I could have done this post about a lot of people (as usual, some of the more interesting ones are dead, including Keith Moon and River Phoenix), but today's BOTD is former AC Milan and Italy footballer Demetrio Albertini.
Although he played for numerous clubs towards the fag end of his career, Albertini will always be remembered for his time at AC Milan. An integral part of the legendary Milan and Italy teams of the early 90s, he was as essential to his team for his solidity in his own half as for his vision and spectacular set pieces at the other end. And this guy almost always delivered when he was up for a crunch shot (the lone failure being a penalty miss in the 98 World Cup which wasn't THE crucial miss, but he did score in the 94 final shootout). In particular, the moment that convinced me most of the Albertini magic was a freekick he scored for Atletico Madrid in the 2002-03 season at a time when he wasn't considered to have little more than experience and vision left. Trailing 2-1 to city rivals Real Madrid, Atletico got a freekick 30 yards out with seconds to go. Basically one shot to try something against one of the best shotstoppers in the world in Iker Casillas, Demetrio Albertini had to pull off something truly magical in a crunch situation. What followed was a freekick so perfect in every manner, in a tough spot, that t-shirts of a photo capturing a photo of that moment continued to be sold even after Demetrio had left the Estadio Vicente Calderon for Italy. Seriously, if anyone finds a proper video of that free kick, PLEASE let me know...
My media attachment for the day instead will be another moment that captured the magic of the man and his ability to provide something special. In his testimonial match, a game where the object of the testimonial usually ends up scoring from some pointless penalty just so he can celebrate a goal in his testimonial, this guy went and scored a blinder of a freekick, swerving inside out to beat a keeper of the calibre of Andoni Zubizarreta... this is that freekick.
Other birthdays (excluding the deceased such as River Phoenix, Giuseppe Meazza, Gene Kelly and Keith Moon):
Daniel Ruettiger, American Football player and inspiration for the movie Rudy
Shelley Long, Actress
Chris DiMarco, Golfer
Jay Mohr, Comedian and Actor
Mark Butcher, Cricketer
Scott Caan, Actor
Kobe Bryant, Basketball player
Carlos Cuellar, Footballer
Natalie Coughlin, Swimmer
Glen Johnson, Footballer
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