Paolo Cesare Maldini (Italian pronunciation: ; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a left-back and central defender for A.C. Milan and the Italy national team. He spent all 25 seasons of his career in the Serie A with Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009. He won 23 trophies with Milan while in the squad: the UEFA Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, four European Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Maldini made his debut for Italy in 1988, enjoying a 14-year career before retiring in 2002 with 126 caps, a record at the time, which has since only been bettered by Fabio Cannavaro in 2009 and Gianluigi Buffon in 2013. Maldini captained Italy for eight years and held the record for appearances made as Italy's captain, wearing the armband 74 times, until he was once again overtaken by Cannavaro, in 2010. With Italy, Maldini took part in three UEFA European Championship and four FIFA World Cups. Although he did not win a tournament with Italy, he reached the final of the 1994 World Cup and Euro 2000, and the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup and Euro 1988. He was elected into the all-star teams for each of these tournaments, in addition to Euro 1996.