Paolo Maldini

Paolo Cesare Maldini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaolo malˈd̪ini]; born June 26, 1968 in Milan) is an Italian footballer who has played his entire career for Serie A club Milan. The son of Cesare Maldini, he is the most-selected player in the history of the club, Serie A and the Italian national team. He has played at left back for the majority of his career, although he can also operate as a centre back. He is the most capped player for the Italian national team with 126 caps.

Club career

Maldini made his league debut on January 20, 1985, at the age of sixteen, against Udinese as a halftime substitution for the injured Sergio Battistini. It would be 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 major trophy, and the first of seven league titles, with the club. He was also part of Milan's undefeated "Dream Team" from the late 1980s to the early 1990s.

In addition to winning his third Champions League and reaching the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, Maldini became the first defender ever to win World SoccerWorld 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." He then singled out Milan captain Franco Baresi as a player who "really [deserved] to receive the sort of award I have received." magazine's annual

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

Maldini has participated in eight UEFA Champions League finals during the course of his career, which is more than any other active player, and equals the record held by Francisco Gento, though Gento 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 final, which Milan lost on penalties to Liverpool in extra time after blowing a 3–0 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." 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.He signed an extension on June 6 that will keep him at Milan for the 2008-09 season.

Milan plan to retire his number 3 shirt, but it will be bequeathed to one of his sons if one makes the club's senior side. His eldest son, Christian, currently plays for the Milan youth squad.

International career

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 March 31, 1988, in a 1-1 friendly draw against Yugoslavia, and made one appearance for Italy at the 1988 Summer 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 January 20, 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 honor at the 1962 FIFA 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; it would be closest that Maldini would come to winning a major tournament.

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 sixteen years as an international as team captain, wearing the armband a record seventy-four times.

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.