Paolo Maldini

"Maldini" redirects here. For his father, see Cesare Maldini. For his second son, see Daniel Maldini. For his first son, see Christian Maldini. For the Indonesian footballer, see Maldini Pali.

Paolo Maldini
OMRI
Maldini in 2018
Personal information
Full name Paolo Cesare Maldini[1]
Date of birth (1968-06-26) 26 June 1968 (age 56)[2]
Place of birth Milan, Italy
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3][4][5]
Position(s) Left-back, centre-back
Youth career
1978–1984 AC Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–2009 AC Milan 647 (29)
International career
1986–1988 Italy U21 12 (5)
1988–2002 Italy 126 (7)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1994 United States
Third place 1990 Italy
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up 2000 Belgium-Netherlands
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 1986
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paolo Cesare Maldini Ufficiale OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːolo malˈdiːni];[6] born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time.[7] As the Milan and Italy captain for many years, he was nicknamed "Il Capitano". Maldini held the record for appearances in Serie A (647), until he was surpassed by Gianluigi Buffon in 2020. He also holds the joint-record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League final appearances (8) alongside Paco Gento.[8][9] He was recently a technical director for Milan and is a co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC.

Maldini spent all 25 seasons of his playing career in Serie A with Milan and retired at the age of 41 in 2009. He won 26 trophies with Milan: the European Cup/UEFA Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, five European/UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and one FIFA Club World Cup. Maldini won the Best Defender award at the UEFA Club Football Awards at the age of 39, as well as the Serie A Defender of the Year Award in 2004. Following his retirement, Milan retired his number 3 shirt.[10]

Maldini made his debut for Italy in 1988 and played for 14 years before retiring in 2002 with 7 goals and 126 caps. He held the record for appearances with Italy, until he was surpassed by Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon. Maldini captained Italy for eight years and held the record for appearances as Italy's captain (75), until he was again surpassed by Cannavaro and Buffon.[11] With Italy, Maldini took part in four FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. Although he did not win a tournament, he reached the final of the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000 and the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1988. He was elected into the all-star teams for all of these tournaments.

Maldini came second to George Weah for FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995. He also came third in the Ballon d'Or rankings in 1994 and 2003.[12] In 2002, he was named in the FIFA World Cup Dream Team. In 2004, Pelé named him in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players.[13] He was ranked 21st in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century.[14] He was also named in the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020. Maldini held the record for most appearances in UEFA Club competitions, with 174, until he was surpassed by Iker Casillas in 2017.[15] He holds the record for appearances with Milan (902)[10] and is one of the few players to have made over 1,000 career appearances.[16][17][18] In December 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.[19]

  1. ^ "Paolo Maldini: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEI. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Paolo Maldini". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Paolo Maldini". www.acmilan.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Paolo Maldini: Milan - Campionato di Serie A". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). c. 2008. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Paolo Maldini: Player Profile". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  6. ^ "Ep.122 La storia di un predestinato con Paolo Maldini - Muschio Selvaggio Podcast" [Ep.122 The story of a predestined with Paolo Maldini - Muschio Selvaggio Podcast]. YouTube (in Italian). Muschio Selvaggio. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  7. ^
  8. ^ "Champions League final records and statistics | UEFA Champions League". 31 May 2023. Archived from the original on 29 June 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Italy – All-Time Most Matches Played in Serie A". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  10. ^ a b "AC Milan Hall of Fame: Paolo Maldini". AC Milan. Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  11. ^ "All'Adriatico la festa Azzurra con i 4 Campioni over 100 presenze" (in Italian). FIGC. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  12. ^ "A Nedved il Pallone d'Oro 2003". Il Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 12 December 2003. Archived from the original on 15 February 2004. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  13. ^ "Pele's list of the greatest". BBC Sport. 4 March 2004. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  14. ^ "World Soccer 100 Players of the Century". Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  15. ^ "Records et chiffres" (in French). FIFA. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  16. ^ Taylor, Louise (23 March 2017). "Gianluigi Buffon's 1,000th career game is testament to a beacon of stability". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  17. ^ Horncastle, James (23 March 2017). "Gianluigi Buffon is far from finished after 1,000 games between the posts". ESPN FC. Archived from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  18. ^ Moore, Glenn (27 May 2011). "Zanetti, Inter's captain and gentleman, joins the 1,000 matches club". The Independent. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  19. ^ "2012 Italian Football Hall of Fame Inductees". FIGC. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.