Zlatan Ibrahimovic was prone to ruffling feathers of his opponents during his esteemed 24-year career, though he also managed to annoy a fellow AC Milan legend even after they had retired.
Alessandro Costacurta spent over 20 years at AC Milan between 1986 and 2007, apart from a year’s loan spell at Monza in 1986, making over 750 appearances in total. During his time at San Siro he won seven Serie A titles, five Champions League/European Cups, and the Coppa Italia.
The defender also formed a crucial part of Arrigo Sacchi’s famed side of the late 1980s, though that doesn’t stop Costacurta from looking back at his career with some annoyance.
Playing in the final game of his career before retiring at the end of the 2006/07 season, Milan won a penalty against Udinese. Costacurta stepped up and slotted home to become the oldest goalscorer in Serie A, aged 41 years and 25 days.
He managed to retain that record until 2023, when Zlatan Ibrahimovic surpassed him with a penalty of his own, also against Udinese, aged 41, five months and 15 days old.
In doing so, the lively Swede annoyed Costacurta, now 58, who wanted to keep that record strong and with him for the rest of his life.
“It annoyed me because I wanted to remain in Milan’s history and Zlatan took that from me,” Costacurta exclusively tells FourFourTwo.
“I played until 41 because I was lucky never to have a serious injury – I just broke my knee once. Otherwise, I was very careful about my body, what I ate and drank, and how I slept. There were no incredible secrets.”
That Ibrahimovic goal proved crucial in breaking the record, too – he retired at the end of the 2022/23 season, and only scored once throughout the entire campaign.
