Paolo Maldini

Verified Timeline

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. 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.

In Their Own Story

In 1978, at the age of 10, Maldini had his first tryout for AC Milan's youth academy, having only played street football before. He played the test game as a right midfielder or winger in the 4–4–2 formation and was accepted. He continued in that position until age 14, when he was moved to right full-back. Due to being good on the ball with both feet, he sometimes played on the left side. He won the Coppa Italia Primavera with the Milan Youth side during the 1984–85 season and made his league debut for Milan under manager Nils Liedholm on 20 January 1985, replacing the injured Sergio Battistini against Udinese at age 16. It was his only league appearance that campaign, but he was immediately made a starter the following season at right-back, handed the number 3 shirt that had previously belonged to his father, Cesare. He scored his first Serie A goal on 4 January 1987 in a 1–0 win against Como. Under Arrigo Sacchi, Maldini won his first trophy, the 1987–88 Scudetto, as Milan conceded only 14 goals that season. He made his 100th Serie A appearance on 19 February 1989. In 1989, he was awarded the Bravo Award as the best under-23 player in European Competitions. Under Fabio Capello, Maldini was part of Milan's undefeated Serie A team in the 1991–92 season, which went unbeaten for an Italian record of 58 league matches, earning the nickname "The Invincibles." He made his 200th Serie A appearance on 4 October 1992. In the 1993–94 Champions League final, despite key absences, Maldini helped Milan keep a clean sheet and defeat Barcelona's "Dream Team" 4–0. After winning his third Champions League title and reaching the 1994 World Cup final, Maldini became the first defender ever to win World Soccer magazine's annual World Player of the Year Award. During his acceptance speech, he called it "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 made his 300th Serie A appearance on 17 February 1995. Following Franco Baresi's and Mauro Tassotti's retirement after the 1996–97 season, Maldini was appointed Milan's captain.

Reader's Guide

Maldini began his youth career at AC Milan in 1978 at age 10, initially playing as a right midfielder or winger. At 14, he moved to right full-back, and due to his two-footedness, he sometimes played on the left. He won the Coppa Italia Primavera with the Milan Youth side in 1984–85. He made his league debut for Milan on 20 January 1985 at age 16, replacing the injured Sergio Battistini against Udinese. The following season, at age 17, he became a starter at right-back, wearing the number 3 shirt previously belonging to his father Cesare. He made his Coppa Italia debut on 21 August 1985 and his European debut on 18 September 1985. He scored his first Serie A goal on 4 January 1987 in a 1–0 win against Como. Under Arrigo Sacchi, Maldini won his first Scudetto in 1987–88 as part of "The Immortals", a side that conceded only 14 goals that season. He won the 1988 Supercoppa Italiana, back-to-back European Cups in 1988–89 and 1989–90, successive European Super Cups (1989, 1990), and successive Intercontinental Cups (1989, 1990). In 1989, he won the Bravo Award for best under-23 player in European competitions. Under Fabio Capello, Maldini was part of Milan's unbeaten 1991–92 Serie A team ("The Invincibles"), which set an Italian record of 58 unbeaten league matches. Milan won three consecutive Serie A titles from 1991–92 to 1993–94, and reached three consecutive Champions League finals (1993, 1994, 1995). They lost the 1993 final to Marseille, won the 1994 final 4–0 against Barcelona despite key absences, and lost the 1995 final to Ajax. After the 1994 World Cup, Maldini became the first defender to win World Soccer magazine's World Player of the Year Award. He placed third in the 1994 Ballon d'Or and fifth in the FIFA World Player of the Year Award. Milan won the Supercoppa Italiana and European Super Cup in 1995.

Did You Know?

• Maldini held the record for appearances in Serie A (647) until surpassed by Gianluigi Buffon in 2020.
• He holds the joint-record for most European Cup/UEFA Champions League final appearances (8) alongside Paco Gento.
• Maldini is one of the few players to have made over 1,000 career appearances.
• He was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame in December 2012.