MILAN – 26 May 1963, 50 years ago. The San Siro celebrated Inter’s Scudetto; the first of the Moratti era. A few days earlier AC Milan had won their first European Cup – the first for any Italian team – at Wembley.
It was in the span of these few days the legend was born of Helenio "Il Mago" Herrera and Nereo "El Paròn" Rocco; two extraordinary characters that forever changed football, in both Italy and around the world. Suddenly, from that May in 1963, the clubs became known as Rocco’s AC Milan and Herrera’s Inter. Not only for the profound technical and tactical qualities of these two great coaches, but above all for their overflowing personalities, beginning with a gift for communication that was well ahead of its time.
The exhibition, organised by the Municipality of Milan and Skira Editore, with the collaboration of Inter and Milan and the help of RCS and RAI, tells the story of two legends. Their rivalry, careers, friendship, families and friends. A pair famous in Italian and world football in Milan of the 1960s: Helenio Herrera and Nereo Rocco.
Herrera, originally from Argentina, was a man of the world who had lived in Morocco and France. A decent footballer and an extraordinary coach, he was born poor and became rich. This tee-totalling vegetarian practised yoga, addressed everyone formally and always maintained a social aloofness. Il Mago spoke four languages and would fill hundreds of notebooks with formations and various notes. Rocco spoke only his Triestino dialect and had an obsessive attachment to the dressing room’s blackboard. Two polar opposites when it came to both football and life, and two very different paths that brought rewards at the highest level.
For further info www.mostramilaninter63.it www.skira.net #roccoherrera
