Systems football began In 1963

(On the hallowed turf at Wembley)

With the impact of a cynical foul

By Gino Pivatelli.

At that moment in the European Cup final, when the hard-working Milan forward, brought in to combat Benfica’s Mário Coluna, caught the great playmaker, football of the individual came to an end. The foul not only checked a promising break, but broke a bone in Coluna’s foot. Without substitutes, he hobbled on, diminished, and Milan won 2-1 to lift the trophy and register the first victory for a team that prioritised the system over the individual. Modern football was born.

There are degrees, of course. The success of Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid was far more predicated on individuals than that of, say, Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea or Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. But, fundamentally, since that first success for catenaccio , football has been resolutely a team game.

Which is what always makes individual awards in the game such an oddity.…