Diego Alberto Milito (born 12 June 1979) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was nicknamed El Principe ("The Prince" in English) because of his physical resemblance with former Uruguayan footballer Enzo Francescoli, who had the same nickname.
Milito began his club career in Argentina with Racing Club in 1999, and later moved to Italian side Genoa in 2003. In 2005, he was acquired by Spanish club Real Zaragoza, where he remained for three seasons, before returning to Genoa in 2008. His prolific goalscoring exploits during his second spell at Genoa earned him a move to defending Serie A champions Inter Milan. He was pivotal in Inter's 2009–10 treble-winning season, scoring 30 goals in all competitions, including two in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. He returned to Racing Club in 2014, where he retired in 2016.
At the international level, Milito earned 25 caps for Argentina, scoring 4 goals, and represented his country in two Copa América tournaments and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Milito started playing at Argentine first division team Racing Club in 1999, where he won the 2001 Apertura tournament. During this time, his younger brother Gabriel played for Racing's main rival, Independiente, as a defender. The two clubs would contest the Avellaneda derby with the two brothers lining up against each other.
At the beginning of 2004, Milito moved to Italian second division club Genoa for £8 million. After two very successful seasons, where he scored 33 goals in 59 matches in Italy, Genoa were relegated down to Serie C1 as a punishment for an alleged match-fixing case in the final match of the 2004–05 season against Venezia. Due to this, Milito was forced to leave Genoa and would ultimately join his brother Gabriel at Real Zaragoza in the Spanish La Liga.
Milito scored four goals in the first semi-final of the 2006 Copa del Rey to beat Real Madrid 6–1. He finished the season as Zaragoza's top scorer with 16 goals in the first division.
Milito was one of the top scorers in the 2006–07 La Liga season. He scored 23 goals, two fewer than league top goalscorer Ruud van Nistelrooy and three behind European Golden Boot winner Francesco Totti.
In November 2006, it was reported Zaragoza decided to buy him outright after his two-year loan was set to expire.
Milito became the club captain at Zaragoza, taking over this role from brother Gabriel, who departed for Barcelona in 2007. His contract was extended in August 2007 with a buy-out clause of €100 million. His goals helped Zaragoza to a sixth-place finish in the league. As of January 2008, Milito averaged higher than a goal every two games for Zaragoza, a statistic he also achieved with Genoa. In total, he managed 61 goals during his three seasons with Zaragoza.
On 1 September 2008, just a few minutes before the transfer window closure time, Genoa completed the transfer of Milito from Zaragoza after the Spanish team were relegated to the Segunda División. His agent, Fernando Hidalgo, confirmed Milito chose explicitly to return to Genoa despite having received more lucrative offers from other major European clubs. He made his Serie A debut on 14 September against Milan. Genoa won the game 2–0 with Milito assisting the first goal and scoring the second. On 9 November, Milito scored his first hat-trick for Genoa in the 4–0 victory against Reggina. He finished the season with 24 goals in 31 league appearances, placing him second behind Zlatan Ibrahimović in the Capocannonieri scoring title.
On 20 May 2009, La Gazzetta dello Sport confirmed that Diego Milito was transferred to Inter Milan alongside teammate Thiago Motta. The transfer fees were €28 million and €10 million respectively but Genoa also received Robert Acquafresca, Leonardo Bonucci, Riccardo Meggiorini, Francesco Bolzoni, Ivan Fatić and cash in exchange.
The striker adapted to his new surroundings quickly and had an excellent start to his Inter career, scoring two goals in a 2–0 World Football Challenge win over city rivals Milan. Subsequently, on 29 August, in his first ever Derby della Madonnina against Milan in Serie A, Milito assisted two goals and scored a penalty, his first league goal of the season, as Inter won 4–0. Later, on 13 September, he scored his second league goal in a 2–0 home win against Parma. In the next league match against Cagliari, he scored both goals for Inter in a 2–1 away win. These two goals placed him at the top of the all-time Serie A scoring charts for best strike rate, with 28 goals in 35 games, giving him an average of 0.8 goals per game. Milito continued his fine run of form with another goal in the next league match against Napoli, scoring the second goal after Samuel Eto'o scored in the first minute, a game that they won 3–1.
The consistency which Milito had shown at his previous clubs was sustained throughout his debut season at Inter, and after the first few matches, he had established himself as a key contributor to the squad. On 30 October, in a 5–3 home victory against Palermo, Milito, who had returned from an injury, came off the bench to make the result safe, scoring Inter's fifth goal. In the next game, against Livorno, he scored another goal, taking his strike rate up to seven goals in nine league matches. Three days later, on 4 November, he scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League in a 2–1 Group Stage win over Dynamo Kyiv; it was the equaliser which led to Wesley Sneijder's game-winner in the 89th minute. On 24 February, in another Champions League match, this time in a 2–1 Round of 16 win against Chelsea, he scored another important goal, his second in the competition. Four days later, Milito netted the matchwinner which gave Inter Milan a 3–2 victory at Udinese, in a thrilling win for the Nerazzurri. On 27 March, after missing a 3–0 win over Livorno with a hamstring problem, Milito returned for a crucial battle at title contenders Roma, where he scored one goal in a 2–1 loss. On 31 March, in a 1–0 Champions League quarter-finals win against CSKA Moscow, he scored the winning goal. Milito scored a vital goal and assisted twice in a 3–1 home win against Barcelona in the team's first leg semi-final win.
During the last matches of the 2009–10 season, Milito proved instrumental in Inter's winning of the first treble in the history of Italian football. The Argentine first scored the only goal in Inter's victory over Roma in the final of the Coppa Italia on 5 May 2010, enabling the Nerazzurri to take home their first trophy of the season. Eleven days later, it was also Milito's goal which secured Inter Milan's 18th Scudetto when they beat Siena 1–0 on the final matchday of Serie A. With only two points separating the top two teams in Serie A, the goal lifted Inter to the summit of the table after being in a position to lose the league title to Roma at the half-time break as Roma, playing simultaneously, were winning their own match against Chievo at that point. Milito himself declared this goal to be the "best of his career," having been decisive in delivering a league title to his team. On 22 May 2010, Milito yet again proved vital as he scored twice to seal a victory in the Champions League Final over Bayern Munich. As a result, Inter became European club champions for the first time in 45 years with a 2–0 victory and completed their historic treble championship season.
Milito finished the season with 30 goals in all competitions, 22 of which came in the league, 2 in Coppa Italia and 6 in the Champions League. Milito was not included among the nominees for the 2010 Ballon d'Or.
On 9 August 2010, Milito signed a new four-year contract with the Nerazzurri. On 26 August, at the ceremony called for the delivery of the UEFA Club Football Awards, Milito was voted the best player and striker in the previous season's European club by winning the prestigious UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and UEFA Club Forward of the Year. Inter followed the previous season's success with a victory in the Supercoppa Italiana against Roma. He failed to convert a penalty in the 90th minute, however, in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup match against UEFA Europa League champions Atlético Madrid; the game finished 2–0 for the Spaniards. He played his first match of the league on 30 August 2010 in week one against Bologna, where Inter started the season with a goalless draw. On 14 September, Milito scored an accidental own-goal in first match of group stage in Champions League against Twente. Eight days later, on 22 September, Milito scored his first goals of the season in a 4–0 win against nearly promoted club Bari at San Siro, helping the team to reach in top of the league. After that, he went to wait until 10 November to score his next goal, where he scored against Lecce to put his team ahead in 76th minute, but, however, Lecce would equalizing three minutes later with Uruguay international Rubén Olivera. He dedicated the goal to his teammate Walter Samuel, who three days ago ended his season after suffered a severe knee injury.