last few seasons at Milan under Capello, he began to be used less frequently, due to his advancing age and the emergence of Christian Panucci in his position. Along with his teammate Baresi, Tassotti retired from the club at the conclusion of the 1996–97 season. In total, he made 429 Serie A appearances with Milan, scoring 8 goals, and 583 total club appearances, scoring 10 goals. International career Tassotti did not win his first cap for Italy until age 32, under Arrigo Sacchi, in a 2–2 home draw against Switzerland in a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifier on 14 October 1992. This was partly because of an abundance of other world class Italian defenders, as he was constantly overlooked by Sacchi's predecessor Azeglio Vicini, who preferred to deploy full-backs he had worked with during his tenure as Italy's under-21 coach, despite Tassotti's excellent club performances. Tassotti had previously played for Italy at under-21 level, and he represented the nation at the 1988 Summer Olympics, alongside Paolo Maldini, where Italy reached the semi-finals, finishing in fourth place. After featuring in Italy's 1994 World Cup qualifying matches and international friendlies under Sacchi, Tassotti played in the 1994 edition in the United States, where Italy went on to reach the final, losing to Brazil on penalties. This would be the only tournament in which he would participate with Italy. In the group stage, Tassotti started the 1–0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland and his next appearance was the quarter-final match against Spain. However, in the quarter-final match, Tassotti elbowed Spanish midfielder Luis Enrique in the face during stoppage time in the second half, breaking the Spaniard's nose. The gesture was not seen by the referee, and Tassotti was not called for a foul or cautioned at the time. Italy won the match 2–1. After reviewing the game, FIFA officials banned Tassotti for eight matches, the longest-such ban in World Cup history until Luis Suarez’s ban in 2014. Tassotti never played internationally again. Tassotti later stated he had instantly and deeply regretted his actions, describing them as "stupid", although he would also state the gesture had not been premeditated but purely instinctive, as Luis Enrique had been pulling his shirt. He later personally apologised to Luis Enrique. In total, Tassotti made 7 appearances for Italy between 1992 and 1994. Managerial career AC Milan Following his retirement in 1997, Tassotti took up a coaching