Legend of AC. Milan

Paolo Maldini is an Italian footballer who has played his entire career for Serie A club A.C. Milan. The son of Cesare Maldini, he is the most-selected player in the history of the club, Serie A and the Italian national team. He has played at left back for the majority of his career, although he can also operate as a centre back. He is the most capped player for the Italian national team with 126 caps.

Club career

Maldini made his league debut on January 20, 1985, at the age of sixteen, against Udinese Calcio as a halftime substitution for the injured Sergio Battistini. It would be his only league appearance of the campaign, but he was in the starting eleven the following season. The 1987–88 Scudetto marked Maldini's first major trophy, and the first of seven league titles, with the club. He was also part of AC Milan's undefeated "Dream Team" from the late 1980s to the early 1990. In addition to winning his third Champions League and reaching the 1994 FIFA World Cup final, Maldini became the first defender ever to win World Soccer magazine's annual World Player of the Year Award. During his acceptance speech, Maldini called his milestone "a particular matter of pride because defenders generally receive so much less attention from fans and the media than goalscorers. We are more in the engine room rather than taking the glory. He then singled out Milan captain Franco Baresi as a player who "really [deserved] to receive the sort of award I have received. Maldini played his 600th Serie A match on May 13, 2007, in a 1–1 draw at Calcio Catania. On September 25, 2005, Maldini broke Dino Zoff's Serie A appearance record after playing his 571st league match against Treviso F.B.C. seven days earlier, he had played his 800th game in all competitions for Milan. On February 16, 2008, Maldini reached 1,000 senior games with AC Milan and Italy when he entered as a substitute against Parma