«Competitive only if we say goodbye to San Siro. Papa Cesare? We are what our parents were “- Corriere.it

Paolo Maldini, will the farewell to San Siro become official in 2022?

I believe and hope it can be so. Impressive, I realize that. Me too. My father played it, I played it, my son plays it. was my home. If we put it on memories, who more than me could feel hurt by such an epochal change?
Don’t you think that stadium is a piece of Milan’s history?

Absolutely yes. But if it has become such an iconic place, it owes it to the achievements of the clubs and players who have played there. We need to think about this. If we want Milan and Inter to return to the top levels of European football, writing beautiful pages like those of San Siro, we can only have a new stadium. There are no alternatives. This is not an opinion, a certainty. I don’t want to erase a wonderful past. I just like to look ahead. a bit of the idea of ​​my life.
What is your strongest memory?

Here it is, the usual amarcord … Beyond how it went, my last match, the one with Roma. A real match, which counted for a lot and which we lost. I lived it on a roller coaster of emotion, even as I approached the race.
Can I say that a surprising choice?

Due to the protest of some fans? It was a minority, which makes more and more noise than the crowd. I was not part of that world. I tried to live my profession giving my best, demanding respect, and accepting defeats, which is very difficult, because you suffer so much. I have been myself. And if we want, thanks also to those whistles, I left leaving a signal that is not exactly trivial.
Was he ready to say goodbye?

S. Although immediately after, while I was taking my first vacation in August of the last thirty years, I heard on the radio the news that Milan were starting their retirement and I had a feeling of estrangement. If they are there, how am I standing here by the sea? That year I returned to the stadium for the derby, and for the last time in my life I experienced the feeling that has defined my life as a footballer. A mixture of excitement, fear and euphoria, which always took you to the stomach, before taking the field. A kind of natural drug. Perhaps, the thing I missed the most.

His most beautiful Europe?

The first victory in the European Cup, by posting. Barcelona, ​​1989, against Steaua Bucharest. Perhaps one of the last games where the stadium was all with one team. Now there are fixed rules on capacity, there are no more blocks in the east, there is no longer Ceausescu. The city was invaded by our fans, it was a kind of exodus. Arriving at the stadium, both our bus and that of Steaua got stuck in the midst of this Rossoneri tide. The result was already written.
Worse the lights out in Marseille or those of the second half in Istanbul against Liverpool?

The first. In the final with Liverpool there was a result, however incredible and painful. Dominated game, which if you play it again you win nine times out of ten. But that night in Marseille we were influenced by something that shouldn’t have been there: the lack of habit of defeat, and therefore the inability to accept it. Which is the first thing that should be taught to a young footballer.
Do you suffer more from the son of a footballer or from the father of a footballer?

As a son, I suffered a lot. On the suburbs fields, and now unfortunately I think it could be even worse than then. My dad used to come to see the games, and I heard what people were saying, I felt bad looks on him. I believe that the parable of my career was decided on those occasions. Either I gave up, or I tried to always be one of the best. To show that I was not just “the son of Caesar”. And every time I charged up like this, imagining what my opponents’ parents were saying.

Do you really leave your father free to choose between Milan and Inter?

If I close my eyes, I still see the scene again. I was ten years old. We were in the kitchen, next to the balcony, in our old house in Citt Studi. Maybe he was confident in my answer of a certain type … He also asked me if I wanted to be in goal, I liked him a lot, or to be an outfield player. And since then, he never asked me to become someone. He has always repeated to me what I say to the Milan players today. Do you want to do this job? Give your best, respect the group and the people. Be honest and you will have no regrets. In the end, we are what our parents were, there is no escape from this fate.
Even in the relationship with your children?

My father’s serenity in managing my career has always impressed me. And the further I go, the more it hits me. Everyone talks about Daniel, but I suffer more from Christian, who ruptured two cruciate ligaments at 16 and 17. They are both like me, they don’t open up to their dad. But I know that being my children affected them.
Why is the only champion who has not yet written an autobiography?

They have proposed it to me many times. But autobiographies only make sense if a person can really say everything. In my opinion, it’s not fair to do it. I am a loyal person to the unwritten code of the players. a form of respect towards all the groups with which I worked from the first Milan with Franco Baresi to the last one in 2009. I would not like to tell my own truth. When you talk about a team, there is no single point of view.
What did you do in your nine years away from football?

The day after my last game, I went to get my hair cut. From long to short, as I wear them now. I wanted to be something else. Feeling appreciated or not for who I really was, not because I was Paolo Maldini, the former footballer. I was lucky enough to retire when my children were still small. Having some time for them was great. I enjoyed a normal life.
Isn’t it possible as a footballer?

I always repeat to my players that when you cross the threshold of Milanello you have to forget everything, and only think about football. But this inevitably leads you to sacrifice others. When I was playing, even having a coffee with friends was an experience that I often couldn’t afford.

How was the return to Milan after all that time?

At first, I would come home every night and tell my wife it was a mess. I kept repeating to Leonardo that he had wanted me with him that I felt useless. I didn’t understand the administrative part of the job, I was wondering what I was doing there. I have to feel like a protagonist.
And when did Leonardo tell you he was returning to Paris Saint Germain?

What the f … say Leo, was my reply. With eyes out. I felt lost. But honestly, right after that I also had the feeling of being at ease for the first time. I was back in a situation where I had no one to shield me. What I’ve always been looking for. I am very grateful to Leonardo, the apprenticeship with him was fundamental. We talk often.
Even after your goalkeeper, best player in the European Championship at just 21, has been stolen from you?

Sometimes I know I seem almost fatalistic. Gianluigi Donnarumma a beautiful person, full of emotions. I believe that in an ideal world the only real motivation for a football player should be passion. But if your goal is to get a social ransom, and money to give to your family, who tightened their belts for you in your childhood years, well, those are motivations too. To understand and respect.
So it’s not just a question of money?

To achieve certain results and a certain stature as a player, sports motivations are fundamental. It may happen that the needs of a player do not combine with those of a club. There are those who can wait, and those who are in a hurry. It’s not up to me to judge certain choices.
Would the great Milan of the two consecutive European triumphs have won even without Arrigo Sacchi on the bench, as claimed by his friend Marco Van Basten?

Maybe we would also have won with another manager. But be careful. That team is remembered because it created something unique, and it was the beginning of the great cycle of Milan. And I believe that without Arrigo’s advent, the history of Milan in the last 25 years would have been very different. Because it was his frantic search for perfection that transformed us into what we have become. Was that obsession also a limitation? There is a Sacchi paradox. We were unbeatable in the decisive match, but we lost a lot of league titles. The pursuit of perfection implies that you cannot be perfect for eleven months in a row. a temporary state, and we knew it. But if we have reached a very high level, leaving an important legacy, it is his merit. In Italian football there is a before and after Sacchi, like it or not. And that Milan may have left something on the street, but it has carried on a cycle that has lasted almost twenty years.

How have the players changed?

Before the games, there was a sacred silence in the locker room. Now, everywhere, there is music at a very high volume. I’m not the kind of person who says it was better in my day. It was just different. Footballers adapt, like all workers. For example, social media have meant that during retreats within groups there is no longer a lot of conversation. Instagram and anything else killed the implied beauty of the retreat: the dialogue, the friendships that were welded together. I belong to another generation.
Will Covid revolutionize football?

People often talk badly about today’s players, but instead they have been all too good at playing at a good level without spectators. A year in those conditions was killing not only the product itself but their souls as well. I couldn’t have done it, I’m honest. When I entered San Siro and maybe there were just twenty thousand spectators for the Coppa Italia matches, I felt dull. Football cannot feel above anything, even if we believe we are in a bubble. And he cannot delude himself into being able to ignore a direct relationship with the viewer. At the stadium. Not on television.
Will there ever be another all-Italian European final like Milan-Juventus in 2003 in Manchester?

Thinking of returning to the dominance of the first years of the new century is unreal. There will be no more owners like Berlusconi or Moratti. Finance says it, it says how the world is. Meanwhile the others, the English Premier League but also the German Bundesliga thanks to the 2006 World Cup, organized themselves and overtook us.
How?

Simple, they redid the stadiums. Which is the way to generate profit and become more competitive. If we had done it first, we would have remained competitive, as Juventus demonstrates. But not so far, due to the prevalence of particular interest. When it comes to Lega Calcio, a minimum of common vision would be needed, preferably in the long term. Investment in infrastructure is the only possible opportunity if we want to return to large European companies. Otherwise all that remains is to dream of the arrival of the charming prince.
How does Paolo Maldini see himself in ten years?

With white hair, I hope happy. As for this job, either I do it with Milan or I don’t. Maybe abroad, but honestly I should think about it. I’m glad I had this opportunity. Because I know that if I didn’t, I would always regret not trying. Also for this reason, the future does not scare me.