Scatty.com

Category: Celebrities

The Evolution of Kate Upton’s Career: From Model to Actress and Beyond

Posted on by scatty

Kate Upton is one of the most well-known models of the 21st century, having appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue multiple times throughout the 2010s. Upton has carved a great career for herself before even turning 30 years old. These days, Upton isn’t modeling as much anymore, but has still been in the public eye in one way or another. Let’s take a look at the evolution of Kate Upton’s career from model to actress and beyond.

Kate Upton was born in the 1990s 

Upton was born on June 10, 1992, in the small upper-middle-class city of St. Joseph, Michigan. For those from the state of Michigan, the last name Upton is a big deal that might not be as well-known outside of the state unless you’re talking about Kate. The Upton family made its mark in Michigan thanks to Frederick Upton, the co-founder of Whirlpool. Kate’s uncle Fred went on to become a congressman from 1987 to 2023.

As for Kate, she didn’t stick around Michigan for very long, and her family moved to Florida when she was just seven years old. Originally, Upton was more interested in riding horses but decided to go to a casting call for Elite Model Management when she was 16. The agency signed her right away and she began her modeling career that quickly took off.

“I started working abroad when I was 15 and my mom and dad would often come,” Upton said of her career beginning. “The thing is with modeling…it just gets lonely. I pretty much had it under control because I traveled so much.”

Career Highs

Upton went from Elite to IMG Models after a couple of years in New York City and became the face of several different brands. At just 18 years old, Upton was selected to be in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2011. The following year, Upton landed on the cover for the first time, going on to appear on the cover in both 2013 and 2017, as well.

Companies were throwing money at Upton left and right, attempting to get her to appear in their marketing. This included companies like Victoria’s Secret, Express, and many more landing her services. The mobile game “Game of War: Fire Age” also launched a massive marketing campaign, paying Upton millions to appear in their advertisements.

Getting Into Acting

Because she became a household name in modeling, Hollywood came calling and was offering Upton some small acting roles. At first, Upton had some cameo appearances which included “Tower Heist” and “The Three Stooges”. She became a front-and-center star for 2014’s “The Other Woman” and 2017’s “The Layover”. As for television, she made a few appearances as herself but focused on the big screen until scaling back her acting career after 2017.

“I had been acting for a long time, and thought that modeling would help that shift to film but it definitely did not,” Upton said of her acting career. “There’s not a lot of artistic respect for modeling. I felt like I had to start from the bottom again, which I didn’t mind, and I was thrilled to have done the hard work prior.”

Michigan Legends and the Mom Life

One of the reasons that Upton walked away from acting and modeling for the most part was because she was starting a family. In early 2014, Upton began a relationship with pitcher Justin Verlander while he was a member of the Detroit Tigers. The two got married near the end of 2017, and a year later welcomed their first child, a daughter named Genevieve. 

In the same year that the couple got married, Verlander was traded to the Houston Astros, with the family relocating to Texas. Verlander then joined the New York Mets in 2023, but being in the Big Apple didn’t pull Upton back into the acting or modeling scene. While she still makes public appearances, Upton isn’t interested in the full-time modeling schedule as she raises her daughter.

Despite baseball keeping him on the road for much of the year, Upton wants her husband to keep playing baseball as long as he can bring the heat. “I love watching my husband do what he loves to do,” she said. “It’s such an incredible experience.” Upton added that it’s nice having Verlander at home, but attending games and being together as a family is among her favorite things to do.

“I want to be enjoying my life, enjoying my family, not constantly trying to take the perfect picture,” Upton said. “I think my husband wants me to throw my phone away. We talk about it in the house all the time…We don’t want (our daughter) thinking being on the phone is all that life is.”

5 Examples Of Celebrities Pushing The Limit With Career Choices

Posted on by scatty

There are a lot of actors who get typecast into a certain role that they can’t break out of. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing when it pays the bills, most actors strive for a lot more with their careers. Today, we’ll take a look at some actors who were able to step outside of the typecasting (and perhaps their comfort zones) with fantastic results. These five examples stand out as some of the best instances of celebs pushing the limit with their career choices.

Charlize Theron

South African actress Charlize Theron has been noted as a blonde bombshell since the start of her career thanks to roles in films including “That Thing You Do!”, “The Devil’s Advocate”, and “The Italian Job”. While that has continued to be her standard role for the most part afterward, Theron took on a much different look for the 2003 film “Monster” when she played real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

Theron had to undergo a transformation that made her look unrecognizable. Interestingly enough, Theron didn’t know the story of Wuornos when she took on the role. “The guys always get to play those great gay characters, and somehow women always tend to be black and white,” Theron said. “So I knew this was also something very unusual and might never come my way again.” The role earned Tehron an Oscar win for Best Actress in 2004.

Robin Williams

Robin Williams got his career kicked off as a standup comedian, and his slapstick humor translated well onto the small screen as Mork in both “Happy Days” and “Mork & Mindy”. In the 1980s, Williams continued his comedy career with films including “Popeye” and “The World According to Garp” while also adding some more serious roles. After the 1990s when he had a nice mix of comedy and light drama, Williams took on a much more sinister role in 2002’s “One Hour Photo”.

Williams took on the role of Sy Parrish, a retail store photo tech who becomes obsessed with a family. Things turn dark over the course of this 96-minute small-studio film which also stars Connie Nielsen and Michael Vartan. Williams was nominated for a slew of awards, including winning the Saturn Award for Best Actor. The risk ended up paying off for Fox Searchlight as the film earned $52 million against a small budget.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Austrian native Arnold Schwarzenegger has been pushing the limit with his career choices since the very beginning. Schwarzenegger started off as a bodybuilder and received so much notoriety that he began an acting career. Schwarzenegger starred almost exclusively in action movies throughout the early part of his career. It wasn’t until the late 1980s that he branched into comedy, showing off his great timing.

Arnie then made a career jumping back and forth between the two genres before pushing his career even further. Schwarzenegger began a career in politics, running for Governor of California during the 2003 election when Gray Davis was recalled. He ended up winning the position and served as the leader of the state until the start of 2011.

Hilary Swank

Hilary Swank was a gifted child who was a star athlete and actor, performing on stage before she was even 10 years old. Her family had moved around quite a bit before they made their way to Hollywood during her teenage years where she look to begin her professional acting career. When she was 17, Swank made her screen debut on the television series “Evening Shade” while also landing a main role in the short-lived “Camp Wilder”.

As for her film career, Swank starred in several movies including “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and, of course, “The Next Karate Kid”. Things really took an upward trajectory for Swank’s career when she went outside of her comfort zone to star in the 1999 film “Boys Don’t Cry”. Swank starred a transgendered man looking for love, and the role earned Swank the Oscar win for Best Actress.

Matthew McConaughey

When you think of Matthew McConaughey, you tend to think that almost all of his roles are him playing a stoner, surfer, or some other man who’s simply coasting through life in either a romantic comedy or just straight-up comedy. While McConaughey had dabbled into drama just a little bit by 2013, he went fully into it when he took on the role of Ron Woodroof in “Dallas Buyer’s Club”.

Not many thought McConaughey could have pulled off a performance like that, but he ended up earning himself the Oscar win for Best Actor. It also helped McConaughey land more serious roles, including films like “The Wolf of Wall Street”, “Interstellar”, and “Free State of Jones” in the subsequent years. The speech that he gave after winning the Oscar was an all-timer, too.

Unrealistic Aspirations? 5 Ways Movies Make Us Want To Be Billionaires

Posted on by scatty

More than half of people in the United States have said that they would want to become a billionaire. For many, it’s the ultimate benchmark of top-level success, and Hollywood has only made becoming a billionaire more appealing. Here are five movies that have set some expectations as to what it’s like to be mega-rich.

The Batman Series

When you think of fictional billionaires, the first one that comes to mind for most people is Bruce Wayne, who moonlights as the famous superhero Batman. The character has a long history in comic books and television shows, with Batman getting his first significant film release in the late 1980s when Michael Keaton portrayed the Dark Knight. Ever since then, people have wondered what they could do as a superhero if only they had the money.

Naturally, anyone that has the resources to fight crime wouldn’t have to have superpowers. Bruce Wayne isn’t an ordinary billionaire, though, as he’s incredibly gifted in hand-to-hand combat and is the world’s greatest detective. Batman had many of us thinking about what billionaires do with their free time, but unfortunately, they aren’t out in the streets of major cities at night making sure that criminals are locked up. There was one very realistic part about Batman, though, and it’s that he’s seemingly above the law like most billionaires. 

Iron Man

Bruce Wayne isn’t the only superhero who doesn’t really have powers, but instead access to resources thanks to a massive amount of wealth. Iron Man is Marvel’s version of Batman, with Tony Stark being a billionaire playboy who expanded his father’s business empire until realizing that he could do more good with his vast wealth. Iron Man had been around for a long time, but it wasn’t until the Marvel Cinematic Universe that he became an A-list hero.

Many billionaires started comparing themselves to Tony Stark. Guys like Elon Musk, who even appeared briefly in one of the Iron Man films, have had this vision in his head of being the real-life Tony Stark with all of his gadgets and innovations. However, the Iron Man suit technology isn’t all that realistic, which is why it’s kept to the big screen despite how much money billionaires have thrown at recreating the armor.

Citizen Kane

We now go from billionaires who have access to technology that makes them superheroes to one that’s much more rooted in realism. “Citizen Kane” was released in 1941 with director Orson Welles also starring in the film. Welles took on the role of Charles Foster Kane, who was based on the real-life William Randolph Hearst. It wasn’t subtle, either, with Hearst being upset about the film and barring it from being mentioned in his newspapers.

The film showed people how much power they could have with access to billions of dollars, even if it wasn’t the most glamorous life. A lot of the film was realistic, though many scenes were dramatized for cinematic effect. In the end, we learn that billionaires are humans too, with Rosebud being the sled that Kane loved when he was a child. Even all these years after its release, “Citizen Kane” remains a favorite of critics due to its realistic portrayal of billionaires compared to the other films on the list.

The Wolf of Wall Street

If you want to take the extravagance of the superhero movies we mentioned while also telling a real-life story like “Citizen Kane”, then “The Wolf of Wall Street” is the movie for you. Directed by Martin Scorcese, the film follows Leonardo DiCaprio taking on the role of Jordan Belfort, the former stockbroker who ran into massive legal trouble thanks to his Wall Street schemes.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” shows both the high-roller side of making it big in stocks while also showing the massive downfall that can happen. People who saw it instantly wanted to become billionaires so that they could hang out with the likes of Jonah Hill and Matthew McConaughey while having a love interest like Margot Robbie. While it may have been close to the real life of Belfort, it was obviously hammed up a bit for the big screen.

Mr. Deeds

“Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” was released in 1936, but the version that gets more attention is the 2002 Adam Sandler comedy “Mr. Deeds”. The film had a lot of heart and showed what a lot of us would do if we were to become billionaires. Longfellow Deeds is a character who writes greeting cards and unexpectedly became a billionaire after the passing of his late uncle.

Instead of letting the money go to his head, Deeds spends most of his time giving back to the community, especially his friends and family. We all feel like we would be Mr. Deeds if we were to become billionaires, but money has a way of corrupting people.

5 Celebrities Who Successfully Reinvented Themselves

Posted on by scatty

No matter what it is that you’re doing, things can get a bit stale if you don’t change it up a little bit. While it’s hard to break away from what’s comfortable, you have to keep it interesting, especially if you’re a celebrity who wants to stay in the limelight. Throughout the years, there have been many examples of celebrities who have completely reinvented themselves with varying success. These five, however, stand out as glaring examples of reinvention done right, launching their careers even further.

Miley Cyrus

There have been plenty of former child stars who have had to reinvent themselves once getting into adulthood, but nobody did it quite as dramatically as Miley Cyrus. Cyrus spent her early childhood known almost exclusively as the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, but that changed when she took on the title role of “Hannah Montana” on the hit Disney Channel series.

Cyrus found fame with the series, but once it ended, she exclusively went into music and completely repackaged her persona. This time around, Cyrus was pushing the envelope, swinging nearly nude from wrecking balls and keeping her tongue hanging out of her mouth while twerking on stage at the Video Music Awards. She made sure that people continued talking about her, and it worked as she has maintained her superstardom.

Lady Gaga

While Miley Cyrus was already well-known by the time she became more provocative, Lady Gaga is the other way around. When the world was first introduced to Gaga, she was wearing skimpy costumes (and sometimes dresses made out of meat) while displaying a persona that was in line with the likes of a painter that the average person would have no chance of understanding.

After years of being one of the biggest pop stars in the world, though, Lady Gaga became much more subdued. She started an acting career, instantly earning critical acclaim thanks to her roles in “American Horror Story” and “A Star is Born”. The latter even earned Gaga an Oscar nomination, which many thought she would win. Although she didn’t get the trophy that night, Gaga cemented herself as a terrific actor.

Robert Downey Jr.

The peaks and valleys for Robert Downey Jr have been higher and lower than just about anybody in Hollywood. Downey, the son of an actor/director, came into the 1980s as a brilliant stage actor who landed small roles throughout the decade until the latter half. He then became a leading man thanks to films including “Chaplin”, earning himself an Oscar nomination in the process.

The 1990s would see Downey go through a spiral of personal problems that made him borderline unhirable heading into the 21st century. Fortunately, Downey was able to clean himself up and reinvented himself as a charismatic leading man once again. He landed the titular role in “Iron Man”, launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe and making Downey hundreds of millions in the process. It was a dramatic turn from the man who said that, at his worst, “I didn’t give a **** whether I ever acted again.”

Kim Kardashian

These days, most of us know Kim Kardashian as a business mogul who is pretty much her very own brand. Kardashian was the focal point of a successful reality television series, and now pretty much everything containing her name ends up making her money hand over fist. That’s a far cry from when she started, though. Going into adulthood, those that did know Kardashian only knew her because of her last name as she was the son of attorney Robert Kardashian who helped represent O.J. Simpson.

Kim herself had been an assistant for Paris Hilton early in her career and was rather anonymous until she made an “adult” tape with rapper Ray J. Kardashian used the notoriety to launch her entertainment career, becoming a superstar after launching lines of just about any product that you can think of.

Steve Carell

We all know that Steve Carell is funny. After all, most of us have watched the entirety of “The Office” from beginning to end multiple times. Carell had a lot of comedy chops and really came into fame as a correspondent with “The Daily Show” before landing roles in “Anchorman” and “The Office”.

Once he left “The Office”, Carell began to focus on more dramatic roles. This included award-nominated performances in films including “Foxcatcher”, “The Big Short”, and “Battle of the Sexes”. When he started taking on dramatic roles, many were confused and wondering if he had what it really took. Thanks to his role in “Little Miss Sunshine”, that question was answered quickly and he’s had a great dramatic career ever since.

Did Dale Carnegie’s Life Match His Guidance?

Posted on by scatty

Dale Carnegie was a prominent American writer and lecturer, famous for his courses and books on personal development, interpersonal skills, public speaking, and leadership. His most popular book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” has sold over 30 million copies worldwide since its publication in 1936 and remains a classic in the self-help genre.

But the question arises: did Dale Carnegie’s life match his guidance? Did he practice what he preached? To answer this question, let’s examine Carnegie’s life and teachings in more detail.

Dale Carnegie’s Life

Dale Carnegie was born in 1888 in Missouri, USA. He studied at the State Teacher’s College in Warrensburg but dropped out without completing his degree. He moved to New York City in 1911 and began his writing and teaching career.

Carnegie had a keen entrepreneurial spirit and started several businesses, including a correspondence school and an agency that represented authors and lecturers. He also developed a public speaking course, which later evolved into his flagship program, the Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Speaking and Human Relations.

Carnegie’s personal life was less successful than his professional career. He was unhappily married and divorced twice, which was unusual and scandalous in his time. He had poor relationships with his children and was distant from his extended family. Carnegie’s social life revolved around his work and colleagues, and he rarely participated in leisure activities.

Carnegie’s Guidance

Dale Carnegie’s most famous book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” became a bestseller and has since been translated into dozens of languages. The book focused on principles and techniques for developing one’s personality and communication skills to achieve success in business and relationships. Carnegie’s core message is that everyone wants to feel important and appreciated, and by recognizing and fulfilling that need in others, people can become more likable, influential, and successful.

The book’s key principles include:

  • Be genuinely interested in other people
  • Smile and show enthusiasm
  • Remember people’s names and use them
  • Listen actively and show empathy
  • Talk in terms of people’s interests
  • Give honest and sincere appreciation
  • Encourage others to talk about themselves
  • Avoid criticism and condemnations
  • Use indirect suggestions and questions
  • Admit mistakes and seek cooperation

Carnegie’s other books, such as “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living,” and “The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking,” provided additional tips and strategies for personal development and communication.

However, Carnegie’s teachings have also drawn criticisms and controversies. Some critics argued that his advice was merely manipulation and flattery, rather than genuine rapport-building. Others accused him of promoting conformity and subservience to authority, rather than independent thinking and social justice.

Match Between Carnegie’s Life and Guidance

To determine whether Dale Carnegie’s life matched his guidance, we can analyze and compare his personal behavior and interactions with his teachings.

On one hand, Carnegie did practice what he preached in numerous instances. He was a skilled public speaker and communicator who could charm and persuade large audiences. He was polite, friendly, and supportive to his followers and colleagues, and he often recognized their achievements and potential. He had a positive and optimistic attitude toward life, which he infused in his writings and teachings.

On the other hand, Carnegie also demonstrated behavior that contradicts his principles. For example, he rarely remembered people’s names and sometimes used harsh critiques and judgments. He preferred to avoid confrontations and difficult conversations, which sometimes led to avoiding important issues or relationships. He used self-promotion and marketing tactics to promote his courses and publications, which he denounced in his book as ineffective and unethical.

Despite these discrepancies, Dale Carnegie’s teachings have had a lasting impact on personal development and communication. His core principles of empathy, appreciation, and influence continue to inspire and guide millions of people worldwide.

5 Best Players In Bayern Munich History

Posted on by scatty

Bayern Munich is far and away the most successful football club in German history, and much of that is thanks to the amazing amount of talent that it’s hard over the years. Of those many players, though, which ones stand out as the best? We’ve narrowed it down to the five best players in Bayern Munich history. Before we start the list, some of the players who just missed the cut include Klaus Augenthaler, Phillip Lahm, Sepp Maier, Stefan Effenberg, and Franck Ribery.

Oliver Kahn

Though he may not have spent his entire playing career with Bayern Munich, Oliver Kahn is a staple of the club through and through. Khan was born in Karlsruhe in 1969 and began his playing career with Karlsruher SC, making his pro debut on the top squad in 1990. After four years, Khan moved on to Bayern where he spent the final 14 years of his playing days before retiring and moving into the front office, assuming the CEO position in 2021.

With 632 matches played for Bayern Munich, Oliver Kahn is third all-time in club history. Kahn helped Bayern Munich house the Bundesliga title eight times and also won the UEFA Champions League in 2001. He was named the league’s top goalkeeper seven times throughout his illustrious career and finished in the top three of Ballon d’Or voting twice.

Bastian Schweinsteiger

One of the most versatile midfielders of his era, Bastian Schweinsteiger was one of the most recognizable footballers in Germany for nearly two decades. Schweinsteiger joined the Bayern Munich youth program in 1998, then made his way to the top squad in 2002 where he would remain for 13 years. He then rounded out his career with brief stints with Manchester United and Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer.

Schweinsteiger played an even 500 matches for Bayern Munich, placing him at 10th all-time in club history. In addition to his 2013 UEFA Champions League win, Schweinsteiger helped Bayern Munich win the German Bundesliga eight times. In 2018, he was inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

Franz Breckenbauer

The oldest player on the list is Franz Beckenbauer, a Munich native who made the switch from midfielder to defender, becoming one of the best to ever play the position. Breckenbauer joined the Bayern Munich club in 1959 as a teen, then made his professional debut in 1964. He would spend 13 years as part of the top squad before rounding out his playing days with Hamburger SV and the New York Cosmos, retiring in 1983 before two stints as Bayern manager.

Breckenbauer is fifth all-time on the club list for most appearances with 582. He won the Bundesliga title four times as a player (and once as a manager) while also being the only player on the list to win multiple Ballon d’Or Trophies (1972 and 1976) while also being in the top three on three other occasions.

Thomas Muller

The top two players in Bayern Munich’s history share the same surname, though they are in no way related to one another and have a wide age gap. The first on the list is Thomas Muller, a Weilheim in Oberbayern native who has set many club records. Muller was born in 1989 and joined the Bayern youth program at 10 years old. In 2008, he was brought up to the main squad and became a staple, taking on any position that he was asked to play.

Due to Muller’s versatility, Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga title more than 10 times while he’s been a member of the squad. The club has also won several other trophies including the UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup twice. Muller is third all-time in goals scored for Bayern, and near the top for all-time appearances.

Gerd Muller

The other Muller on the list (and the top player overall) is, of course, Gerd Muller. Known as Der Bomber, Muller is one of those rare players on the list who wasn’t part of Bayern Munich’s youth program. Instead, he came up with 1861 Nordlingen, making his professional debut in 1963. The following year, he joined Bayern Munich and became a high-scoring striker for 15 years before wrapping up his playing days in the United States in 1981.

Muller was able to help Bayern Munich win the Bundesliga title four times throughout his career, as well as the European Cup three times. In 1970, Muller won the Ballon d’Or Trophy as the world’s top player and also finished in the top three on three other occasions. In 2007, Muller was given the Golden Foot as a football legend. He holds the record for most goals in Bayern Munich history with 563, more than 200 ahead of any other player.

5 Best Managers In Bayern Munich History

Posted on by scatty

Bayern Munich is perhaps the first name that you think about when talking about German football. The club has had unprecedented success, winning a long list of league and continental titles throughout its prestigious history. Much of that is thanks in part to some fantastic managers, with these five men standing out as the best in club history. Before we start the list, some of the managers who just missed the list include Jupp Heynckes, Dettmar Cramer, Zlatko Cajkovski, and Felix Magath.

Louis Van Gaal

Dutchman Louis Van Gaal enjoyed a long playing career throughout the 1970s and 1980s, playing in his first matches with Royal Antwerp. Van Gall then joined Telstar for a brief period prior to heading to Sparta Rotterdam where he spent the bulk of his career (eight years). He wrapped up with AZ in 1987, then went into managing, landing his first gig with Ajax in 1991. After bouncing around to a handful of teams including Barcelona, Van Gaal became the Bayern Munich manager from 2009 to 2011.

Van Gaal managed 96 games with Bayern Munich. During that time he won 59 of those matches, losing just 19 times. From 2009 to 2010, Van Gaal saw his squad win the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and DFL-Supercup while nearly winning the UEFA Champions League.

Hansi Flick

The first German manager on the list is Hansi Flick, who spent much of his playing career with Bayern Munich during the 1980s. Flick also played for SV Sandhausen, 1. FC Koln, and Victoria Bammental before retiring in 2000. Toward the end of his career, he was a player-manager, then took over at 1899 Hoffenheim. After serving for several years as an assistant with various clubs, Flick took over as Bayern’s manager from 2019 to 2021.

Flick managed just 86 matches during his Bayern Munich career, but what he was able to accomplish during that time was absurd. He lost just seven matches, winning 81.4 percent of those matches. Bayern won the Bundesliga in back-to-back years while also winning the UEFA Champions League with Flick at the helm.

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has had plenty of time in the spotlight both as a player and manager, though much of it has come in his native Spain. Guardiola was most-known for his playing days with Barcelona, though he also played for the likes of Roma, Al-Ahli, and Dorados during his 18-year professional career. After retiring, he began managing Barca’s B team, then took over as top manager until making the move to Bayern Munich in 2013. He remained in Germany until 2016 before heading to Manchester City.

In three consecutive seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16, Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga with Guardiola as the manager. He also won the DFB-Pokal in two out of three years while also adding a UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to his resume. Overall, he finished with an impressive 121 wins in his 161 matches, losing just 19 times.

Ottmar Hitzfeld

A bit of a journeyman throughout his career, Ottmar Hitzfled played for Basel, VfB Stuttgart, Lugano, and Luzern between 1971 and 1983. Hitzfeld then took on the managerial role with SC Zug after retiring, then managed Aarau and Grasshoppers until the early 1990s. Hitzfled was the manager of Borussia Dortmund from 1991 until 1997, then had two stints with Bayern Munich from 1998 to 2008, ending his career as the Swiss National Team manager. 

During his first stint with Bayern Munich, Hitzfeld finished with a record of 193 wins, 73 draws, and 53 losses. In his second, he had 45 wins, 20 draws, and 11 losses. Overall, Hitzfeld was able to guide Bayern to the Bundesliga title five times, winning the DFB-Pokal three times, and the DFB-Ligapokal four times. In 2001, Bayern won both the Intercontinental Cup and UEFA Champions League under Hitzfeld.

Udo Lattek

While the rest of the managers on the list had lengthy playing careers with some pretty high-level clubs, that wasn’t really the case for Udo Lattek. Born in Bosemb, Lattek was only in the top flight for the final few years of his career before retiring and becoming an assistant coach for West Germany’s National team. In 1970, he took over Bayern Munich for the first of his two stints, with the other going from 1983 to 1987.

During his overall career with Bayern, Lattek won the Bundesliga title a whopping six times. He also won the DFB-Pokal three times and the European Cup once. ESPN ranked Lattek as one of the 20 greatest football managers of all-time while other outlets put him in the top 40. Lattek won more than 61 percent of his matches with Bayern Munich, losing just 67 times total in over 400 matches.

5 Best Players In AC Milan History

Posted on by scatty

AC Milan is one of the most prestigious clubs in Europe with continent-wide titles won left and right throughout its history. The club is also one of the wealthiest, and is able to retain some of the biggest names in the sport. Because of that, there have been some all-time greats to make their way through the ranks, but which of them are truly the best?

Today, we’ll reveal our top five players in AC Milan’s history. Before we start the list, some of the players who just missed the cut include Gianni Rivera, Mauro Tassott, Massimo Ambrosini, and Gennaro Gattuso.

Gunnar Nordahl

Gunnar Nordahl was born in Sweden and began his football career in his home country during the mid-1930s with Hornefors IF where he’d spend the rest of the decade. Nordahl then made his way to Degerfors IF and IFK Norrkoping during the 1940s, but wrapped up the decade with AC Milan where he spent the next seven years.

Nordahl holds just about every scoring record in AC Milan history, including career goals with 221. At the time, almost all of his matches were in league play, making it doubly impressive, and he only needed seven years to set that record. Nordahl had just 257 league matches and scored 210 times in those games.

Franco Baresi

Travagliato native Franco Baresi was a defenseman who spent his entire playing career with AC Milan. He joined the two-decade club in the same year of his retirement (1997) after coming up with the club’s youth program throughout the 1970s. Baresi went into management after retiring, though he would end up retiring from coaching in the mid-2000s and has been enjoying the quiet life ever since.

Baresi is second all-time in matches played for AC Milan with 719, and 532 of those were in league play. Though he doesn’t hold any scoring records due to being a defender, Baresi was still able to score 16 times. Baresi won Serie A six times as a member of AC Milan and won the UEFA Champions League another three times.

Ruud Gullit

Another member of the list to hail from the Netherlands, Ruud Gullit started his professional career with HFC Haarlem in the late 1970s. After spending time with Feyenoord and PSV throughout much of the 1980s, Gullit made his way to AC Milan where he played more matches than with any other squad, and his tenure ran from 1987 until 1994. He then wrapped up with Sampdoria and Chelsea in the 1990s before becoming a manager.

Gullit is one of a handful of players to win the Ballon d’Or Trophy as a member of AC Milan, doing so in 1987. He was also named World Soccer Player of the Year twice during that time and netted 38 goals during his 125 league appearances. Gullit helped AC Milan win Serie A three times, as well as the Supercoppa Italiana twice.

Marco van Basten

Dutchman Marco van Basten spent time with several youth programs growing up before making his way to Ajax in 1981 where he made his professional debut. Van Basten made over 130 appearances with the squad during the decade before he wrapped up his career with AC Milan, spending seven years there before retiring in 1995 and getting into the managerial side of things.

Van Basten is the only man on the list to win the Ballon d’Or multiple times while a member of Inter Milan. He won the award in back-to-back years in 1988 and 1989, then added his third in 1992. Van Basten won Serie A three times with AC Milan as well as the Supercoppa Italia twice (1988 and 1992) and is seventh all-time in club history with 125 goals. What’s most impressive is that van Basten did it far fewer matches than most other members toward the top of the list.

Paolo Maldini

The other member on the list outside of Franco Baresi to play his entire professional career with AC Milan is local hero Paolo Maldini. He started with the youth program in 1978 and after six years he was brought up to the senior club. Maldini stuck around with the club for a quarter-century, and the defender makes the cut as the top player in AC Milan’s illustrious history.

Maldini holds the record for most matches played as a member of AC Milan with over 900, putting him nearly 200 ahead of any other player. Of those, 647 of them were league matches, and he won a long list of honours. This includes seven Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, and three Supercoppa Italianas. Maldini won the 2003 Ballon d’Or Trophy, too, as the world’s top player of the year.

5 Best Managers In AC Milan History

Posted on by scatty

AC Milan has a history that dates back to the end of the 19th century, and over the years, the club has had a long list of managers. Some have come and gone rather quickly without much success, but then there are others that stuck around for years while also winning trophies left and right.

Of those many managers, which ones rank as the best, though? Here are our selections for the five best in AC Milan history. Before we start the list, some of the managers who just missed the cut include Herbert Kilpin, Nils Liedholm, Antonio Busini, and Stefano Pioli.

Giuseppe Viani

Giuseppe Viani had a playing career that lasted for nearly two decades, including long stints with Inter Milan and Lazio. He wrapped up his career with Salernitana in 1943 and quickly got into management. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, he managed several teams before finding a home with AC Milan from 1957 to 1960. It was a great way to cap off Viani’s full-time managerial career.

Viani had 376 matches as the AC Milan manager, placing him third all-time. During his tenure, Viani won the Serie A title in 1957 and 1959, while also nearly winning the European Cup in between. He was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2018 thanks to his long managerial stretch.

Arrigo Sacchi

Fusignano native Arrigo Sacchi is one of those rare men that didn’t have a long and prestigious playing career in football while also being able to achieve a lot as a manager. Sacchi became a manager for the first time in 1973 with Fusignano and had several stints during the 1980s before landing with AC Milan for the first time in 1987. After four years, Sacchi went on to manage the Italian National Team before returning to Milan in 1996 and 1997.

Sacchi is the only manager on the list that’s outside of the top five of matches managed but does sit in sixth with 220. Sacchi was able to get a lot done during that time, winning eight trophies including one Serie A title. Sacchi also won the Supercoppa Italiana and had two trophies each from the UEFA Champions League, Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup.

Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti had a trio of long stints as a player during his career, getting his start with Parma in the late 1970s before joining Roma for nearly a decade. For the last five years of his playing career, Ancelotti was a member of AC Milan, netting 10 goals in 112 appearances. He has managed some of the more notable teams in Europe, including Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, and he managed AC Milan from 2001 to 2009.

Ancelotti is tied for third all-time in terms of trophies won as AC Milan manager and ranks second in matches managed with 420. Ancelotti won the Serie A title once during his long tenure, while also being one of just three managers to win the Coppa Italia. Ancelotti added a handful of other titles to bring his total to eight.

Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello is one of the more identifiable figures in football as he has been involved with several major clubs as both a player and manager. He spent his playing career with SPAL, Roma, Juventus, and AC Milan then became the club’s manager in 1991 just more than a decade after his retirement. Capello had two stints with Milan from 1991 to 1996 and 1997 to 1998.

Capello ranks third all-time in AC Milan history in terms of matches managed with an even 300. Despite managing fewer games than those behind him on the list, he’s second all-time in trophies won with nine. Among those is the club record for Serie A titles, winning four of them. Capello also won the Supercoppa Italiana three times while adding a UEFA Cup Champions League and Super Cup.

Nereo Rocco

Born in what was then considered Austria-Hungary, Nereo Rocco spent much of his playing career with Triestina, appearing in more than 230 matches during the 1930s. He would then spend time with several other clubs including Napoli before retiring in 1945 and managing his original club. Rocco had three stints as the AC Milan manager, with the first coming from 1961 to 1963 while the other two were from 1967 to 1973 and in 1977.

Rocco has more appearances as a manager than any other man in AC Milan’s history, and he also has more trophies than any other. Rocco retired with 10 in total, including two from winning the Serie A championship. Rocco also took home the Coppa Italia three times while also winning the UEFA Champions League and Winners’ Cup twice each. 

5 Classic Games In Juventus History

Posted on by scatty

Juventus is one of the more popular clubs in Europe thanks to a long history of success where there has been a long list of trophies and legendary players. Along the way, there have also been some classic matches where Juventus has come out on top. Let’s take a look at five of those matches that every Juventus supporter should be familiar with as they’re part of the club’s overall legacy.

The First Euro Cup Win

Prior to being known as the UEFA Champions League, the European Cup was where the top clubs throughout the continent came together to determine the best of the best. Heading into the 1985 European Cup, Juventus had never won the title before. In the preliminary round, Juventus easily advanced past Ilves, then got through Grasshopper, Sparta Praha, and Bordeaux to advance to the finals.

Liverpool awaited Juventus to determine the champion and neither team scored in the first half. Finally, Juventus netted the match’s only goal with a penalty kick from Michel Platini. Liverpool spent the next half-hour trying to even the score, but Juventus held strong and claimed its first European title.

2003 Champions League Semifinals

It isn’t always the final game of a major tournament that gets remembered fondly. After all, everyone remembers when the United States defeated the Soviet Union in hockey during the 1980 Olympics, but that wasn’t even the final game. A similar situation happened in the 2003 Champions League tournament. Juventus advanced from a group that contained Valencia, Roma, and Deportivo de la Coruna.

Then, Juventus knocked out Barcelona in extra time during a thrilling quarterfinal matchup. Juventus would lose the finals to Milan in penalties, but the semifinal against Real Madrid was one for the record books. Real Madrid took the first match 2-1, but Juventus stormed back in a big way at home. David Trezeguet scored in the 12th minute, while Alessandro Del Piero (43’) and Pavel Nedved gave Juventus a two-goal aggregate advantage. Zinedine Zidane tried to get Real Madrid back into it with an 89th-minute goal, but it was too late as Juventus won 3-1.

The Largest Win in Club History (1926-27 Coppa Italia)

The Coppa Italia was established in 1922, and Juventus has claimed the championship more times than any club. Vado won the inaugural title, but there would be no winners until 1936. It isn’t because the tournament wasn’t played, however, it just was canceled due to a lack of interest after starting up. The largest win in Juventus history came from one of those canceled tournaments, however, so it’s easy to remember.

Juventus didn’t have to participate in the first round, and in the second round, they took on Cento. The match ended up being an absolute beatdown, with Juventus taking home a 15-0 victory. It was the only ever matchup between the two clubs, and Virginio Rosetta scored the first three goals of the match. Eugenio Rossi added three more while Enrico Savio scored a match-high five.

Beatdown of Inter (1961)

While Cento was one of those clubs that you’d expect Juventus to walk all over, Inter isn’t one of those clubs. The two sides have been rivals for a very long time, and both have had some big victories over the years. The rivalry started in earnest with their 1961 matchup in Turin which saw Juventus break away early and never look back. From the 11th minute to the 17th minute, Omar Sivori scored a hattrick to put Juventus ahead 3-0.

The lead would extend to 7-0 after Sivori netted two more while Bruno Nicole added another and Francesco Riefolo netted an own goal. Sandro Mazzola got Inter on the board, but Juventus scored twice more near the end of the game, including another from Omar Sivori in the 88th minute to cap off a double hattrick to wrap up the 9-1 victory.

Champions League Victors

After winning the European Cup in 1985, the name of the tournament changed to the Champions League in the early 1990s, and Juventus has won the Champions League once since the change. That came in the 1995-96 tournament and marked the biggest victory in Juventus history. Juventus won its group which also consisted of Borussia Dortmund, Steaua Bucuresti, and Rangers.

Juventus then upset Real Madrid with a 2-0 win in the second leg of the quarterfinals to take a 2-1 aggregate victory. They staved off a fierce comeback attempt by Nantes in the semifinals, then met with Ajax for the title. Juventus scored in the 12th minute, but Ajax responded in the 41st. Neither team would score until penalties, with Juventus netting all four attempts to win the match.