Paolo Maldini

Personal information
Full name	Paolo Cesare Maldini
Date of birth	(1968-06-26) 26 June 1968 (age 44)
Place of birth	Milan, Italy
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
1978–1985	Milan
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–2009	Milan	647	(29)
National team
1986–1988	Italy U21	12	(5)
1988–2002	Italy	126	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Paolo Cesare Maldini (born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender, being adept with either foot although naturally right footed. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club. During that period, he won the Champions League five times, as well as seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups. He played for 14 years for the Italian national team, making his debut in 1988 before retiring in 2002 with 126 caps and four World Cup participations.

Maldini played at a world class level for his entire career spanning 2 and a half decades, and won the Best Defender trophy at the UEFA Club Football Awards at the age of 39. He came second to George Weah for the FIFA World Player of the Year Award in 1995, the closest a defender had ever reached to winning the award at the time. He was also the Milan and Italy captain for many years and was considered a leader amongst leaders by fellow footballers, leading to the nickname "Il Capitano" (the Captain). Paolo's father Cesare formerly played for and captained Milan, and is a successful national U-21 manager.

Club career[link]

Maldini made his league debut in the 1984–85 season on 20 January 1985, replacing the injured Sergio Battistini in a match against Udinese at the age of 16.^[2][3] It was his only league appearance of the campaign, but he was in the starting eleven the following season. The 1987–88 Scudetto marked Maldini's first trophy, and the first of seven league titles, with the club.^[4] He was also part of Milan's undefeated Serie A champion side in the 1991–92 season. The back four that included Maldini and fellow long-timers Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Mauro Tassotti is widely considered one of European football's most formidable defensive quartets of the 1990s. Following Baresi's retirement, he would also form a formidable and successful partnership with Alessandro Nesta.

In addition to winning his third Champions League and reaching the 1994 World Cup final, Maldini became the first defender ever to win World Soccer magazine's annual World Player of the Year Award. During his acceptance speech, Maldini called his milestone "a particular matter of pride because defenders generally receive so much less attention from fans and the media than goalscorers. We are more in the engine room rather than taking the glory."^[5] He then singled out Milan captain Franco Baresi as a player who "really [deserved] to receive the sort of award I have received."^[5]

Maldini played his 600th Serie A match on 13 May 2007 in a 1–1 draw at Catania.^[6] On 25 September 2005, Maldini broke Dino Zoff's Serie A appearance record after playing his 571st league match against Treviso;^[7] seven days earlier, he had played his 800th game in all competitions for Milan. On 16 February 2008, Maldini reached 1,000 senior games with Milan and Italy when he entered as a substitute against Parma.^[8]

Maldini has participated in eight UEFA Champions League finals during the course of his career, which is bettered only by Francisco Gento, who also appeared in a Cup Winners' Cup final, bringing his total European finals to nine. Maldini has lifted the trophy five times, the latest coming in Milan's 2–1 victory over Liverpool in the 2007 Champions League final on 23 May 2007 in Athens. In an interview with ESPN that aired prior to the broadcast of the 2007 final, he labeled the 2005 Champions League final, a match that Milan lost on penalties to Liverpool after blowing a 3–0 half-time lead, the worst moment of his career, even though he had scored the fastest-ever goal in a European Clubs' Cup final just 51 seconds into the match, in the process also becoming the oldest player ever to score in a final.

Maldini announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2007–08 season, saying that he would do so with "no regrets."^[9] However, following Milan's elimination from the Champions League by Arsenal in March, Maldini stated that he would possibly delay his retirement for at least a further year.^[10] He signed an extension on June 6 that kept him at Milan for the 2008–09 season.^[11] On 18 April 2009, Maldini announced that he will be finally retiring at the end of the 2008–09 season.

On 17 May, in the Friuli Stadium, Maldini played his 900th official match for Milan in a league game against Udinese. Maldini's last match in San Siro was on 24 May, in a game lost 3–2 against Roma. There was a small controversy when the Milan fans known as "Brigate Rossonere" protested against Maldini as he said goodbye.^[12][13] His last appearance for Milan, and his last game as an active player was on 31 May 2009, in the last match of the season, against Fiorentina, which Milan won 2–0. Milan retired his number 3 shirt, but it will be bequeathed to one of his sons if one makes the club's senior side.^[14][15]

International career[link]

In 1986, Maldini was called up by his father Cesare to the Italian U-21 side, where he earned twelve caps and scored five goals in two years. He made his Azzurri debut at the age of nineteen on 31 March 1988, in a 1–1 friendly draw against Yugoslavia, and made one appearance for Italy at the 1988 Olympics. Maldini featured in all four of Italy's games at Euro 1988, and participated in his first World Cup in 1990, where Italy lost to Argentina in the semifinals on penalties.

Maldini's first international goal came in his 44th career match, in a 2–0 friendly win over Mexico on 20 January 1993. He captained Italy at the start of the 1994 World Cup, losing to Brazil in the final on penalties. He was named in the Team of the Tournament, 32 years after his father received the same honour at the 1962 World Cup. Euro 1996 would see Italy eliminated in the group stage, and the quarterfinals of the 1998 World Cup. Italy did reach the final of Euro 2000, but lost to France in extra time.

After Italy were eliminated in the 2002 World Cup round of sixteen, Maldini retired trophyless from international competition as Italy's most capped player. He scored seven international goals, all coming in home games. He spent over half of his 16 years as an international as team captain, wearing the armband a record 74 times.^[16]

In February 2009, Italian head coach Marcello Lippi declared his support for a testimonial match for Maldini, stating that it would give him a chance to play for the Azzurri for a final time.^[17] Italian Football Federation offered him a place in the line-up in a friendly match against Northern Ireland. However, Maldini rejected the offer, saying that he wanted to part with football in an "official" match.^[18]

Retirement[link]

Prior to his retirement, Maldini expressed that he would never be moving into a coaching career.^[19][20] He was offered a position that would have reunited him with his former manager, Carlo Ancelotti, by joining Chelsea as a coach having reportedly met with Ancelotti and with Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich, to discuss such a possibility.^[21] On 30 June 2009, Ancelotti announced that Maldini had turned down his offer to become part of Chelsea's coaching staff.^[22]

Style of play[link]

Maldini was primarily known for his positioning as a defender rather than his tackling. He made an average of one tackle every two games and positioned himself well so as to avoid making that tackle.^[23]

Personal life[link]

Maldini has been married to Venezuelan former model Adriana Fossa since 1994.^[24][25] The couple have two sons, Christian (born 14 June 1996) and Daniel (born 11 October 2001),^[26] who both have already been signed by Maldini's former club Milan and currently play in the youth teams.^[27][28]

In 2003, he lifted the European Cup/Champions League as club captain exactly 40 years after his father Cesare accomplished the same feat for the same side. The only other father-son pairs to have done so are Manuel Sanchis Martínez and Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo (won it with Real Madrid) and Carles and Sergio Busquets of FC Barcelona.

Career statistics[link]

As of 31 May 2009.^[1]

¹European competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Super Cup
²Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana, Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup
³Play-off for UEFA Cup admission

^[29]

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	20 January 1993	Florence, Italy	Mexico	2–0	Win	Friendly
2.	24 March 1993	Palermo, Italy	Malta	6–1	Win	FIFA World Cup 1994 Qualification
3.	11 November 1995	Bari, Italy	Ukraine	3–1	Win	UEFA Euro 1996 Qualification
4.	29 March 1997	Trieste, Italy	Moldova	3–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 1998 Qualification
5.	30 April 1997	Naples, Italy	Poland	3–0	Win	FIFA World Cup 1998 Qualification
6.	22 April 1998	Parma, Italy	Paraguay	3–1	Win	Friendly
7.	5 June 1999	Bologna, Italy	Wales	4–0	Win	UEFA Euro 2000 Qualification

Honours[link]

Milan

• Serie A: 7

1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04

• Coppa Italia: 1

2002–03

• Supercoppa Italiana: 5

1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004

• European Cup/Champions League: 5

1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 2002–03, 2006–07

• UEFA Super Cup: 5

1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007

• Intercontinental Cup: 2

1989, 1990

• FIFA Club World Cup: 1

2007

National team[link]

• FIFA World Cup Third-place: 1990
• FIFA World cup Runners-up: 1994
• UEFA European Football Championship: Runners-up 2000

Individual

• Under-21 European Footballer of the Year: 1

1989

• FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament:: 1

1994

• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 3

1988, 1996, 2000

• FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 2

1990, 1994

• UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match: 1

2003

• 1995 FIFA World Player of the Year: 1

Silver Award

• Ballon d'Or Bronze Award: 2

1994, 2003

• Serie A Defender of the Year: 1

2004

• FIFA 100: 1

• UEFA Team of the Year: 2

2003, 2005

• ESM Team of the Year: 4

1994–95, 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2002–03

• FIFPro World XI: 1

2005

• UEFA Champions League Best Defender: 1

2007

• Italy captain: 1

1994–2002

• UEFA Champions League Achievement Award: 1

2009

• AC Milan all-time highest number of appearances: 1

902

• UEFA Champions League Record of most appearances: 1

168

• Serie A highest number of appearances: 1

647

Orders[link]

4th Class / Officer: Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana:^[30] 2000

5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana:^[31] 1991

References[link]

Awards v t e FIFA 100 UEFA Baggio Ballack Banks Baresi Beckenbauer Beckham Bergkamp Bergomi Best Boniek Boniperti Breitner Buffon Butragueño Cantona Ceulemans Charlton Cruyff Dalglish Dasayev Davids Del Piero Desailly Deschamps Emre Eusébio Facchetti Figo Fontaine Gullit Hagi Henry Kahn Keane Keegan Klinsmann Kluivert Kopa B. Laudrup M. Laudrup Lineker Luis Enrique Maier Maldini Masopust Matthäus Müller Nedvěd Neeskens Nesta Owen Papin Pfaff Pirès Platini Puskás Raúl Rensenbrink Rijkaard Rivera Rossi Rui Costa Rummenigge Rüştü Schmeichel Seedorf Seeler Shearer Shevchenko Stoichkov Šuker Thuram Totti Trésor Trezeguet van Basten R. van de Kerkhof W. van de Kerkhof Van der Elst van Nistelrooy Vieira Vieri Zidane Zoff CONMEBOL Carlos Alberto Batistuta Cafu Crespo Cubillas Di Stéfano Falcão Figueroa Francescoli Júnior Kempes Maradona Passarella Pelé Rivaldo Rivelino Roberto Carlos Romário Romerito Ronaldinho Ronaldo Djalma Santos Nílton Santos Saviola Sívori Sócrates Valderrama Verón Zamorano Zanetti Zico CAF Diouf Milla Okocha Abédi Pelé Weah CONCACAF Akers Hamm Sánchez AFC Hong Nakata v t e Serie A Defender of the Year 2000: Nesta 2001: Nesta 2002: Nesta 2003: Nesta 2004: Maldini 2005: Cannavaro 2006: Cannavaro 2007: Materazzi 2008: Chiellini 2009: Chiellini 2010: Chiellini & Samuel 2011: Thiago Silva v t e World Soccer Player of the Year 1982: Rossi 1983: Zico 1984: Platini 1985: Platini 1986: Maradona 1987: Gullit 1988: van Basten 1989: Gullit 1990: Matthäus 1991: Papin 1992: van Basten 1993: Baggio 1994: Maldini 1995: Vialli 1996: Ronaldo 1997: Ronaldo 1998: Zidane 1999: Rivaldo 2000: Figo 2001: Owen 2002: Ronaldo 2003: Nedvěd 2004: Ronaldinho 2005: Ronaldinho 2006: Cannavaro 2007: Kaká 2008: C. Ronaldo 2009: Messi 2010: Xavi 2011: Messi v t e Bravo Award 1978: Case 1979: Birtles 1980: H. Müller 1981: Wark 1982: Shaw 1983: Bonini 1984: Righetti 1985: Butragueño 1986: Butragueño 1987: van Basten 1988: Ohana 1989: Maldini 1990: Baggio 1991: Prosinečki 1992: Guardiola 1993: Giggs 1994: Panucci 1995: Kluivert 1996: Del Piero 1997: Ronaldo 1998: Ronaldo 1999: Buffon 2000: Casillas 2001: Hargreaves 2002: Metzelder 2003: Rooney 2004: C. Ronaldo 2005: Robben 2006: Fàbregas 2007: Messi 2008: Benzema 2009: Busquets 2010: T. Müller 2011: Hazard v t e UEFA Euro 2000 Team of the Tournament Goalkeepers Fabien Barthez Francesco Toldo Defenders Laurent Blanc Lilian Thuram Marcel Desailly Fabio Cannavaro Paolo Maldini Alessandro Nesta Frank de Boer Midfielders Demetrio Albertini Patrick Vieira Pep Guardiola Rui Costa Edgar Davids Luís Figo Zinedine Zidane Forwards Thierry Henry Savo Milošević Raúl González Patrick Kluivert Nuno Gomes Francesco Totti Preceded by Younis Mahmoud La Gazzetta dello Sport's Facchetti Award 2008 Succeeded by Incumbent Preceded by Franco Baresi A.C. Milan Captain 1997–2009 Succeeded by Massimo Ambrosini Preceded by Franco Baresi Italy Captain 1994–2002 Succeeded by Fabio Cannavaro Preceded by Carles Puyol UEFA Club Defender of the Year 2006–07 Succeeded by Incumbent

Italy squads v t e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 1988 semi-finalists 1 Zenga 2 Baresi 3 Bergomi (c) 4 Cravero 5 Ferrara 6 Ferri 7 Francini 8 Maldini 9 Ancelotti 10 De Agostini 11 Di Carlo 12 Tacconi 13 Fusi 14 Giannini 15 Romano 16 Altobelli 17 Donadoni 18 Mancini 19 Rizzitelli 20 Vialli Coach: Vicini v t e Italy squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup Third Place 1 Zenga 2 Baresi 3 Bergomi (c) 4 De Agostini 5 Ferrara 6 Ferri 7 Maldini 8 Vierchowod 9 Ancelotti 10 Berti 11 De Napoli 12 Tacconi 13 Giannini 14 Marocchi 15 Baggio 16 Carnevale 17 Donadoni 18 Mancini 19 Schillaci 20 Serena 21 Vialli 22 Pagliuca Coach: Vicini v t e Italy squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Pagliuca 2 Apolloni 3 Benarrivo 4 Costacurta 5 Maldini 6 Baresi (c) 7 Minotti 8 Mussi 9 Tassotti 10 R. Baggio 11 Albertini 12 Marchegiani 13 D. Baggio 14 Berti 15 Conte 16 Donadoni 17 Evani 18 Casiraghi 19 Massaro 20 Signori 21 Zola 22 Bucci Coach: Sacchi v t e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Peruzzi 2 Apolloni 3 Maldini (c) 4 Carboni 5 Costacurta 6 Nesta 7 Donadoni 8 Mussi 9 Torricelli 10 Albertini 11 D. Baggio 12 Toldo 13 Rossitto 14 Del Piero 15 Di Livio 16 Di Matteo 17 Fuser 18 Casiraghi 19 Chiesa 20 Ravanelli 21 Zola 22 Bucci Coach: Sacchi v t e Italy squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Toldo 2 Bergomi 3 P. Maldini (c) 4 Cannavaro 5 Costacurta 6 Nesta 7 Pessotto 8 Torricelli 9 Albertini 10 Del Piero 11 D. Baggio 12 Pagliuca 13 Cois 14 Di Biagio 15 Di Livio 16 Di Matteo 17 Moriero 18 R. Baggio 19 Inzaghi 20 Chiesa 21 Vieri 22 Buffon Coach: C. Maldini v t e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2000 Runners-up 1 Abbiati 2 Ferrara 3 Maldini (c) 4 Albertini 5 Cannavaro 6 Negro 7 Di Livio 8 Conte 9 Inzaghi 10 Del Piero 11 Pessotto 12 Toldo 13 Nesta 14 Di Biagio 15 Iuliano 16 Ambrosini 17 Zambrotta 18 Fiore 19 Montella 20 Totti 21 Delvecchio 22 Antonioli Coach: Zoff v t e Italy squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Buffon 2 Panucci 3 Maldini (c) 4 Coco 5 Cannavaro 6 Zanetti 7 Del Piero 8 Gattuso 9 Inzaghi 10 Totti 11 Doni 12 Abbiati 13 Nesta 14 Di Biagio 15 Iuliano 16 Di Livio 17 Tommasi 18 Delvecchio 19 Zambrotta 20 Montella 21 Vieri 22 Toldo 23 Materazzi Coach: Trapattoni