Tribute to the Greatest of All Time

It is human nature not to stop and reflect on the things that seem like constant features of life. If you see something day after day, for years and years, you may begin to take it for granted and just assume that it is part of the natural scheme of things, like breathing or the presence of sunshine and oxygen. Thus it is with our very own Paolo Maldini. While watching a replay of the recent Fenerbache v AC Milan CL match on this past Thursday and seeing the usual level of excellent defensive play and leadership displayed by our captain, I realized something. We have had a very special opportunity to witness the greatest defender to ever play the game (and one of the top ten players certainly) for almost two decades. This has been a rare privilledge, tantamount with those who got to thrill at the acheivments of Pele or George Best or Johan Cruyff in another era, and we should never forget what we have had the opportunity to have seen. Some day soon we will see a Rossoneri squad take the field without number 3 in the lineup and then, and only then, will we realize how lucky we have been. We should take these last years to take some time to reflect and appreciate what a great player we have been able to watch and cheer for and to realize we may never see such a player again and to celebrate the fact that one of the best players of all time played on our team.

Long Live Sheva, Long Live Milan
FoRza Milan

Originally Posted by RIO

It is human nature not to stop and reflect on the things that seem like constant features of life. If you see something day after day, for years and years, you may begin to take it for granted and just assume that it is part of the natural scheme of things, like breathing or the presence of sunshine and oxygen. Thus it is with our very own Paolo Maldini. While watching a replay of the recent Fenerbache v AC Milan CL match on this past Thursday and seeing the usual level of excellent defensive play and leadership displayed by our captain, I realized something. We have had a very special opportunity to witness the greatest defender to ever play the game (and one of the top ten players certainly) for almost two decades. This has been a rare privilledge, tantamount with those who got to thrill at the acheivments of Pele or George Best or Johan Cruyff in another era, and we should never forget what we have had the opportunity to have seen. Some day soon we will see a Rossoneri squad take the field without number 3 in the lineup and then, and only then, will we realize how lucky we have been. We should take these last years to take some time to reflect and appreciate what a great player we have been able to watch and cheer for and to realize we may never see such a player again and to celebrate the fact that one of the best players of all time played on our team.

well said, very well said, indeed.

FORZA MALDINI

Paolo is going to play 4 ever. Man i can't imagine us without him.


Please don't remind us that he is going to step down soon.

F*cking great post man thank you
Forza Maldini you'll live forever

Originally Posted by savage_mau

Long Live Sheva, Long Live Milan
FoRza Milan

Errm....Rio isn't talking about Sheva

Anyway, good post and very true.

Great post about Maldini!

You could probably write the same about Sheva who is fast becoming a legend at Milan.

Great post, RIO. I don't think there's enough words to describe the phenomenon called Paolo Maldini = di Milan!
Here's a beautiful article I've read a few days days ago.

Il Capitano Rossonero: The legend of Paolo Maldini
By Haby Assevero | Published 10/15/2005 | Soccer | Unrated

He's the symbol of all things AC Milan.
Few people become legends in their own lifetime, but Paolo Maldini is one of them. The man who has played more than 800 matches for AC Milan and holds the record number of caps, 126, for the Italian national team is remarkable in every way.

The fittest 37-year old in European football, Maldini still plays with the enthusiasm of a child. He’s been loyal to the same side for his entire professional career, following in the footsteps of his father Cesare, making the name Maldini ever more synonymous with the club AC Milan.

Still, the word legend suggests a finished story, no matter how extraordinary. Maldini’s story is anything but finished. Against Reggina, in AC Milan’s sixth league game of the season, he scored two goals, the very first brace of his twenty year career. Incredible as it seems, there are still firsts for the player that has won everything there is to win with his club side.

As a child, Maldini played as a striker. As a young player emerging from Milan’s Primavera ( youth side), he played as a right back, but would rise to glory, charging up and down the left flank as an energetic left back. As he’s matured, he has imposed his experience and elegance at the center of Milan’s defense where he continues to reign supreme, these days alongside Alessandro Nesta.

Maldini’s loyalty to AC Milan is extraordinary in the context of modern football. This is an age where players often place monetary concerns over principles and promises. There is often no rhyme or reason to the inner workings of a footballer’s career choices. Amidst all that chaos is Maldini, the player that has stood by his team, through good times and not so good times.

Fidelity to one club, as Maldini has given to AC Milan, simply doesn’t exist anymore in the stratosphere of European football. That devotion is just one of many reasons that he is so respected in footballing circles by coaches, players and fans alike. He’s the one player that you hardly, if ever see being booed off a pitch, no matter where it is.

Of course, some will say it’s easier to pledge yourself to a team that has won 17 Italian league titles then to a side deep in the depths of the second or third division, but loyalty is only the tip of the iceberg of what he represents to AC Milan. In Italy, perhaps more than anywhere else, the team you support is an integral part of who you are, it’s a fire in your blood and most times it’s not even something you choose but something you are born into.

Maldini was born to AC Milan in more ways than one. A native of the city, he grew up with a father that had provided years of loyal service to the rossonero cause, even captaining the side to European glory as Paolo would do four decades later. The aura of dynasty is unavoidable. To prove it consider this, together, Paolo and his father Cesare have played nine out of the 10 European Cup finals in AC Milan’s history.

The longevity of his career is another astonishing facet of the current AC Milan captain. In a sport where players can burn out in ten years or less, Maldini has stayed at the very top for over two decades. What’s even more incredible is that he shows barely any signs of slowing down, still leading by example both on and off the pitch.

Bruno, the President of an official AC Milan supporters club in St. Etienne, France explains what it was like for him to meet Maldini.

"I had coffee with him at Milan’s training ground," he said in a recent phone interview. "He’s a simple guy, classy and you can tell that he feels at home at the club. It’s his family."

And that’s why the fans love him. They feel that kinship with him. They know that he understands them because he is one of them.

When I asked Bruno, how he would use to describe Maldini to someone that had never heard of him the word emblematic kept popping up. That’s it in a nutshell. Maldini is AC Milan’s emblem, their bandiera. The general consensus is that no player anywhere in Europe or even the world represents the club they love and play for the way Maldini does. Some like Francesco Totti take it even further. Totti, himself captain and emblem of AS Roma, recently said that for him, Maldini is quite simply the best ambassador Italian football could ever ask for.

There are certain players that impose themselves on the history of the sport, players whose skills and charisma are undeniable and unique and the likes of whom we’ll probably not see again in our lifetimes. Diego Armanda Maradona, Pele, Marco Van Basten, Alfredo Di Stefano, Zinedine Zidane are players like that. So is Paolo Maldini.

When he retires, as he eventually must, Paolo Maldini will have left behind a legacy that will undoubtedly remain unrivalled. He will be celebrated and remembered long after his number three jersey ceases to appear on the pitch of the San Siro stadium. In the Curva, the stands which hold the rossoneri faithful, the legend of Paolo Maldini will live forever.

Brilliant Post Inferno and fantastic words from rio
Forza Maldini!! always a legend

Good posts lads ye share my thoughts

All above will surely be a reason to be Milan Fan.....
Proud to have Maldini...
Hope his son Christian can follow his footstep..
Maldini and his father also make Milan different from other club in the world..
The unique of the name AC Milan & Maldini....

great posts rio and inferno
forza madini forever

I feel lucky and HONORED to have the great Paolo as a part of our team !!!

paolo is simply amazing. It's criminal they've never awarded him a ballon d'or. there is only about 5 players that would be automatically selected in an all-time XI. you'd put Pele upfront, Maradona in the midfield, alongside cruyff, and you'd stick Beckenbauer and Maldini in defense. He is the finest italian footballer to have lived and the finest player to have ever worn the red and black of milan. nuff said.