Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a sports manager. Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian side

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

in 2003. In 2005, he was acquired by Spanish club

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

, where he remained for three seasons, before returning to Genoa in 2008. His prolific goalscoring exploits during his second spell with Genoa earned him a move to defending

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

champions

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

, where he was pivotal in the club's

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

treble-winning season, scoring 30 goals in all competitions, including two goals in the 2010 UEFA Champions League Final. He returned to Racing Club in 2014, where he retired in 2016. At international level, Milito earned 25 caps for Argentina, scoring 4 goals, and represented his country in two

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

tournaments, winning a runners-up medal in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and at the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. He was nicknamed ''Il Principe"'' ("The Prince" in Spanish) because of his physical resemblance with former Uruguayan footballer

Enzo Francescoli Enzo Francescoli Uriarte (; born 12 November 1961), nicknamed "El Príncipe" ("The Prince"), is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a attacking midfielder. He is regarded as one of the best playmakers of his generation and as one of Uru ...

, who had the same nickname. A prolific and consistent

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, Milito averaged a goal every two appearances over the course of his professional career.

Club career

Racing Club

Milito started playing at

Argentine first division Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish language, Spanish (Grammatical gender, masculine) or (Grammatical gender, feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be resident ...

team Racing Club in 1999, where he won the 2001 Apertura tournament. During this time, his younger brother

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

played for Racing's main rival, Independiente, as a defender. The two clubs would contest the

Avellaneda Avellaneda (, ) is a port city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the seat of the Avellaneda Partido, whose population was 342,677 as per the . Avellaneda is located within the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area, and is connected ...

derby with the two brothers lining up against each other. The people of Racing were in awe of the player. His great scoring ability and talent within the area made him a complete striker, which made his future outside the club inevitable with a transfer to Europe. The Italian club Genoa, would be the future destination of the forward.

Genoa

At the beginning of 2004, Milito moved to Italian second division club

for £8 million. After two very successful seasons, where he scored 33 goals in 59 matches in Italy, Genoa were relegated down to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

as a punishment for an alleged match-fixing case in the final match of the 2004–05 season against

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

. Due to this, Milito was forced to leave Genoa and would ultimately join his brother Gabriel at

in the Spanish

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

Real Zaragoza

Milito scored four goals in the first semi-final of the 2006

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

to beat

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

6–1. He finished the season as Zaragoza's top scorer with 16 goals in the first division. Milito was one of the top scorers in the 2006–07 La Liga season. He scored 23 goals, two fewer than league top goalscorer

Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (anglicised to Van Nistelrooy; born 1 July 1976) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. He is currently the coach of PSV Eindhoven. A former footballer, Van Nistelrooy is often consi ...

and three behind

European Golden Boot The European Golden Shoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture of a football boot. ...

winner

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played solely for A.S. Roma, Roma and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. He is often referred to as ''Er Bim ...

. In November 2006, it was reported Zaragoza decided to buy him outright after his two-year loan was set to expire. Milito became the club

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

at Zaragoza, taking over this role from brother Gabriel, who departed for

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

in 2007. His contract was extended in August 2007 with a buy-out clause of €100 million. His goals helped Zaragoza to a sixth-place finish in the league. As of January 2008, Milito averaged higher than a goal every two games for Zaragoza, a statistic he also achieved with Genoa. In total, he managed 61 goals during his three seasons with Zaragoza.

Return to Genoa

On 1 September 2008, just a few minutes before the transfer window closure time,

completed the transfer of Milito from Zaragoza after the Spanish team were relegated to the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. His agent, Fernando Hidalgo, confirmed Milito chose explicitly to return to Genoa despite having received more lucrative offers from other major European clubs. He made his

debut on 14 September against

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. Genoa won the game 2–0 with Milito assisting the first goal and scoring the second. On 9 November, Milito scored his first hat-trick for Genoa in the 4–0 victory against

Reggina Reggina 1914 S.r.l., commonly referred to as Reggina, is an Italian football club based in Reggio Calabria. Founded in 1914, they currently play in Serie B, and play their home matches at the 27,763 seater Stadio Oreste Granillo. They are n ...

. He finished the season with 24 goals in 31

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

appearances, placing him second behind

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

in the ''

Capocannonieri The ''Capocannoniere'' award (; literally "head gunner"), known as Paolo Rossi Award

Inter Milan

2009–10 season

On 20 May 2009,

La Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

confirmed that Diego Milito was transferred to

alongside teammate

Thiago Motta Thiago Motta (; ; born 28 August 1982) is a professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of club Bologna. A midfielder, Motta spent his early career at Barcelona, where he was injury-prone. He played two and ...

. The transfer fees were €28 million and €10 million respectively but Genoa also received

Robert Acquafresca Robert Acquafresca (; born 11 September 1987) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is a former Italy under-21 international and represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Club career Early career Bor ...

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

Riccardo Meggiorini Riccardo Meggiorini (born 4 September 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for an amateur side San Giovanni Lupatoto. Club career Early career Meggiorini took his first steps as a footballer at age eight, in a smal ...

Francesco Bolzoni Francesco Bolzoni (born 7 May 1989) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Swiss club Rapperswil-Jona that competes in the third-tier Swiss Promotion League. He is a former Italy U21 international. Club career Internazionale ...

Ivan Fatić Ivan Fatić (, ; born 21 August 1988) is a Montenegrin retired football player who played as a defender or midfielder. He Is manager in youth categories of Rudar Pljevlja. Club career Italy Fatić was signed by Italian Serie A side Internazion ...

and cash in exchange. The striker adapted to his new surroundings quickly and had an excellent start to his Inter career, scoring two goals in a 2–0

World Football Challenge The World Football Challenge was an international club association football exhibition competition featuring club teams from Europe and North America, that was held from 2009 until 2012, when it was replaced by the International Champions Cup. H ...

win over city rivals

. Subsequently, on 29 August, in his first ever

Derby della Madonnina The Derby della Madonnina, also known as the Derby di Milano (Milan Derby, in English), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It is called ''Derby della Madonnina'' in honour of one of ...

against Milan in

, Milito assisted two goals and scored a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

, his first league goal of the season, as Inter won 4–0. Later, on 13 September, he scored his second league goal in a 2–0 home win against

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

. In the next league match against

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

, he scored both goals for Inter in a 2–1 away win. These two goals placed him at the top of the all-time Serie A scoring charts for best strike rate, with 28 goals in 35 games, giving him an average of 0.8 goals per game. Milito continued his fine run of form with another goal in the next league match against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, scoring the second goal after

Samuel Eto'o Samuel Eto'o Fils (; born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian football administrator and former player who is the current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation from 11 December 2021. In his prime, Eto'o was regarded by pundits as one of ...

scored in the first minute, a game that they won 3–1. Diego Milito - Inter Mailand (1)

The consistency which Milito had shown at his previous clubs was sustained throughout his debut season at Inter, and after the first few matches, he had established himself as a key contributor to the squad. On 30 October, in a 5–3 home victory against

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Milito, who had returned from an injury, came off the bench to make the result safe, scoring Inter's fifth goal. In the next game, against

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, he scored another goal, taking his strike rate up to seven goals in nine league matches. Three days later, on 4 November, he scored his first goal in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

in a 2–1

Group Stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

win over

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Union, Soviet Dynamo Sports Club, Dynamo Sports Soc ...

; it was the equaliser which led to

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he sta ...

's game-winner in the 89th minute. On 24 February, in another Champions League match, this time in a 2–1

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

win against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, he scored another important goal, his second in the competition. Four days later, Milito netted the matchwinner which gave Inter Milan a 3–2 victory at

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

, in a thrilling win for the ''Nerazzurri''. On 27 March, after missing a 3–0 win over Livorno with a hamstring problem, Milito returned for a crucial battle at title contenders

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, where he scored one goal in a 2–1 loss. On 31 March, in a 1–0 Champions League quarter-finals win against

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was a central piece ...

, he scored the winning goal. Milito scored a vital goal and assisted twice in a 3–1 home win against

in the team's first leg semi-final win. San Siro Museum, Milan (Ank Kumar, Infosys Limited) 16

During the last matches of the 2009–10 season, Milito proved instrumental in Inter's winning of the first treble in the history of Italian football. The Argentine first scored the only goal in Inter's victory over Roma in the final of the Coppa Italia on 5 May 2010, enabling the ''Nerazzurri'' to take home their first trophy of the season. Eleven days later, it was also Milito's goal which secured Inter Milan's 18th ''

Scudetto The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...

'' when they beat

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

1–0 on the final matchday of Serie A. With only two points separating the top two teams in Serie A, the goal lifted Inter to the summit of the table after being in a position to lose the league title to Roma at the half-time break as Roma, playing simultaneously, were winning their own match against

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

at that point. Milito himself declared this goal to be the "best of his career," having been decisive in delivering a league title to his team. On 22 May 2010, Milito yet again proved vital as he scored twice to seal a victory in the

Champions League Final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

over

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. As a result, Inter became European club champions for the first time in 45 years with a 2–0 victory and completed their historic treble championship season. Milito finished the season with 30 goals in all competitions, 22 of which came in the league, 2 in Coppa Italia and 6 in the Champions League.

2010–11 season

On 9 August 2010, Milito signed a new four-year contract with the ''Nerazzurri''. On 26 August, at the ceremony called for the delivery of the UEFA Club Football Awards, Milito was voted the best player and striker in the previous season's European club by winning the prestigious

UEFA Club Footballer of the Year The UEFA Club Footballer of the Year was a football award presented by UEFA to the most outstanding performers of every European club football season. The award, along with "Best Goalkeeper," "Best Defender," "Best Midfielder," and "Best Forward," ...

and

UEFA Club Forward of the Year In recognition of the best players in the UEFA Champions League each year, UEFA gives out several awards to the most outstanding performers of the European club association football, football season. The awards are presented in August each year at a ...

. Inter followed the previous season's success with a victory in the

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

against

. He failed to convert a penalty in the 90th minute, however, in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup match against

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

champions

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

; the game finished 2–0 for the Spaniards. He played his first match of the league on 30 August 2010 in week one against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, where Inter started the season with a goalless draw. On 14 September, Milito scored an accidental own-goal in first match of group stage in Champions League against

Twente Twente ( nl, Twente , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germ ...

. Eight days later, on 22 September, Milito scored his first goals of the season in a 4–0 win against nearly promoted club

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

, helping the team to reach in top of the league. After that, he went to wait until 10 November to score his next goal, where he scored against

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

to put his team ahead in 76th minute, but, however, Lecce would equalizing three minutes later with Uruguay international

Rubén Olivera Rubén Ariel Olivera da Rosa (born 4 May 1983 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan former footballer who played as a midfielder, currently in charge as head coach of Serie D club Racing Aprilia. A versatile player, he is capable of playing anywhere i ...

. He dedicated the goal to his teammate

Walter Samuel Walter Adrián Samuel (; born Walter Adrián Luján; 23 March 1978) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Samuel has been regarded as one of the best centre-backs of his generation, and as one of football's toughest defenders, with f ...

, who three days ago ended his season after suffered a severe knee injury. In December, Milito scored a goal against

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

in the semi-finals of the

2010 FIFA Club World Cup The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the seventh FIFA Club World Cup and was ho ...

; Inter went on to win the tournament. On 24 January 2011, Milito received an

Oscar del Calcio Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

award for "Best Football Foreign Player" and the "Best Footballer of the Year" for the 2009–10 season. Milito registered just eight goals in 34 appearances in an injury-plagued season as Inter finished the league in second place.

2011–12 season

In the first Serie A match of the 2011–12 season, Milito scored two goals in a 4–3 defeat against

. After a seesaw performance, Milito crept back on the scoresheet with a goal on 24 September against

and on 2 November, he registered his 200th goal with the club in a Champions League match won 2–1 against

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

. On 27 November, Milito earned his 400th career appearance in the league match at

, which ended with a 1–0 away win for ''Nerazzurri'', while on 18 December, in a 1–0 win over

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, he played his 100th game in Serie A. In December, due to his poor performances during the previous season, Milito was awarded the Bidone d'oro, a satirical prize which is given to the worst Serie A player during a particular season. On 21 December, he scored in a 4–1 win against

in Inter's last match of 2011. On 7 January 2012, he scored twice and assisted goal of

Giampaolo Pazzini Giampaolo Pazzini (; born 2 August 1984), nicknamed ''Il Pazzo'' ("The Madman") after his surname, is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent most of his career in Serie A with Atalanta, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, ...

in a 5–0 win against

. On 15 January 2012, Inter won the

against

with the result 1–0, with Milito who scored the only goal in 54th minute after an assist from

Javier Zanetti Javier Adelmar Zanetti (; born 10 August 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation, and is especially well known for his role in Inter Milan's treble-winning 2009–10 seas ...

, his 200th for an Italian club across all competitive competitions. With his goal at Milan, he has scored seven goals in just nine derby matches played in Italy – four goals in four games in the Derby della Lanterna for Genoa against

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

and three in five in the Derby della Madonnina. On 1 February, Milito scored all four Inter goals in a 4–4 draw at the

against Palermo, the first four-goal game in the Serie A since

Christian Vieri Christian "Bobo" Vieri (; born 12 July 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre forward. Having been born in Italy, Vieri moved with his family to Australia as a child, before returning to Italy to pursue his ...

accomplished the feat for Inter against

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

(4–0) on 1 December 2002. It was also his second four-goal game, the first accomplished with

in a

match against

on 8 February 2006. Milito scored a hat-trick on 1 April in a 5–4 win against his old club

and added another hat-trick on 6 May in the

against

, where Inter won 4–2. With this feat, Milito overpassed

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

's 49 goals in the all-time list of goals scored in an Inter shirt, with 50. It was also the fourth hat-trick scored in a Milan derby, after Altafini on 27 March 1960; Amadei on 6 November 1949; and Nyers on 1 November 1953. On 13 May, after the club's 3–1 loss against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Milito finished the season with 24 goals, four behind leader

2012–13 season

Milito started the 2012–13 season scoring the second goal of a 0–3 final victory over Serie A newcomers

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

in the first game of the season. On 28 October, he celebrated his 100th

match in an Inter shirt, scoring his fourth goal of the season away against

. Three days later, on 31 October, he scored his fifth goal against

in a game that ended 3–2 for Inter; it was also his 200th career goal across all competitions. On 4 November, he scored a double in the match against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, a 3–1 victory, which ended Juventus's 49-match unbeaten run at

Juventus Stadium Juventus Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz Stadium since July 2017, sometimes simply known in Italy as the Stadium ( it, Lo Stadium), is an all-seater football stadium in the Vallette borough of Turin, Italy, and the home o ...

. After Inter's 2–1 victory over

on 9 December, where Milito registered a goal, Milito celebrated his 100th Serie win out of 197 games played between both Genoa and the ''Nerazzurri''. With 28 goals scored, Milito also became the player with the most goals scored in the Serie A during the 2012 calendar year, ahead of Napoli's

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Valencia and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Matador'' ('The Bullfighter'), being known for his i ...

(27) and

Antonio Di Natale Antonio Di Natale (; born 13 October 1977) is an Italian fotball coach and former professional player who played as a striker. After being a member of the Empoli youth side since 1994, Di Natale started his professional career with the Empoli ...

(23). Returning from an injury suffered in January on 10 February 2013, Milito marked his return in the home win against

by scoring a goal and providing an assist on

Esteban Cambiasso Esteban Matías Cambiasso Deleau (; born 18 August 1980), nicknamed ''"Cuchu"'', is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career, Cambiasso won 21 official titles, the majority of which were won dur ...

's strike. Milito's season injuries woes continued, however, as on 14 February, in a

match against

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ), is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as ''Kolozsvári Vas ...

, he was injured in the seventh minute with a collateral ligament injury, anterior cruciate ligament, and capsule in his left knee. Two days later, Milito announced that the surgery to repair the injury was a success, but that the player would not return to the pitch for at least six months, ruling him out of contention for the remainder of the season.

2013–14 season

Milito returned to action for Inter, against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on 22 September 2013, having been on the bench in the previous match against

. He scored a brace in a 7–0 away win over the Serie A newcomers. However, he was beset by injury yet again, putting him out for a further ten matches. He returned to the team on 6 January 2014 in a 1–0 away loss to

, coming on as a late substitute. In total, Milito scored 75 goals in 171 appearances in all competitions during his five seasons with Inter, 62 of which were scored in Serie A.

Return to Racing

In 2014, it was confirmed Milito would come back to his first club, Racing Club, where he started his professional career. Milito scored on his Racing return to help the team to a 3–1 win over

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

on the opening weekend of the Argentine championship. On 26 August 2014, he scored a crucial goal with a penalty in the 1–0 victory against

Arsenal de Sarandí An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in week four of

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

. On 31 August 2014, Milito scored his third goal for Racing in a 2–1 loss against Independiente; he scored the goal in the 14th minute after an assist by Ricardo Centurión. He provided an assist for

Gustavo Bou Gustavo Leonardo Bou ( , ; born 18 February 1990) is an Argentine professional football player who plays as a forward for the New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. Bou's professional career began in 2008 at the age of 18 with Rive ...

, who scored the first goal in a 2–1 win over

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

. He scored his fourth goal of the season in a 4–0 win over Estudiantes on 11 October. Milito continued his fine form, supplying his third assist of the season in a 1–1 draw against

Club Olimpo Club Olimpo, usually referred to as Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, is an Argentine sports club based in the city of Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires Province. The club was founded October 15th, 1910. Its primary activity is soccer. The club is recognized i ...

. He assisted

Gabriel Hauche Gabriel Agustín Hauche, nicknamed ''Demonio'' ( demon), (born 27 November 1986 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Racing Club in the Argentine Primera División. Career Club career Hauche sta ...

in the 41st minute of the match. Milito scored the fifth and sixth of the season on 30 November in a match against

Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...

, who ended with a 3–0 win away. After this win, Racing got to the top of the league and one match remained for it to be over. He participated on the play where Ricardo Centurión scored the crucial goal against Godoy Cruz. Racing was crowned 2014 Transición champion, meaning that the team qualified in 2015 Copa Libertadores second stage. That was Racing's first title after 13 years; Milito had also been on the side that won the title in 2001, and thus contributed to the club's only titles since 1966. Milito said that winning the league with Racing was a dream come true. On 21 May, Milito scored the opening goal from a penalty in a 2–0 win over

Temperley Temperley is a district in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the south of Lomas de Zamora Partido. History In 1854 the industrial and textile merchant George Temperley (born in 1823 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England) bought from the M ...

, on the final match of his career, at the age of 36. In total, he ended his club career with 254 goals in 607 appearances in all competitions.

International career

Milito made his

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

debut on 31 January 2003 against

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, where he also scored his first goal. He scored his second and third goals on 16 July 2003 against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, but appeared only intermittently during the following years and was omitted from the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

squad. He played for Argentina in the

2007 Copa América The 2007 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, known simply as the 2007 Copa América or 2007 Copa América Venezuela, was the 42nd edition of the Copa América, the South-American championship for international association football teams. The c ...

tournament, gaining playing time after

Hernán Crespo Hernán Jorge Crespo (; born 5 July 1975) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Qatari club Al-Duhail. A prolific striker, Crespo scored over 300 goals in a career spanning 19 years. At in ...

's injury in a Group Stage match against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

, where he scored a goal; Argentina progressed to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, where they were defeated 3–0 by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Milito's impressive performances during his time at

led him to be called more often, especially under the reign of manager

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the FI ...

, where Milito would often be deployed as a substitute. After his first season with Inter, Maradona included Milito in the Argentina squad for the

in South Africa, where he would feature in two games as Argentina were eliminated 4–0 in the quarter-finals by

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. On 1 June 2011, Milito was included in new ''Albiceleste'' manager

Sergio Batista Sergio Daniel "Checho" Batista (; born 9 November 1962) is an Argentine football manager and former international player. As a footballer he played as a midfield for Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Nueva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. H ...

's 23-man squad ahead of the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South Americ ...

, along with his brother

and Inter teammates

and

. He did not feature in any matches during the competition with Argentina, who was eliminated in the quarter-finals by

after penalties.

Retirement

After retiring from professional football, Milito's last club, Racing Club, organised a tribute match in his honour on 12 November 2016, featuring many of his former team-mates, as well as friends and family members. At the age of 37, Milito scored two goals during the match, and was given a standing ovation from the Racing fans, who regard Milito as one of the club's most iconic players.

Style of play

A quick, dynamic, and technically gifted

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, with good vision, composure, and an eye for goal, Milito was known for his offensive movements and ability in the air, and was capable of finishing well with his head as well as both feet, despite being naturally right-footed. He was also an accurate penalty taker. Regarding his elegant yet efficient playing style, and his consistent, prolific goalscoring, ''

Goal.com GOAL is an international association football news website for FC Barcelona fans founded in 2004 by Chicco Merighi and Gianluigi Longinotti-Buitoni. It is published in 19 languages, with 38 national editions and 600 contributors. It is owned by ...

'' said of Milito in 2010: "His profession is football and his speciality is goals. He is one of the most impressive strikers in world of football today. He doesn't possess the same physical attributes as some of his fellow strikers, but he doesn't need them - he scores goals with ease and has always featured in top teams. Milito is a pure Number 9 and lethal in the penalty area." After the treble success in the 2009–10 season, many pundits took note of the fact that Milito had always been an effective and efficient striker, yet remained one of the most underrated players in world football because of his low-key manner and the fact that he had plied his trade for smaller, less competitive teams prior to joining Inter. Scoring goals on the biggest stages for a marquee team finally earned the striker the recognition merited by his skill and goalscoring record. Of the player and his two Champions League winning goals, ''The Guardian'' wrote: Despite his ability, Milito often struggled with injuries throughout his career.

Sports manager

After retiring as a professional football player, Diego took over as the sports manager of the club Racing. Under his management, great players were brought in and a good sports project was consolidated in which he won two titles: Superliga 2018/19 and Trofeo de Campeones 2019. Milito left his post after the end of 2020 due to differences of ideas with the club's leadership.

Personal life

Milito has considerable Italian roots; his paternal family emigrated to Argentina from

Terranova da Sibari Terranova da Sibari ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. It is located on a hill between the river Crati and the last stretches of the Sila Mountains, at some from the Io ...

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. On his mother's side, he also has Spanish roots. Milito is married to Sofía and they have three children. He is the older brother of former football player

, who he played against in Champions League games during Gabriel's years playing for

, most notably in semi-finals of 2010, when both Diego and Gabriel were among their respective team's starting line-up. On 21 May 2016, the day of his retirement from professional football, Milito celebrated the birth of his third daughter, Morena. His son Leandro is currently a member of the

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically considered o ...

Youth System.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Racing Club *

: Apertura 2001, 2014 Transición ;Inter Milan *

: 2009–10 *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 2009–10, 2010–11 *

: 2009–10 *

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

Individual

Guerin d'Oro The Guerin d'Oro ''(Golden Guerin)'' was an annual award which was handed out by the Italian magazine ''Guerin Sportivo'' to the best Serie A football player. The first winner of the award was Claudio Sala, while the last was Carlos Tevez. Hist ...

: 2008–09 * Serie A Goalscorer of the Year: 2009 * Serie A Most Loved Player: 2009 * 2010 UEFA Champions League Final: UEFA Man of the Match *

: 2009–10 *

Serie A Footballer of the Year Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

: 2009–10 *

Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year The AIC Serie A Foreign Footballer of the Year ( it, Migliore calciatore straniero AIC) was a yearly award organized by the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) given to the List of foreign Serie A players, non-Italian footballer who was consider ...

: 2009–10 * FIFA FIFPro World XI nominee: 2009, 2010 *

Inter Milan Hall of Fame This is a list of Inter players who have been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. History and regulations Inter's Hall of Fame was launched in 2018 as a yearly competition as part of the initiatives for the club's 110th anniversary. To be el ...

: 2020

References

External links

*
Guardian statistics
*
Inter Milan Profile
* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milito, Diego 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Province Argentine people of Calabrian descent Argentine people of Italian descent People of Calabrian descent Argentine footballers Argentina international footballers Association football forwards Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers Genoa C.F.C. players Real Zaragoza players Inter Milan players 2007 Copa América players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players Argentine Primera División players Serie B players La Liga players Serie A players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award winners