Paolo Maldini

Paolo Cesare Maldini (born 26 June 1968) is an Italian football executive and former player, most recently serving as the president of the technical sector for the Italian Football Federation. He played his entire career as a left-back or centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team, and is considered one of the greatest players ever. Longtime captain of both Milan and Italy, he earned the nickname "Il Capitano." Maldini once held the Serie A appearance record with 647 games, until Gianluigi Buffon passed him in 2020.

He shares the record for most European Cup or Champions League final appearances—eight—with Paco Gento. Between 2018 and 2023, he worked as sporting director at AC Milan, and he is also a co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC. A one-club man, Maldini spent all 25 seasons of his playing career with Milan in Serie A, retiring at age 41 in 2009. He won 26 trophies with the club: five European Cups or Champions Leagues, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, five European or UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and one FIFA Club World Cup.

At age 39, he won the Best Defender award at the UEFA Club Football Awards, and in 2004 he was named Serie A Defender of the Year. After his retirement, Milan retired his number 3 shirt. Maldini debuted for Italy in 1988 and played for 14 years, retiring in 2002 with 7 goals and 126 caps. He held the national team appearance record until Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon surpassed him.

He captained Italy for eight years and held the record for most appearances as captain (75), again later passed by Cannavaro and Buffon. With Italy, he played in four World Cups and three European Championships. He never won a tournament but reached the 1994 World Cup final, the Euro 2000 final, and the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1988. He was named to the all-star teams for all those tournaments.

In 1995, Maldini finished second to George Weah for FIFA World Player of the Year. He placed third in the Ballon d'Or in 1994 and 2003. In 2002, he was selected for the FIFA World Cup Dream Team. Pelé included him in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004.

World Soccer magazine ranked him 21st on its list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. He was also named to the Ballon d'Or Dream Team in 2020. Maldini once held the record for most appearances in UEFA club competitions (174), until Iker Casillas surpassed him in 2017. He holds the Milan appearance record with 902 games and is among the few players to have made over 1,000 career appearances.

In December 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. 1978–1987: Youth career, senior debut, and early professional years At age 10 in 1978, Maldini tried out for the AC Milan youth academy after only playing street football. He played the test match as a right midfielder or winger in a 4–4–2 formation and was accepted into his age group. He stayed in that position until age 14, when he moved to right full-back. Because he was good with both feet, he sometimes played on the left side.

He won the Coppa Italia Primavera with the Milan youth team in the 1984–85 season. That same season, on 20 January 1985, he made his league debut for Milan under manager Nils Liedholm, replacing the injured Sergio Battistini against Udinese at age 16. It was his only league appearance that campaign, but he became a starter the next season at age 17, playing right-back and wearing the number 3 shirt, previously worn by his father, Cesare. He debuted in the Coppa Italia on 21 August 1985, and in European competition on 18 September that same year.

He scored his first Serie A goal on 4 January 1987 in a 1–0 win over Como. 1987–1991: Domestic and international success with "The Immortals" Maldini won his first trophy—the 1987–88 Scudetto—under Arrigo Sacchi. This was the first of seven league titles with the club. Sacchi's Milan side, nicknamed "The Immortals," featured the Dutch trio of Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, and Marco van Basten, along with Italian midfielders Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Donadoni (and later Demetrio Albertini), and a strong defense.

Under Sacchi and later Fabio Capello, Maldini formed one of football's greatest defensive quartets with long-time teammates Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta, Mauro Tassotti, as well as Filippo Galli, Stefano Nava, and later Christian Panucci. During the 1987–88 season, Milan conceded only 14 goals, finishing with the best defense in Italy and winning the Serie A title. The following season, Maldini won the 1988 Supercoppa Italiana, then back-to-back European Cup titles in 1988–89 and 1989–90, while Milan finished third and second in Serie A respectively.

On 19 February 1989, he made his 100th Serie A appearance. Milan reached the 1989–90 Coppa Italia final but lost to Juventus. The club also won consecutive European Super Cups in 1989 and 1990, and consecutive Intercontinental Cups in 1989 and 1990. In Sacchi's final season, Milan was eliminated in the European Cup quarter-finals by eventual finalists Marseille, finished second in Serie A behind Sampdoria with the league's best defense (19 goals conceded), and reached the Coppa Italia semi-finals.