Franchino Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining the club for 15 seasons. He is considered to be one of the best defenders of all-time. He was ranked 19th in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. With Milan, he won three UEFA Champions League titles, six Serie A titles, four Supercoppa Italiana titles, two European Super Cups and two International Cups, as well as a World Cup with Italy.

In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.