Juan Alberto Schiaffino
The son of Italian immigrants started football very early and played for series champion Peñarol Montevideo at the age of 18 (from 1943). There, the dribbling artist quickly became a regular player. With his club he won the Uruguayan football championship in 1949, 1951, 1953 and 1954 and dominated the national league with his great local rivals Nacional Montevideo. After the 1954 FIFA World Cup, Schiaffino moved to Europe for the then world record transfer of £ 72,000 and joined top Italian side AC Milan. There he played together with Cesare Maldini, Nils Liedholm, Gunnar Gren and goalscorer Gunnar Nordahl. He made his debut in September 1954 in the Serie A game against US Triestina and promptly scored two goals. Schiaffino as a midfielder in Italy as a playmaker and ball distributor, and continued to be a goal threat. He was also successful in Europe and won with the Rossoneri won the Scudetto in 1955, 1957 and 1959 and the Coppa Italia in 1956. In 1958, AC Milan were the only European team to bring Real Madrid to the brink of defeat in a European Cup final. Milan lost the final in Brussels 2-3 after extra time.