Alessandro Costacurta was born on 24 April 1966 in Jerago con Orago, a small town in the Province of Varese.

After playing his first professional season on loan at Monza in the third tier, he returned to AC Milan in 1987 and went on to become a world-class defender, gifted with good technique and great tactical awareness. In the following years, he won everything he possibly could with the Rossoneri: Serie A (x7), the Supercoppa Italiana (x5), the Coppa Italia (x1), the Champions League (x5), the European Super Cup (x4) and the
Intercontinental Cup (x2).

He is the third-most capped AC Milan player of all time and the oldest to take to the pitch in the Champions League (aged 40 years and 213 days).

He took part in two Under-21 European Championships and went on to make his Azzurri debut on 13 November 1991 under Head Coach Arrigo Sacchi. He was a regular starter at USA 1994, where Italy lost in the final against Brazil, and at UEFA EURO 1996 and France 1998. He made a total of 59 caps and scored two goals for the Azzurri.