo at that point. Milito himself declared this goal to be the "best of his career",[30] having been decisive in delivering a league title to his team. However, there was more to come from the forward and on 22 May 2010 Milito yet again proved vital as he scored twice to seal a victory in the Champions League Final over Bayern Munich. As a result Internazionale became European club champions for the first time in 45 years with a 2–0 victory and completed their historic treble championship season.[31]

After the treble success many pundits took note of the fact that Milito had always been an effective and efficient striker, yet remained one of the most underrated players in world football because of his low-key manner and the fact that he had plied his trade for smaller, less competitive teams prior to joining Inter.[32] Scoring goals on the biggest stages for a marquee team finally earned the striker the recognition merited by his skill and goalscoring record. Of the player and his two Champions League winning goals, The Guardian wrote:

“ Vision, timing, flawless technique and sangfroid – these two goals had everything a great striker needs, plus a sense of lyricism in the fluency of his movement. The 30-year-old Milito is hardly a fancy striker, not a Messi taking your breath away with a trick or a Tevez galvanising the stadium with elemental force, but his economy has been just as devastating...[33] ”

On 9 August 2010, Milito signed a new four-year contract with the Nerazzurri. On 26 August 2010, Milito was named 2010 UEFA Forward and Player of the Year.[34]

International career

Milito scored two goals on his international debut against Uruguay in 2003, but appeared only intermittently during the following years,[35] and was omitted from the 2006 World Cup squad.[36] He played for Argentina in the 2007 Copa América tournament, gaining playing time after Hernán Crespo's injury in a group stage match against Colombia and he was also included in Argentina's final 23 player roster for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[37]

Personal life

Diego is married to Sofia and they have two children.[38] He has a younger brother named Gabriel who is also a footballer, who plays his football at Barcelona.

Honours

Club

Racing Club

Primera División Argentina (1): Apertura 2001

Internazionale

Serie A (1): 2009–10

Coppa Italia (1): 2009- 10

UEFA Champions League (1): 2010

Supercoppa Italiana (1): 2010

Individual

Guerin d'Oro (1): 2008-09

2010 UEFA Champions League Final: UEFA Man of the Match

UEFA Club Forward of the Year (1): 2009-10

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year (1): 2009-10