earned a reputation for being an aggressive and hard-tackling defender as a youngster, with a strong character. At Milan, he developed into a more cautious, composed and consistent player, which led to him being nicknamed "The Professor". Although Tassotti primarily excelled defensively, he was a modern and versatile full-back who was also one of the first players in his position to be capable of being an offensive threat, due to his pace, athleticism, stamina, technique, and distribution, as well as his ability to make attacking runs, dribble and provide accurate crosses and assists from the right wing. Although he was initially not known for being particularly skilful, Tassotti was later also highly regarded for his elegance on the ball and technical ability, which he was able to improve extensively under the tutelage of manager Nils Liedholm while at Milan. This later led his teammates to give him the nickname the new "Djalma Santos", in addition to his other nickname, "Il Tasso" ("The Badger" in Italian). Career statistics Club European competitions include UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup. International . Honours Player AC Milan Serie A: 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96 Serie B: 1980–81, 1982–83 Supercoppa Italiana: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994 UEFA Champions League: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94 UEFA Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994 Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990 Italy FIFA World Cup runners-up: 1994 Individual Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 1996 AC Milan Hall of Fame Notes References External links National team data 1960 births Living people Footballers from Rome Italian footballers Association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players S.S. Lazio players A.C. Milan players Italy under-21 international footballers Italy international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Footballers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Italy Italian football managers A.C. Milan managers A.C. Milan non-playing staff Serie A managers Expatriate football managers in Ukraine Italian expatriate football managers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine UEFA Champions League winning players