Paolo Maldini

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Born
1968 (58 years old)
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Milan, Italy

Position
Left-Back

Status
Retired

Ethnicity
White

Team Number

Height
1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)

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Kit

Wage Year

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Sport

Soccer

Team
_Retired Soccer

2nd Team

League
_No League

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Description

Paolo Cesare Maldini (born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left back and central defender for A.C. Milan and the Italy national team, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever defenders, and as one of the greatest players of all time. As the Milan and Italy captain for many years he was considered a leader by fellow footballers, leading to the nickname "Il Capitano" ("The Captain"). Maldini holds the record for most appearances in Serie A, alongside Gianluigi Buffon, with 647. He is currently serving as technical director for Milan, as well as being co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC.

During his playing career, Maldini spent all 25 seasons of his career in the Serie A with Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009. He won 25 trophies with Milan: the UEFA Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, five European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. During his years at Milan, Maldini played at a world class level for his entire career spanning two-and-a-half decades, and won the Best Defender trophy 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 after the 2008–09 season, his lifelong club Milan retired his number 3 shirt.

Maldini made his debut for Italy in 1988, playing for 14 years before retiring in 2002 with 7 goals and 126 caps, an appearance record at the time, which has since only been topped by Fabio Cannavaro in 2009 and Gianluigi Buffon in 2013. Maldini captained Italy for eight years and held the record for appearances made as Italy's captain, wearing the armband 74 times, until he was once again overtaken by Cannavaro, in 2010, and subsequently Buffon. With Italy, Maldini took part in four FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. Although he did not win a tournament with Italy, 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 each of these tournaments, in addition to Euro 1996.

Maldini came second to George Weah for FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995. Maldini also placed third in the Ballon d'Or in 1994 and 2003. In 2002, he was chosen as a defender on the FIFA World Cup Dream Team, and in 2004 Pelé named him in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Maldini held the record for most appearances in UEFA Club competitions, with 174, until he was overtaken by Iker Casillas in 2017. He is also the record appearance holder for Milan with 902 appearances in all competitions. He is one of only 18 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances. In December 2012, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Paolo's father Cesare formerly played for and captained Milan, and was a successful national under-21 manager, who also coached both Milan, and the senior national side during France 1998.

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Trophies

Italian Football Hall of Fame	_Retired Soccer	2012
FIFA Club World Cup	Milan	2007
UEFA Super Cup	Milan	2007
UEFA Champions League	Milan	2006-2007
FIFA FIFPro World XI	Milan	2005
UEFA Team of the Year	Milan	2005
Italian Supercoppa Italiana	Milan	2004
Italian Serie A	Milan	2003-2004
UEFA Team of the Year	Milan	2003
UEFA Super Cup	Milan	2003
UEFA Champions League	Milan	2002-2003
Italian Coppa Italia	Milan	2002-2003
Italian Serie A	Milan	1998-1999
Italian Serie A	Milan	1995-1996
Italian Supercoppa Italiana	Milan	1994
UEFA Super Cup	Milan	1994
UEFA Champions League	Milan	1993-1994
Italian Serie A	Milan	1993-1994
Italian Supercoppa Italiana	Milan	1993
Italian Serie A	Milan	1992-1993
Italian Supercoppa Italiana	Milan	1992
Italian Serie A	Milan	1991-1992
FIFA Club World Cup	Milan	1990
UEFA Super Cup	Milan	1990
Bravo Award	Milan	1989
FIFA Club World Cup	Milan	1989
UEFA Super Cup	Milan	1989
UEFA Champions League	Milan	1988-1989
Italian Supercoppa Italiana	Milan	1988
Italian Serie A	Milan	1987-1988