June 26: Paolo Maldini Born in Milan

Nike Mercurial IX

After a quarter of a century, Paolo Maldini retired from AC Milan and football after the 2008/09 campaign and it was on this day in football history in 1968 that the Italian defender was born in the Milan. The son of Cesare Maldini was to prove himself a chip off the old block.

The longevity of Maldini is hard to imagine and made to look even more impressive considering he played his entire career with one of Europe’s dominant teams. He was a winning member of seven Italian Serie A championships, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five UEFA Champions League Cups, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups with the Rossoneri.

--- A.C. Milan are one of the top Serie A and Italian teams and Paolo Maldini was a class act for the Rossoneri.  Get in the Gear. ---

Since joining the club at age 10 and getting in his first Serie A match at age 16, Maldini made 901 appearances for AC Milan. In addition for suiting up for the Serie A side, Paolo Maldini earned 126 caps for the Italian national team.

But he never let the fame or glory go to his head and after playing his 1,000 professional match against Parma he said, "These are numbers which will remain in history – too bad we did not get the three points" and despite numerous offers for testimonial matches the #3 had opted to quietly leave the game.

His number 3 jersey was retired by AC Milan and will only be worn again if one of his two sons continues the Maldini tradition with the Rossoneri and it might not be long before the #3 is back as his oldest son, Christian, plays with the junior squad.

Soccer Birthdays

1968 – Paolo Maldini, Italian footballer
1975 – Terry Skiverton, English football player
1979 – Andy O'Brien, English footballer
1987 – Samir Nasri, French footballer

Soccer Deaths

2001 – Soccer (dog actor) (b. 1988)
2003 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroon footballer (b. 1975)