Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini (born June 26, 1968 in Milan) is an
Italy|Italian football (soccer)|football player.
Maldini is a defender and predominantly plays the
position of left back, although he sometimes plays
at centre back.  Throughout his long career, he
has remained with A.C. Milan. He is arguably the
best defender the world has ever seen, and will
undoubtably go down as one of the world's greats.

Maldini's Serie A debut came in 1985. He has had a
glittering career to date, winning many trophies
with Milan (as of 2005, those include seven Serie
A titles and four UEFA Champions League|European
Cups). One of the great defenders of all time, he
was arguably the best defender (football)|defender
in the world at the peak of his career, and
remains well known for influential captaincy, ice
cool temperament and flawless defending.

Maldini is Italy national football team|Italy's
most capped player.  However, he never managed to
win a trophy at the international level despite
playing in the Football World Cup|1994 World Cup
final and the 2000 European Football
Championship|2000 European Championship Final. He
retired from the national team after Football
World Cup 2002|2002 World Cup finishing his
successful career with 126 caps and 7 goals.
Maldini also played in the Football World Cup
1990|1990 and Football World Cup 1998|1998 World
Cups, 1988 European Football Championship|Euro 88,
and 1996 European Football Championship|Euro 96.

Maldini also set a new record in UEFA|Champions
League by scoring after only 51 seconds in the
final against Liverpool FC in 2005.

There was a public appeal in Italy for Maldini to
come out of retirement for the 2004 European
Football Championship|2004 European Championship,
but he rejected the appeal for "personal reasons".
Paolo's father, Cesare Maldini|Cesare, also
captained A.C. Milan in the 1960's, lifting the
Champions Cup in 1963.