Alessandro Nesta: Wrapping life in one word 'beautiful'

Today is the 40th birthday of one of the best centre-backs the world has ever seen - Alessandro Nesta, who elevated tackling to an art form.

Two years ago Nesta announced his retirement. Two years later, Italian football is still tirelessly searching for a defender who can approach his level. Giorgio Chiellini, Andrea Bazargli, Leonardo Bonucci, Angelo Ogbonna, Domenico Criscito... are all good defenders, but they are still a long way from Nesta's level. As for leisurely and romantic, who knows when the world will find another Nesta.

Nesta was born and raised in the Italian capital, the son of a passionate Lazio fan. And because he loved the team so much, when AS Roma offered to recruit his son to the youth team, Giuseppe refused. It was not until much later that Nesta was accepted into Lazio Giovanili, the youth team of Lazio, in 1985. There, he played in many different positions, including striker and midfielder, before moving down to play as a defender. Nesta later said that it was his days playing in the attacking position that helped him understand the psychology and movement of attacking players.

Nesta (right), throughout his career, has faced the best attacking superstars at every stage, and almost always won in his forte - tackling.

In 1993, Nesta made his first appearance for the Lazio first team. On March 13, 1994, he played his first official match for Lazio, a 2-2 draw with Udinese, just a week before his 18th birthday. Nesta's name later became famous because he broke the leg of Paul Gascoigne, Lazio's brightest star at the time. The English striker broke his leg after... tackling Nesta on the training ground.

Just three years after Dino Zoff gave Nesta his first-team debut, Sven Goran Eriksson officially made him captain in 1997. He was then just 21. And together with another captain in his twenties, Francesco Totti of Roma, Nesta formed a heroic duo of Italian football. They were the souls of two teams full of hatred. One was a defender, the other a striker. But both had the gallantry and romanticism of an era when handsome Italian players were as numerous as autumn leaves.

To talk about Nesta's life and career, only one word is enough to describe: Beautiful.

In terms of career, Nesta had a decent collection, with three scudetti, three Italian Cups, one Cup Winners' Cup, two Champions Leagues, and a World Cup for clubs with Lazio and Milan. With the Italian national team, he was a Euro runner-up and a World Cup winner. When Nesta retired, everyone agreed that he was one of the best defenders in the history of world football, the last defender who fully embodied the standards of the land that specialized in producing blocking players. Pele, when asked to vote for the 125 best living players, included Nesta's name in the list.

Nesta also has a beautiful face, a romantic beauty that is still full of masculinity. At Euro 2000, Nesta, along with Fabio Cannavaro and Paolo Maldini, formed the most handsome defense in history. He also had a beautiful love affair with Gabriela Pagnozzi, who would later become his wife and the mother of his two children. Gabriela worked for the Italian Football Federation during the 1998 World Cup in France. At that time, Nesta was injured in the group stage and was sad because he would miss all the matches in the knockout round. In that moment of despair, she came to comfort him. And the love that blossomed in the summer of France has lasted for 18 years of loyalty. "France gave me an injury, but it compensated me with a love. The injury then went away, but the love remained," Nesta said.

Nesta's love affair with his wife Pagnozzi is as beautiful as his appearance and football playing.

Nesta is also beautiful in the way he plays football. When we talk about defenders, we often think of fierce guys, slashing and running at full speed after the opposing striker. But Nesta, along with Maldini, erased that stereotype. The two of them proved that a defender can still play leisurely, dignified and beautiful as usual. Their hair, face and eyes like the Mediterranean Sea have followed girls into their sleep many times.

But Nesta is very different from Maldini in one way: his view on the tackle, the ultimate weapon of defenders. Maldini said: "I only tackle after I have made a mistake. I do not consider tackling a measure of a good defender. I do not remember any football school that taught students how to tackle. A good defender is one who can get the ball without having to tackle."

Maldini’s view is shared around the world. Alex Ferguson, in the age of statistics, made a serious mistake: he sold Jaap Stam because the statistics of the Dutch defender’s final season showed that he made fewer tackles than in previous seasons. Ferguson later admitted that he was wrong. Because Stam made fewer tackles, but played much more effectively.

But Nesta once again rejected that universally accepted argument.

Nesta does not consider the tackle as a lifesaver like Maldini said, he sees it as a hobby. He loves to tackle, and is extremely good at it. It is both a natural gift and an experience accumulated over the years. Nesta's tackles always reach the pinnacle of two factors: speed and accuracy.

Nesta's tackles remind us of leopards on the savannah, both powerful and extremely graceful.

Nesta has faced the best strikers in the world in his time. Some were physically strong, some were fast, some were skillful, and some were sneaky. But no matter which of their opponents' strengths they used, Nesta only responded with the sliding tackle. Except for the "alien" Ronaldo at his peak, Nesta has never lost a one-on-one match, even against Lionel Messi at his peak.

For Nesta, tackling is a joy.

A defender who tackles the ball, usually closes his eyes, grimaces unsightly, and when he gets up, his body is covered in grass. Some people fail to tackle, accidentally become a tackler, and get a red card, looking very miserable. Nesta's tackle is as beautiful as any attacking star's dribble. Once Nesta lowers his heart, it's like a leopard is ready, in just a split second the leopard will pounce, and the ball will be at Nesta's feet. He stands up, smooths his hair, points to his teammates to keep their positions, and his face is as beautiful as a first-class actor.

According to VNE