MILAN – Arrigo Sacchi is the latest figure to have his say on President Silvio Berlusconi who celebrates 30 years at the Milan helm today. These were the comments from Sacchi in today’s edition of the Italian daily “Il Giornale”:

“Silvio Berlusconi represented the true rebirth. Just think about the number of European finals between the late 80s and early 90s featuring Italian clubs. It isn’t just by chance that Italian football enjoyed its best period since the post-war period with the arrival of Berlusconi. He was an incredible innovator. Chicco Evani once said something that sums him up to a tee: the president was so far ahead, that if he turned around, he would be in the future! In our first meeting at Arcore, we spoke about football until midnight and when I left, I had this feeling that I had always known him. When he chose me, taking a big risk, I said to my family: he’s either crazy or a genius. Why was I seen as a risk? That’s easy: he took me from Parma, in Serie B, simply because he saw my team play well against Liedholm’s Milan in the Italian Cup. He was an innovator but much more, he was able to wipe out the dogma in Italian football of winning at all costs, and introduce a much more rewarding and demanding philosophy: win convincingly and entertain. He understood that through great football and respect for opponents, the victory would mean much more.”