On February 20, 1979, Milan bid farewell to “El Parón” Nereo Rocco, one of the most successful coaches in their history.
Rocco died at 66 after leading the Rossoneri to two Scudettos, two European Cups in 1963 (against Benfica, the first time and Italian club won the top European competition) and 1969 (against Ajax), two Cup Winners Cups, and one Intercontinental Cup, giving life to countless legendary cross-town battles against Helenio Herrera’s “Grande Inter” during the 1960s.
Born and raised in Trieste, he was nicknamed “El Parón” (“The Boss” in his native Triestine dialect) and, as a young manager, had led his hometown club Triestina to an unprecedented second place in the 1947/98 Serie A, only behind the unmatchable Grande Torino.
Rocco is also credited as being, if not the “official” inventor, at least a stern advocate of the “catenaccio” style of defensive play. He was not known for his entertaining football, even though those who witnessed Milan’s 4-1 demolition of Ajax in the 1969 European Cup Final may want to argue with that.
But Rocco was well aware that football is mostly about winning games, not about entertaining, and his credo is best summed up by a famous quote attributed to him in reply to a journalist who once wished him good luck ahead of a game by saying: “May the best team win!”
“Man, let’s not hope so!”, the Parón replied.