What a great article Somebody like this is born only once in about 50 years

It was His last European game... I was crying like a ****ing ***** last night... **** me!! what the **** does the future hold for us? I can't imagine a Milan without Maldini... ever since I was born he was there... I have not seen Milan without Maldini... I saw his last European game and his last game for Milan will also come is a couple of months... **** **** **** I'm so sad right now... and I'm sniffling like a little child again as I type this...

Wish I could turn back ****ing time...

Calm down, man

In his last European game:


...

Diashow with pictures from Paolos entire career
In an article the "kicker" (Germanys biggest magazine for football) finds only the best words for "Il capitano".
"If the entire team would have been as passionated as he was it would have enough against Arsenal."
"He's untouchable"

The article also says that on his debut against Udine in January 1985 Maldini had to wear the shoes of another player. They were to small for him so he was full of pain for the entire match. Didn't know that.
It's all so sad.....

Thanks!! To me he is the greatest player of all time. You can't imagine how much I admire him!!!

Maldini is one of the very few players I don't only respect for his skills but for his personality too. He's not just a great football player, he's a great man too!

Its a shame his last match had to end like that, if everyone played out their hearts like Maldini did, we would be would conquer the world



Grazie Mille

Thank you, LaPalma. Football is a lucky sports to have been graced with a player like Paolo Maldini. A couple of months ago, I couldn't hold back tears when thinking about the fact that he will retire at the end of the season. But now I feel confident that the man's earned the rest. His body is tired. I'd rather have all my memories associated with Maldini, be happy ones, rather than ones of regret or sadness. No other player has come close to matching his achievements on and off the pitch. And the way things are shaping up, no one will. He gave so much, and expected so little.

As for me, I know it will be hard, but I have him deep in my heart, and will be contend with watching his videos where he weaved his magic.

I think we should create a new role inside the team for Maldini for whenever he retires... something like... a Team Mentor! He should stay inside the squad, participate in the training sessions and give advice, motivate and fire up the humans of this team!!

Il Capitano gave the interview before today's training session. link

He talked about Roma, about the Empoli game, and about the team's improving condition.

At the end of the interview, he said this:

Riguardo al mio futuro lascio ancora aperte le porte, prima pensavo di essere convinto al cento per cento di smettere a fine stagione, ma ultimamente ho ricevuto molti attestati di stima e insieme alla mia condizione fisica, che è migliore rispetto a quella dello scorso anno in questo periodo della stagione, mi hanno fatto pensare. Devo quindi ancora decidere cosa fare del mio futuro.


[Regarding my future, I'm leaving the door open. Earlier, I thought I was 100% sure that I'd quit at the end of the season, but recently I've gotten a lot of encouragement and that, together with my physical condition which is better than it was at this stage last season, has given me cause to think. I still need to decide what to do with my future.]

Forza Maldini!

Give us one more season!

No matter he stays or retires, we must sign a world class CB. I fear he decides to play on and our management overlook that position...

i seriously heard the news and i felt like i was dreaming. hopefully i'll have another dream and brett farve will not retire either.

Sounds good to me. Maldini the Mentor of Mortals!


Yes, completely agree with you, zed. Either bring someone up the ranks from the youth setup, or sign one. And try not to get 30 year olds, will ya!

One more season, my king. Even if you play limited amount of matches. And besides, we always go to the finals of Europe in odd years (2003, 2005, 2007). See you in Rome 2009!

man i wish maldini could play in euro

Maldini 'Considering Newcastle Move' - GOAL.COM

LMAO give up guys

^^^

Great players always go for the best clubs. Come on come on Magpies!!

I think Maldini has won more trophies in the last 10 years, than Newcastle have in their entire history!

Very aptly put, Kurt. I'm yet to see a bigger medal-collector than our very own Paolo.

Brilliantly put!

Hopefully it was all just a 'realy poor attempt' at an April Fools joke - LOL
(concering his Newcastle move - ahahahahahahaha)

Of course, it was. Even if Milan closes, Maldini will still stay with the club.

Maldini may play on



Football Italia

god has spoken now fans must obey.

I think if we make CL then he should stay but why end his carrer with an UEFA cup it is a slap in the face to him

I do hope he stays on. Football just won't be the same without him!

Can you imagine watching a CL game involving Milan and there's no Paolo!? It'd be weird!

Most of us here don't even know what that is...

(from acmilan.com's english language page)

MILANELLO – These are the declarations of the Rossoneri’s captain, Paolo Maldini, at the microphones of Milan Channel, today at the Rossoneri's sports centre of Milanello:

Captain, there are still five games left and after the match against Cagliari the San Siro jinx has been broken…
“Apart from the games which we play at home or away, we must only think to move forward and give the best in these last five league games. From our part we can only give our best commitment each time we go on the pitch and with regards reaching the fourth place, we can only hope in a slip by Fiorentina which is now not thinkable, but Milan still has the same duty to try and win all the next five league games."

With the brace that Filippo Inzaghi scored in Turin, he reached twelve goals in official games this season. Do you believe that he deserves a place in Roberto Donadoni's team for the European Championship in June?
“There are many players who are aspiring for a place in Euro 2008: Del Piero, Borriello, Pippo too…These are not easy choices and I would not want to be in the position of the national team coach whose job is difficult due to these choices. In general I believe that Donadoni must aim on those players who have been a group in these last two years during the qualifications, then, also due to the last minute physical conditions, the coach can complete the list of the called-up players.”

In these days there has been a lot of talk about the interest of many teams towards Gattuso. What do you think?
“I read on the newspapers that there are many requests for Rino, but I believe that there always have been. There are no doubts on the intentions of the club to hold him at Milan and not even Rino wants to leave.”

Often it is written and said about a Milan side which needs to be revived lately. Your judgement?
“I don’t believe that there is a Milan which needs to be revived. This team has won a prestigious competition like the World Club Cup just last December, not twenty years ago. Therefore I believe that we have to talk about continuity of this group and not re-birth."

That's an interesting one - Pippo for Italy. He doesn't play often, but when he does, he seems to score.

Yeah .. What is Champions League

I hate to disagree with God, but WE DO NEED CHANGES! I think he knows this too but obviously cannot publicly say it...

What he most probably means is that:

- Some players need to pack their bags.
- Some will need to step up their game or look for other less profile clubs.
- And some need to warm the reserve seats more often than they do so now.
- We need to bring in a whole bunch of new reinforcements.
- But the base still needs to stay the same.

Kaka aside, you just can't phase out players like Nesta, Seedorf, Pirlo, Gattuso, etc. when we know that they still have a good 3-4 years left in them. Are quality, new players needed? Absolutely. But I'm not sure wholesale changes are necessary yet. And this is what the management seems to think (the management being Berlusconi, Galliani, Leonardo, Ancelloti and Paolo too, among others).

We've had two consecutive crap (transfer) seasons - can't quite see this extended to three. We'll get in some good players, some changes, for sure, come this August. Even if we get one good players for each position (Keeper, Defense, Mid, Attack), plus a random Ukranian or out-of-form-and-favor Brazilian thrown in for good measure, we'll be ready to challange on almost all fronts - what with our improved bench strength. Fingers crossed.

... not this way, pls!

God WILL BE back! This year or the next one, he will...

EXCACTLY!
I'm confident he'll be back as well, Paolo Maldini's career won't end like this.
It simply won't.

+59

He is not even a human being.
He'll be back for sure

I think Paolo will play another season.

Ending his career like this would be horror...

Kessinger won the Fifa order of merit

I wonder if it was for being a member of the cfr, bilderberg group, the trilateral commision, representing criminal and terrorist lobbies, or for this magnificent sentence : "Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy."

Blah blah Let's not let this thread deteriorate into a political debate.

Maldini doesn't need anything from FIFA. He should have been awarded a Golden Ball in the past... but He doesn't care... He's got a pair of Godly ones!

Sure, it's nothing but a deteriorating blah blah blah

Agree with you here. He should have won things when he was at the peak of his career, but all these organizations and their love for midfielder and strikers. Defenders and keepers never got their due for the amount of work they put in. Except for Fabio Cannavaro, who was a rare case because of Italy's victory in the 2006 World Cup.

Here's what Il Capitano said before the San Siro Gentleman awards tonight (as reported by Mediaset Sport):

Paolo Maldini ha deciso cosa fare nella prossima stagione. E di mezzo non c'e' l'eventuale qualificazione ai preliminari di Champions: 'Non c'e' niente di ufficiale, perche' non ho un contratto, ma non ci sara' neanche la necessita' dato che con Galliani siamo d'accordo. Diciamo che sono orientato verso la decisione di continuare e in settimana andro' in sede a discuterne cosi' finira' questo tormentone'.

Proprio a riguardo della Champions, Maldini e' onesto: 'Non raggiungere la Champions sarebbe una grande delusione ma la questione non e' ancora chiusa perche' abbiamo visto quanto sia bello il campionato di quest'anno. Anche le squadre che avevano meno stimoli di altre hanno reso viva e interessante la stagione fino alla fine. Speriamo che anche il Torino faccia lo stesso. Certo, ora il futuro non e' piu' nelle nostre mani'.

[Paolo Maldini has decided what to do next season, and it doesn't depend on CL qualification: 'There's nothing official because I don't have a contract, but there doesn't need to be one given that Galliani and I are in agreement. Let's say that I'm leaning toward deciding to continue and in a week I'll go to the team offices to discuss how to finish this debate.

As regards CL qualification, Maldini is honest: 'Not reaching CL qualifications would be a terrible disappointment but the question isn't over yet because we've seen how great the championship has been this year. The teams that have had less motivation have made the end of the season interesting. We hope Torino will do the same. It's certain that now our future is not in our hands.']