Cesare Maldini

Maldini began his playing career with local side Triestina, in 1952, and made his Serie A debut in his first season with the club, on 24 May 1953, in a 0–0 away draw against Palermo. After two seasons with Triestina, Maldini transferred to AC Milan in 1954, where he went on to achieve notable successes both domestically and internationally in the team's starting line-up, also becoming an important figure at the club. He made his debut with the club on 19 September 1954, in a 4–0 league win over his former side, featuring in a Milan team which included several important 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 title in his debut season with the squad. In total, he made 347 appearances for Milan in Serie A, scoring 3 goals, and made 412 appearances for the club in all competitions. Maldini won four league titles with Milan, and also later became the team's captain in 1961, a role which he held for five years, until he left the club, and was succeeded by Gianni Rivera. During his time with Milan, he won a Latin Cup in 1956 and then went on to capture the 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; as a result, Milan became the first Italian side ever to win the trophy, while Maldini became the first Italian captain to lift the…

At international level Maldini earned 14 caps for the Italy national football team between 1960 and 1963, also serving as the national team's captain between 1962 and 1963, but was less successful than with Milan. He made his debut on 6 January 1960, in a 3–0 win over Switzerland in the 1955–60 Central European International Cup, and later took part in the 1962 FIFA World Cup with Italy, making two appearances in the competition. The team suffered a disappointing and controversial first-round elimination, although he was named to the team of the tournament for his performances. He made his final appearance for Italy in a European championship qualifier in Moscow, in 1963, as Italy suffered a 2–0 away defeat to the Soviet Union.

Maldini was a defender noted for his aerial ability, technique, passing range, anticipation and timng of challenges. During his career, he received five yellow cards and was sent off only once. Maldini a tactically versatile player, although he was usually used as a man-marking centre-back, or as a sweeper, he was also capable of functioning as a full-back on either side of the pitch due to his stamina and agility on the pitch, but was usually fielded on the right flank when played in this position; he was even used as a defensive midfielder on occasion, due to his tendency to advance into midfield when in possession of the ball and start attacking plays from the back. Despite his reputation as a world-class defender, in his early career Maldini was at times also known for being overly confident in possession, and for having a penchant to take risks when carrying or playing the ball out of the defence, due to his passing accuracy and ability on the ball; this tendency occasionally led to sporadic and atypical defensive errors, which were later dubbed Maldinate by the Italian media.

The son of Albino Maldini, a sailor, and Maria Vodeb, Cesare Maldini was born in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. His family was of mixed Italian-Slovenian descent. He married Maria Luisa (Marisa; née Mazzucchelli, 1939–2016) in 1962; together they had six children: three sons and three daughters. One of his sons, Paolo, also had a successful football career as a defender with Milan, and also once held the record for the most caps for the Italy national team (now third behind Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro). Paolo Maldini captained Milan to the UEFA Champions League title in 2003 and 2007, and won the trophy five times in total. Maldini's grandsons Christian and Daniel played football in the Milan academy, with Christian last playing in Serie C and Daniel currently playing at Atalanta. The young Maldini also studied to be a dental technician in case he didn't succeed in football.