italian football player and director

Cesare Maldini ( italian pronunciation : [ ˈtʃeːzare malˈdiːni, ˈtʃɛː- ] ; 5 February 1932 – 3 April 2016 ) was an italian professional football director and player who played as a defender. Father to Paolo Maldini and grandfather to Daniel Maldini : Cesare began his career with italian side Triestina, before transferring to AC Milan in 1954, whom he captained to win four Serie A league titles and one european Cup during his twelve seasons with the club. He retired in 1967, after a temper with Torino. internationally, he played for Italy, earning 14 caps and participating in the 1962 World Cup. He served as team captain for both Milan and Italy.

As a coach, he besides coached his early club Milan on two occasions, arsenic well as italian sides Foggia, Ternana and Parma. He had a successful career in charge of the Italy under-21 side, winning the european Under-21 Championship a record three back-to-back times ; he late besides coached the Italy senior team at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, and the Paraguay home football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup .

early biography [edit ]

The son of Albino Maldini, a bluejacket, and Maria Vodeb, Cesare Maldini was born in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. His kin was of slovenian descent. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] He married Maria Luisa ( Marisa ; née Mazzucchelli, 1939–2016 [ 3 ] ) in 1962 ; together they had six children : three sons and three daughters. [ 4 ] One of his sons, Paolo, besides had a successful football career as a defender with Milan, [ 5 ] and besides once held the record for the most caps for the Italy national team ( now third behind Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro ). The younger Maldini captained Milan to the UEFA Champions League style in 2003 and 2007, and won the trophy five times in total. [ 6 ] Maldini ‘s grandsons Christian [ 7 ] and Daniel played football in the AC Milan youth teams. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Cesare ‘s nephew Pero Maldini is a well known political commentator born in Dubrovnik, Croatia .

Club career [edit ]

Maldini began his playing career with local side Triestina, in 1952, [ 4 ] and made his Serie A debut in his first season with the club, on 24 May 1953, in a 0–0 aside draw against Palermo. [ 11 ] After two seasons with Triestina, Maldini transferred to AC Milan in 1954, where he went on to achieve noteworthy successes both domestically and internationally in the team ‘s starting line-up, besides becoming an significant figure at the club. [ 12 ] He made his debut with the club on 19 September 1954, in a 4–0 league acquire over his former side, featuring in a Milan team which included several crucial players at the time, such as Lorenzo Buffon, Francesco Zagatti, Nils Liedholm, Gunnar Nordahl, and Juan Alberto Schiaffino ; he immediately broke into the first team and won his first league championship in his debut season with the police squad. [ 11 ] [ 13 ] In entire, he made 347 appearances for Milan in Serie A, scoring 3 goals, [ 14 ] and made 412 appearances for the club in all competitions. [ 13 ] [ 15 ] Maldini won four league titles with Milan, and besides late became the team ‘s master in 1961, a role which he held for several years, until he left the club, and was succeeded by Gianni Rivera. During his clock time with Milan, he besides won a Coppa Latina, and went on to capture the golf club ‘s first ever european Cup as team captain in 1963, as Milan defeated Benfica 2–1 at Wembley Stadium on 22 May, with two goals from José Altafini ; [ 5 ] [ 15 ] [ 16 ] [ 17 ] as a result, Milan became the first base italian side ever to win the trophy, while Maldini became the first italian master to lift the cup. [ 9 ] [ 18 ] He made his concluding appearance for Milan on 22 May 1966, in a 6–1 home plate winnings over Catania, in Serie A. [ 11 ] In 1966 he moved to Torino for a season, before retiring in 1967 ; [ 8 ] he made his final Serie A appearance on 28 May, in a 2–1 away defeat to Napoli. [ 11 ]

International career [edit ]

At international flat Maldini earned 14 caps for the Italy national football team between 1960 and 1963, besides serving as the national team ‘s captain between 1962 and 1963, [ 19 ] but was less successful than with Milan. He made his debut on 6 January 1960, in a 3–0 succeed over Switzerland in the 1955–60 central european International Cup, [ 19 ] [ 20 ] and former took contribution in the 1962 FIFA World Cup with Italy, making two appearances in the rival. [ 17 ] The team suffered a disappoint and controversial first-round elimination, although he was named to the team of the tournament for his performances. [ 8 ] [ 21 ] He made his final appearance for Italy in a european backing qualifier in Moscow, in 1963, as Italy suffered a 2–0 away kill to the Soviet Union. [ 4 ]

style of play [edit ]

A dominate, elegant, and respected defender, with commodity physical attributes, excellent proficiency, passing range, and an ability to set the tempo of his team ‘s play, Maldini was known for being strong in the air, and for his outstanding ability to read the game, prison term his challenges, and anticipate opponents ; he is considered one of the greatest defenders of his generation, and one of Italy ‘s best ever defenders. He was besides highly regarded for his leadership, and consistency, american samoa well as his discipline and class, both on and off the lurch ; throughout his career, he merely received five jaundiced cards and was only sent off only once. A tactically versatile actor, although he was normally deployed as a man-marking centre-back ( or “ stopper ” ), or as a carpet sweeper, he was besides capable of functioning as a full-back on either side of the pitch, but was normally fielded on the right flank when played in this position ; he was even used as a defensive midfielder on occasion, due to his inclination to advance into midfield when in possession of the ball and start attacking plays from the spinal column. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] [ 22 ] [ 23 ] Despite his reputation as a systematically first defender, in his early career Maldini was at times besides known for being excessively confident in possession, and for having a preference to take risks when carrying or playing the ball out of the defense, due to his passing accuracy and ability on the ball ; this tendency occasionally led to sporadic and atypical defensive errors, which were late humorously dubbed Maldinate by the italian media. [ 24 ]

Managerial career [edit ]

early career [edit ]

After retiring from playing Maldini became a coach, starting his career as an assistant director for Nereo Rocco at Milan in 1970, and by and by besides coached the team between 1972 and 1974, while Rocco served as the club ‘s technical director. Maldini ‘s first official match as Milan ‘s head coach came on 6 September 1972, in a 4–1 away win over FA Red Boys Differdange in the Cup Winners ‘ Cup ; [ 11 ] [ 13 ] Maldini won a Coppa Italia and a Cup Winners ‘ Cup duplicate in 1973, and besides narrowly missed out on the league deed that season. [ 8 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 22 ] however, Milan besides suffered a 6–1 get the better of on aggregate to Ajax in the European Super Cup ; this was the worst frustration for an italian team in an UEFA rival final. [ 25 ] He was sacked by the club in 1974, following a disappoint 2–1 frustration to Verona on 6 April, and was replaced by Giovanni Trapattoni for the final examination few games of the season. [ 11 ] [ 13 ] He late went on to coach Foggia ( 1974–1976 ), Ternana ( 1976–77 ), and Serie C1 side Parma ( 1978–80 ), helping the team to obtain Serie B forwarding during his tenure with the club, after managing a second-place end in the league during the 1978–79 Serie C1 season. [ 8 ] [ 20 ] [ 22 ] between 1980 and 1986, he was one of Enzo Bearzot ‘s assistants for the Italy national team, and tied served as his adjunct coach during the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain, which Italy won. [ 8 ] [ 22 ] [ 26 ]

Italy under-21 passenger car [edit ]

Maldini took charge of the italian Under-21 slope in 1986, and coached the team for ten years, winning the european Under-21 Football Championship tournament a read three consecutive times between 1992 and 1996. [ 27 ] As Italy ‘s Under-21 coach, Maldini was besides known as a mentor for many of the team ‘s players, who late stated that he played a cardinal character in their exploitation ; indeed, former protégés Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon and Francesco Totti from Maldini ‘s 1996 Under-21 european Championship-winning squad went on to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup. [ 28 ] He besides coached the italian Olympic teams that took separate at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics. [ 22 ] [ 26 ]

1998 World Cup with Italy senior team [edit ]

Following his successes with the Under-21 side, Maldini took care of the senior team in December 1996, [ 20 ] replacing Arrigo Sacchi. [ 4 ] After taking over as the home team ‘s director, he helped Italy to a crucial 1–0 away victory over England at Wembley Stadium on 12 February 1997, [ 4 ] and successfully aided the team to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup undefeated through the play-offs against Russia. [ 26 ] Under Maldini, Italy were one of the four teams who besides took function in the 1997 Tournoi de France friendly tournament, against his wishes, in which they finished in last place. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Despite initially struggling in qualification, the italian media and fans had great expectations of the 1998 slope, which included a impregnable defense, and several prolific attacking players, such as christian Vieri, Alessandro Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi, among others, in their prime. Cesare Maldini ‘s son, Paolo, was captain of the team. [ 5 ] [ 9 ] [ 26 ] [ 32 ] Italy were drawn in Group B of the tournament with Chile, Cameroon and Austria. They won their group, drawing 2–2 with Chile in their open plot, [ 26 ] and then beating Cameroon 3–0 [ 33 ] and Austria 2–1. [ 34 ] Advancing to the Round of 16, Italy then beat Norway 1–0 [ 35 ] to secure a touch in the quarter-finals against tournament hosts France. After a scoreless draw, Italy were finally eliminated by the eventual champions on penalties. [ 36 ] Although Italy did not lose a match at the World Cup, Maldini resigned after the tournament due to heavy criticism in the italian media over his allegedly ultra-defensive and “ antique ” catenaccio -inspired tactics, which included the use of a traditional man-marking defensive back-line, american samoa well as a sweeper. [ 4 ] [ 24 ] [ 26 ] [ 32 ] [ 37 ] [ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 40 ] He was besides condemned for leaving Gianfranco Zola out of the squad, and for his reluctance to field creative forwards Roberto Baggio and Alessandro Del Piero alongside each other in the front-line, opting rather to have one player come on for the other in the irregular half ; [ 26 ] [ 32 ] [ 41 ] these controversial substitutions were compared to those made between Sandro Mazzola and Gianni Rivera by Ferruccio Valcareggi, the italian director at the 1970 World Cup. [ 42 ]

Milan return and 2002 World Cup with Paraguay [edit ]

After serving as a principal scout for his former team Milan from February 1999, [ 20 ] Maldini briefly returned to coach the Milan first team in March 2001, serving as an interim director for the baseball club ( whose captain was his son, Paolo ) [ 43 ] aboard youth coach Mauro Tassotti, following Alberto Zaccheroni ‘s sack, and led the squad for their concluding games of the season. [ 44 ] Although the club endured a disappointing season, finishing in sixth place and failing to qualify for the Champions League, Maldini did lead the team to a memorable 6–0 victory over cross-city rivals Inter in the Milan Derby on 11 May ; [ 13 ] the result was Inter ‘s worst-ever home defeat in Serie A, and Milan ‘s biggest league succeed in the Derby. [ 45 ] After helping the club to qualify for the UEFA Cup, [ 44 ] Maldini was replaced by Fatih Terim the follow season, although he initially remained with the baseball club as an adviser to the coach. [ 20 ] In January 2002, Maldini became coach of Paraguay. [ 46 ] His appointment caused some controversy as domestic managers were overlooked ( prompting the managers union to try to unsuccessfully expel him for immigration breaches ), and because he spoke fiddling spanish. [ 4 ] Maldini however had the hold of asterisk goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert and respective early aged players. [ 47 ] He took over the team which had already qualified for the 2002 World Cup hosted by South Korea and Japan ; at the long time of 70, he became, what was at the time, the oldest coach to always be in charge of a national side at a World Cup tournament ( his son Paolo captained Italy in the same tournament ) ; [ 8 ] this read was later broken by Greece ‘s coach Otto Rehhagel in the 2010 World Cup. [ 48 ]

Read more: FIFA 21 Pro Clubs

Despite missing Chilavert for the first base crippled due to suspension, Paraguay managed to advance from Group B to the Round of 16, after a 2–2 draw with South Africa, [ 49 ] a 3–1 frustration from Spain, [ 50 ] and a 3–1 victory over Slovenia. [ 51 ] In the Round of 16, Paraguay were eliminated by the eventual finalists Germany, losing 1–0 courtesy of an 89th-minute goal from Oliver Neuville. [ 52 ]

vogue of management [edit ]

From a tactical point of view, Maldini was known for his timid, traditional, and button-down approach as a coach, and he used a solid, defensive-minded catenaccio -inspired system as the head passenger car of the italian national side, a system which had been widely used by his mentor, Nereo Rocco ; as he preferred to build his team on a very hard back-line, he often fielded a 4–4–2 formation, but which normally employed a sweeper ( or “ libero, ” in italian ) and three-man-marking centre-backs ( or “ plug, ” in italian ) in front of the goalkeeper, although at times, he would besides use a more common compressed four-man defensive tune and a zonal distinguish system, with two centre-backs, a left-back, and a right-back. His teams were frequently known for being identical compact defensively and for their mean and physical punctuate of opponents and would much play on the counter-attack. [ 4 ] [ 24 ] [ 26 ] [ 32 ] [ 37 ] [ 38 ] [ 39 ] [ 53 ] [ 54 ] [ 55 ] [ 56 ] [ 57 ] In attack, he normally paired two forwards who would complement each early aboard one another, namely a traditionally big, physical, and prolific centre-forward – such as christian Vieri – with a smaller, faster, creative and more technical second hitter – such as Roberto Baggio or Alessandro Del Piero ; on rare occasions, he besides employed an attack trident. [ 58 ]

After retirement [edit ]

After the 2002 World Cup, Maldini returned to AC Milan as a talent scout for the Rossoneri. [ 59 ] He besides former worked as a sports analyst for several radio stations and sports channels, [ 20 ] such as beIN SPORTS, and besides for Al Jazeera in 2012, with Alessandro Altobelli. [ 8 ]

death [edit ]

On 3 April 2016, at the senesce of 84, Cesare died. [ 60 ] In his honor, a minute of silence was held earlier every league game in Italy that weekend, while Milan players wore black armbands in their match against Atalanta. Maldini ‘s grandson Christian besides captained the youth team in a friendly peer in his award [ 61 ] Maldini ‘s funeral overhaul was held on 5 April, at the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio, in Milan, [ 62 ] and was attended by several crucial footballing figures. [ 10 ] His wife died later that year, on 28 July. [ 3 ]

career statistics [edit ]

club [edit ]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[11]
Club Season League Cup Europe[a] Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Triestina 1952–53 1 0 1 0
1953–54 31 0 31 0
AC Milan 1954–55 27 1 1 0 28 1
1955–56 22 0 6 0 2 0 30 0
1956–57 21 1 2 0 23 1
1957–58 32 0 3 0 8 0 43 0
1958–59 34 0 1 0 1 0 36 0
1959–60 29 0 4 0 1 0 34 0
1960–61 30 0 2 0 2 0 34 0
1961–62 34 1 2 0 36 1
1962–63 31 0 1 0 9 0 2 0 43 0
1963–64 22 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 29 0
1964–65 34 0 2 0 36 0
1965–66 31 0 1 0 8 0 40 0
Total 347 3 9 0 42 0 14 0 412 3
Torino 1966–67 33 0 3 0 3 0 39 0
Career total 412 3 12 0 42 0 17 0 483 3
  1. ^ Appearances in the UEFA European Cup and UEFA Cup Winners ‘ Cup

International [edit ]

Appearances and goals by national team and year[19]
National team Year Apps Goals
Italy 1960 1 0
1961 3 0
1962 6 0
1963 4 0
Total 14 0

Honours [edit ]

player [edit ]

AC Milan[14][22]
Individual

coach [edit ]

AC Milan [ 11 ] [ 22 ]
Italy U21 [ 27 ]

References [edit ]