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Heavy price

Zaccheroni sacked by Milan; Maldini takes over

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MILAN (Reuters) -- AC Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni was sacked on Wednesday in the wake of his side's disappointing exit from the Champions League.

The Serie A club has appointed former Italy coach Cesare Maldini, the father of team captain Paolo Maldini, as head coach until the end of the season. Youth team coach Mauro Tassotti will assist Maldini.

Milan drew 1-1 with Spain's Deportivo Coruna on Tuesday, failing to achieve the win it needed to reach the quarterfinals.

The club said in a statement on its Web site that Zaccheroni had been dismissed. It thanked him for "his commitment and dedication during his three seasons with the club."

A club spokesman said that Maldini and Tassotti would work with the first team until June 30 or the end of the season "whichever comes first."

Big disappointment

The five-time European Cup winners are languishing in eighth place in Serie A after a run of just two wins in 18 league and cup matches since mid-December.

It looks clear that the decision to axe Zaccheroni was made by president Silvio Berlusconi, who in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday's exit criticized Zaccheroni and promised to return to an active role at the club.

Serie A coaching casualties Alberto Zaccheroni became the seventh Serie A coach to part company with his club this season when he was sacked by AC Milan on Wednesday. The following gives details of the departures: MARCELLO LIPPI - Sacked by Inter Milan on October 3 after just one league match -- a defeat at Reggina -- and a humiliating exit from the Champions League qualifiers at the hands of Helsingborg. Replaced by former Italy World Cup winner and under-21 coach Marco Tardelli. --- ZDENEK ZEMAN - Sacked by Napoli on November 13 after his side took two points from first six matches of season. Replaced by former Torino and Atalanta boss Emiliano Mondonico. --- ALBERTO MALESANI - Sacked by Parma on January 8 following a 2-0 home defeat by bottom club Reggina that left the side in 10th place in Serie A. Replaced by former Italy and AC Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi, who coached Parma in the 1980s. --- SVEN GORAN ERIKSSON - Resigned as Lazio coach on January 9 after 2-1 home defeat by Napoli. Replaced immediately by former Italy boss Dino Zoff on an 18-month contract. Eriksson had earlier agreed to take the job of coaching England at the end of the season. --- ARRIGO SACCHI - Resigned as Parma coach after just 23 days, complaining of stress. His side was undefeated in its three league matches under his control. Replaced by former Bologna and Napoli boss Renzo Ulivieri. --- FATIH TERIM - Resigned on February 26 after a poor run of results and a bust-up with club president Vittorio Cecchi Gori. The Turk had already declared his intention to leave Florence at the end of the season. Replaced by former Sampdoria and Lazio striker Roberto Mancini. --- ALBERTO ZACCHERONI - Sacked by AC Milan on Wednesday following a 1-1 home draw with Spain's Deportivo Coruna which ends Milan's Champions League campaign. Zaccheroni, who guided Milan to the league title in 1999 in his first year in charge, is replaced by former Italy boss Cesare Maldini until the end of the season.

"We are out, and that is a big disappointment. It means I will start to take a role in the club again," Berlusconi said.

"I have kept my reserve about the performances because I wanted to respect the autonomy of the technical staff and I have suffered in silence.

"But the results show I was right," he said, referring to his long-standing dispute with Zaccheroni over tactics.

Zaccheroni joined Milan from Udinese in the summer of 1998 and won the Italian league title in his first season at the San Siro.

Last season AC Milan finished third in Serie A, qualifying for the Champions League.

But after finishing top of their first phase group ahead of Leeds United and Barcelona they managed just one win in the second group phase.

Zaccheroni's contract finishes at the end of this season and Turkish coach Fatih Terim, the former Galatasaray coach who quit Serie A club Fiorentina in February, had been widely tipped to take over in the summer.

However, Italian soccer regulations stop coaches from working with two teams in one season, so even if Terim is Milan's future coach he cannot take over now.

Disappointing showing

Former Italy coach Cesare Maldini won the European Cup with Milan as a player in 1963 and worked as a youth team coach at the club in the early seventies before spells at Foggia and Parma.

He was assistant coach of the Italian national team from 1980 to 1986 before taking over the under-21 team where he won three European championships during his 11 seasons in charge.

Maldini moved up to take over the full national team in 1997 but left the post after a disappointing showing at the 1998 World Cup finals and he returned to Milan to work as chief scout.

Tassotti was right-back in Arrigo Sacchi's Milan side who won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990 and played in Fabio Capello's team that defeated Barcelona 4-0 in the 1994 final.

After retiring as a player he has worked as youth team coach at Milan and he has been widely tipped as a future Milan coach.

 

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