Paolo Maldini

Lore & Background

Maldini was a one-club man, spending all 25 seasons of his playing career in Serie A with Milan and retiring 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. 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 with 75, until he was again surpassed by Cannavaro and Buffon. 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.

In Their Own Story

Stadio Olimpico, Rome. The evening air carries the faint smell of cut grass and the distant thrum of seventy thousand voices. Maldini lines up at the left-back position, hands on hips, eyes tracking the opposition winger who has not yet received the ball. He does not run. He does not need to. The winger receives, beats the full-back, and surges toward the penalty area. Maldini turns, takes two measured steps, and extends his left foot. The ball is gone. He does not celebrate. He simply resets his shape, calls to the centre-backs to shift, and waits for the next wave. Around him, the blue shirts of Italy breathe as one organism, and for a moment the stadium holds its breath with them.

Reader's Guide

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. 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. He was ranked 21st in World Soccer magazine's list of the 100 greatest players of the 20th century. 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. He holds the record for appearances with Milan (902) and is one of the few players to have made over 1,000 career appearances. In December 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

Did You Know?

• Maldini made his league debut for Milan at age 16 on 20 January 1985, replacing the injured Sergio Battistini against Udinese.
• He scored his first Serie A goal on 4 January 1987 in a 1–0 win against Como.
• Maldini was part of Milan's undefeated Serie A team in 1991–92, which went unbeaten for an Italian record of 58 league matches.
• He became the first defender ever to win World Soccer magazine's annual World Player of the Year Award in 1994.