The defender had been battling ill health for some time, having undergone surgery last year to remove a pulmonary nodule.
Baresi spent his entire 20-year professional career at Milan, making his Serie A debut at just 17 in 1978. He went on to redefine the sweeper role, reading the game with a calm precision that set him apart in an era of physical, combative defenders.
Over 716 appearances, he anchored a Milan side that included Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit, and helped deliver the club’s most successful period. His number 6 shirt was retired after he hung up his boots in 1997.
His loyalty to the club never wavered, even through two relegations to Serie B in the early 1980s. Both times, he stayed and helped drag Milan back to the top flight.
For Italy, Baresi won 81 caps and captained the national side to the 1994 World Cup final, a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Brazil. He played every minute of that tournament just 25 days after knee surgery, a measure of the toughness that defined his career.
As recently as February, Baresi carried the Olympic torch at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, alongside his old rival Giuseppe Bergomi.
AC Milan called him a man whose “example and integrity will remain forever embedded in the club’s DNA.”
Photo: SPORT SOCCER MILANO
