Maldini's shirt to be retired

Milan have decided to retire the number 3 shirt once maldini decides to stop playing. a dully deserving honour for the capitano who has spent 20 memorable and v succesful years at the club.

Good call. The man is a legend. But I thought Fifa or Uefa stopped the retirement of shirts a couple of years back?

There was never any doubt, this was said several years ago actually! But let's hope this doesn't happen for a few more years.....

Guys I do not agree with this one for these reasons:

1: ok Maldini is a legend and stayed with us for 20 years BUT, Baresi was the only player to stay with us when we where in serie B. In 1982 Baresi was a great player (infact he was called in the Ialian NT for the 82 WC) but he remained with us. Maybe Maldini COULD have descided differently in his place.
Besides that about 2 years ago i read an interview of Maldini in which he said that if he still had 28 years and Real would want him, he might take their offer into consideration.

2: By retireing the No. 3 (maybe also the No. 5) plus the no. 6 our numbers would be like that of a rugby team.

Can't say I agree Franco, but I guess thats your opinion.

Personally, I think Maldini has earnt this honour

Nah, Billy's number won't be retired.

I highly doubt that.

Anyways, its a good call and iregk, if Im not mistaken, FIFA only disallowed number retiring for National Teams.

Originally Posted by Franco6

Guys I do not agree with this one for these reasons:

1: ok Maldini is a legend and stayed with us for 20 years BUT, Baresi was the only player to stay with us when we where in serie B. In 1982 Baresi was a great player (infact he was called in the Ialian NT for the 82 WC) but he remained with us. Maybe Maldini COULD have descided differently in his place.
Besides that about 2 years ago i read an interview of Maldini in which he said that if he still had 28 years and Real would want him, he might take their offer into consideration.

2: By retireing the No. 3 (maybe also the No. 5) plus the no. 6 our numbers would be like that of a rugby team.

you can't seriously blame paolo for milan's staying in top league, right?

i am sure that paolo was just being polite to real madrid (actually what i heard is chelsea when vialli was in charge). even baresi went to inter first and got rejected.

I think the practise of retiring shirt number is wrong. Apart from being impractical, what better way to inspire newer players than to let them where the shirt numbers of their hero's? I guess I am also "old school", as I prefer the first team to where shirt numbers 1 to 11.

Having said that, given that there is a policy to retire jersey numbers, noone is more deserving than Maldini

Originally Posted by Xudong

even baresi went to inter first and got rejected.

Yes but Baresi did that when he was not yet in Milan's first team squad so to play with his elder brother Beppe.

i agree with the decision to retire his jersey
i for one could not imagine watching milan in a few years time with someone else wearing the number 3 jersey. for me the number 3 will always be don paolo's

i even found it seriously strange watching italy and zambrotta wearing the number 3


here is a report from www.channel4.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Milan retire Maldini jersey Friday 28 January, 2005

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Diego Maradona and Gigi Riva, Milan have now announced that nobody will wear Paolo Maldini’s Number 3 jersey once he retires.

The Rossoneri captain has spent his entire club career at the San Siro and won every trophy available, so when he hangs up his boots, that shirt will be alongside them.


“Paolo will go on playing for many years to come,” assured Vice-President Adriano Galliani this evening. “He represents the history of this club and when he decides to stop, his shirt will be retired.”


Maldini, who marked the 20th anniversary of his Serie A debut this month, is not the first Milan star to be granted this honour, as his old teammate Franco Baresi’s Number 6 jersey was also retired.


It is becoming something of a trend in Serie A, with Napoli retiring Diego Armando Maradona's Number 10 and Cagliari putting aside Gigi Riva's 11 shirt.


“It is very satisfying and I did secretly hope for this gesture, because I think I gave a great deal to this team over the years,” said the captain. “The club has always been kind and respectful, which is a rare thing indeed in this business.”


The press conference was called due to a new DVD out in Italian shops looking back at Maldini’s career and an interview with the man himself.


“I opened up here even if I am a very reserved person,” he explained. “I consider myself a normal guy and the respect I have from others is the best aspect of my career.”


Maldini also looked at the current situation, as the return of Jaap Stam has pushed him out to a more demanding left-back position and seemingly damaged Milan’s defensive set-up.


“I am a central defender and Carlo Ancelotti knows that full well,” warned the 37-year-old. “He also knows I would never refuse to help the team and I did play as a left-back for many years. Such a great player as Stam can never damage a team and our overall approach remains the same.”

I'm also of the opinion this is becoming a silly honor. I think maybe have a period of retirement, maybe even just a season is a good idea. It's respectful in that you're not instantly replacing the player but come on, we can't just keep retiring all the numbers forever. that's what the do in baseball and they're up to having 102 on their backs. in futurama they made the joke that they all had 44 3/21, because all the whole numbers had been retired.