“Berlusconi was ambitious, he achieved everything he had in mind”. Dario Bonetti speaks

Silvio Berlusconi he had bought Milan from Giussy Farina a few weeks ago, also inheriting the coach who in hindsight would not have convinced him much. It was Nils Liedholm himself in February 1986 who made a request to the new company. At Roma he had had for a few seasons, even in the run-up to the Champions Cup final, Dario Bonetti. Born in 1961, central defender with an imposing physique, Bonetti knew the Swedish coach’s zone game well. He would have been perfect to work alongside Franco Baresi, both of whom were born in Brescia. Berlusconi and his partner Adriano Galliani in those days will also buy Daniele Massaro from Fiorentina, but the first purchase of Berlusconi’s AC Milan era turns out to be Bonettiwhich was taken in advance of the times foreseen by the rules of the transfer market at the time.

On February 28, 1986, the defender was in the President’s office in via Rovani in Milan, but he had to return to Rome in the evening, even if officially the signing could only take place on March 1. “But what women – Bonetti tells Il Foglio – training with the Giallorossi was scheduled for the following morning! We therefore agreed that the signing should be deposited in the League the following day. that for me, thus forced to lose the Italian Cup final with the Roma shirt”.

Meanwhile, that evening he had the opportunity to meet Silvio Berlusconi for the first time. “A very intelligent man with very clear ideas. You could see that he was ambitious, everything he had in mind and that he expressed to me in those hours he then managed to achieve. He put competent managers next to him and bought the best players. This is how they are made the teams, perhaps with the addition of a good coach”.

Bonetti remained at Milan only that season, also playing in the play-off for access to the UEFA Cup against Sampdoria. The following year Sacchi arrived on the bench and he ended up at Verona. Later he will also play for Juventus.

“In that season with the Rossoneri I trained during the week by bike and then on Sunday I played the match, this due to an injury during pre-season preparation. Liedholm was sent away, I didn’t show up in 1987 when I retired with Sacchi, I wanted to return in Rome, where my football family was. At the time, Milan didn’t keep players who didn’t want to stay. Mine was a mistake, with Baresi, Maldini and Tassotti there was already the defense that would win everything. it would have been different, but I’m not complaining. I was young, I always did my own thing and I didn’t have an agent who could help me. Yet I had signed a three-year contract with Milan. Dino Viola had promised me that I would return to Rome, but instead I found myself in the Verona of that gentleman of Chiampan”.

The presentation of the team at the Milan Arena on 16 July 1986 is part of Italian mythology, it is the beginning of the football adventure of the Cavaliere. From Milanello the team landed at the field aboard helicopters with the “Cavalcate delle Valkyrie” in the background. It was pouring rain. “I told myself – continues Bonetti – that I would never go on board a helicopter again, it’s like riding a bike in the clouds. And I have always kept the promise I made at that moment”.

Today Dario lives in Salò, after his career as a footballer he worked as a coach especially abroad, winning cups in Romania and leading the Zambia national team. Now he is without a team. “I no longer want to travel the world and those people always work in Italy: I don’t beg for a job and I still don’t have a solicitor. Football has changed since the days of Berlusconi’s Milan, I fell out of love with the ball, just look at what they did recently to Maldini, who was sent away after winning a Scudetto and took the team to the semi-finals of the Champions League”.