91: Alessandro Costacurta, Italia, Panini World Cup France 98

Today Mat Jolin-Beech reminds us all of a great football game which has perhaps slipped under the radar due to the domination of the Sports Interactive behemoth and its iconic predecessors. I had a lot of fun with Wycombe Wanderers in the 2001 incarnation of this particular title although I wasn’t quite as ambitious as Mat with his acquisitions. Perhaps I should have made more use of the cheat codes. Over to Mat to explain himself.

Back in my pre-Football Manager days, my football management sim of choice was LMA Manager in particular the 2004 edition on the PS2. This was not as in depth as the current version of THE football management sim and seemingly one the Manchester United scouting department uses.

There were a couple of different things that made this game stand out. The first were the cheats. The three that I remember are: the one for unlimited funds (or some vast fortune that made Newcastle United’s owners look poor), another that guaranteed any transfer to go through regardless of the offer and the wages put to the player and finally, one that allowed a brand-new stadium to be built overnight. That made for some ridiculous games as Blackpool!

The other stand our feature on that game, and one that should make a comeback, if it hasn’t already in subsequent Football Manager games, is the creation of a brand-new club. You’d select the country, region, and division you wanted to start in and then spend the money you’d have to make up your 23-man squad depending on the division you were starting in. The Premier League was the league of choice for me. £100m to spend, and that was at a time when £100m would get would 23 good players, and not just Romelu Lukaku with a bit of change.

There were a number of key players I’d always go for first partly because their stats were great but also they were cheap because they were in the veteran stage. Alessandro Costacurta was the number one pick in the LMA Manager draft – an experienced centre back at a cheap price. Pick number two, Paolo Maldini. Copy and paste the reasons above. But add in the left back position as an option two. Finally, Teddy Sheringham. See the reasons above but for a striker. The other players would be made up of younger and more expensive picks depending on who I felt at the time. Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes would often blow the budget meaning you’d have to balance out the squad with Jody Morris and the like.

As for Costacurta, he, much like but not quite to the level of Maldini, was an AC Milan legend. His career with the Rossoneri spanned from 1986 to 2007, with a total of 458 appearances and three goals. He was 25% of the most famous defence in Serie A alongside Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, and Mauro Tassotti, during the late 1980s and 1990s. That backline helped Costacurta win a total of seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italianas, four European Super Cups, five Champions League trophies (including its previous incarnation as the European Cup) trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups throughout his career.

His 21-year career came to an end when he was 41, with his final game seeing him score a penalty in a 3–2 defeat against Udinese. In doing so, he become the oldest goalscorer in Serie A. However, I’m sure he is kept warm inside by the fact that he was my first pick on LMA Manager 2004’s make your own team.