Paolo Maldini: The true Rossoneri

Son of AC Milan and Italian legend Cesare Maldini and one of the finest defenders the world has ever produced, Paolo Maldini is the personification of the legendary club that the world knows as A.C. Milan. And here’s our tribute to the Italy’s most famous son of football.

Italy has been the land of defenders. The country has produced famous players who have mastered the dark arts of defending and doing the dirty work of football play on the pitch. Yet, for all the defensive masters that the country has produced, there’s one name that always stands above the rest. Paolo Maldini.

Tough yet elegant, Paolo’s game was based more on anticipation than intimidation. This one-club legend made 902 appearances for AC Milan in his 24-year-career, 647 of them in Serie A and  was capped 124 times for his country, 74 matches as captain.

Perhaps it should have come as no surprise that Maldini would turn out to be one of the most accomplished defenders the game has ever seen. His father Cesare, steeped in the culture of catenaccio and as an Italy international, was as solid as they come in the right-back slot for AC Milan between 1954 and 1966. Being born to an AC Milan legend, Paolo’s destiny was written already.

Maldini joined the Rossoneri youth set-up at an early age of 10 and it was not long that his elegant football and his sense of sportsmanship shone past the prejudice surrounding him as he honed his positional skills and with each passing year, silenced his doubters, shaking off the tag of “daddy’s little boy”.

He got his first break when Swedish coach Nils Liedholm  played him in AC Milan’s 1-1 draw with Udinese on 20 January 1985. Maldini was only 16 years and 208 days old, yet by the following season he had become an undisputed first choice.

And as history suggests, things would remain so for the next 2 decades as the young Maldini Jr. became an indispensable part of the Italian defense and a cornerstone in an Italian and AC Milan rearguard through his sheer tenacity and determination as well as though his incredible tactical and physical attributes as well.

With passing time and the sport evolving each year, Italian football changed as well. Out went the old reliance on all-out defence and in came a new mindset, one in which the full-back had a key part to play by getting down the channel, as it became known in modern football parlance. And with the global explosion in televised coverage of the game, the marauding Maldini quickly became a household name.

Lining up alongside Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta, he went on to be a part of one of the greatest defensive units Milan have ever assembled. His two-footedness was also a factor in his longevity. Though naturally right-footed, Maldini was perfectly at home on the left side of defence.

Those qualities inevitably brought him international recognition. After running out for the Italy U-21s for a season and a half, he made his full debut for La Nazionale in a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia in Split in March 1988.

In meantime, it was raining trophies for him at AC Milan. He won 7 Scudetti and was European Champions with the club on 5 occassions reaching the finals 7 times. The full back also won, two Intercontinental Cups and a FIFA Club World Cup crown as well.

That lasting success is something Maldini puts down to the club’s philosophy: “Milan has always sought to play its own game rather than set out to destroy what opposing sides are doing. The players change but the philosophy never does.”

And on the rare occasions defeat reared its ugly head, he always took it in his stride: “I just learned to accept it as part and parcel of the game.”

The greatest void in Maldini’s trophy cabinet will however be the absence of an International trophy. From the heartbreak in USA in ’94 after losing to the Brazilians in the Final via a penalty shootout to losing to France in the Euro 2000 Final when France scored in the dying seconds to force extra time before snatching the trophy with a golden goal, Maldini being blameless for Italy’s agonising defeat. He brought his exemplary international career to an end in the wake of La Squadra Azzurri’s Round of 16 elimination at the hands of Korea Republic at the 2002 World Cup, a golden goal once again defeating the Italians.

Yet Paolo Maldini went on. Always improving with each passing day like a fine wine. Heartbreaks and excruciating defeats never halted him. He always evolved, not only as a great footballer but also as a superb human being. He carried himself on and off the pitch with a great amount of dignity and integrity and earned the respect of not only his colleagues but also his rivals. This propelled him to a role-model status which he still holds in the world, today. A true gentleman of the game, he never lost his cool, earning only a single red card in his entire career spanning over a 1000 games and that too in a friendly.

Such has been his stature in world football that even the Inter fans paid tribute to him in the last Milan derby he played before his retirement. And he duly returned that mark of respect by saying- “It was a wonderful surprise. On a human level, I think it’s one of the most satisfying moments I’ve ever experienced.”

The ultimate professional, a dedicated footballer and a true sporting icon, Maldini has always been a man of principles and values and has always remained loyal to them . He was and is a footballing legend.

To end in a high note, we present to you, a video by “Football’s Greatest” on a true footballing great, reminiscing the days of the old Italian gentleman. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lEkuE8BBow