Paolo’s son Daniel makes his debut for the Azzurri

The European Championships last summer were messed up for Italy. But now there is some hope again – also borne of nostalgia. The spirit of optimism has a name, a very important one in Italian football: Maldini.

It happened on Monday in Udine during the Azzurri’s 4-1 Nations League win over Israel. In the 74th minute, Daniel Maldini entered the pitch for the first time for the Italian senior national team. He is 23 years old, plays for Monza and has only scored one goal this season. But it has over seventy years of history behind it.

Daniel is the third national player in his dynasty after his grandfather and father. This had never happened in Italy. The “Gazzetta dello Sport” now calls the Maldinis the “First Family” of calcio.

The name Maldini stands for class and charm

The name is entirely legitimate. The Maldinis are as linked to Italian football as the land is to the sea. Grandfather Cesare was not only a player but also a coach for the Nazionale. His son Paolo held the record for minutes played at World Cups ahead of Lionel Messi. He represented the extraordinary class of Italian defenders – and with his outrageously good looks, the charm of the Calciatori.

And now Daniel Maldini is also entering the international stage. Instead of defending like his ancestors, he hunts for goals. It’s only been in the last year that his talent has become more obvious – since he stormed for Monza. Before that, like Nonno Cesare and Papà Maldini, he had worn the red and black AC Milan jersey. The Maldinis have shaped Milan even more than the national team.

Daniel never made it there. Italy is considered a vitamin B country par excellence. Looking for work without relationships can be stressful. The “raccomandati”, those who were recommended, have it easier. That didn’t seem to be the case for Daniel Maldini.

Rather, his status as a “son of” led to a break with the family’s heartfelt club. From 2018 to 2023, Paolo Maldini returned to the management team at Milan. It was a different club now. The patron Silvio Berlusconi was gone, first Chinese and then American investors came. Maldini fell out with the latter. The fact that Daniel also moved away six months later was interpreted as a quarrel between the club and the entire family.

Paolo Maldini was an angel of tackling

He was also watching in the stands on Monday: the legend Paolo. His career with Milan began in the same stadium. There he made his debut in Serie A in January 1985. He was only 16, but blessed with an unmistakable talent. Nils Liedholm was coaching Milan at the time and substituted Maldini in the second half. Before that he is said to have asked him: “Paolo, where do you want to play? Right or left?”

During his long career he was mostly left full-back, sometimes also head of defense. And always a feast for the eyes. Elegant tackles, surprising anticipations, passes with the heel while turning in the air. The San Siro, the Opera of Calcio, applauded with awe this angel with steel blue eyes and flowing hair.

Paolo Maldini and AC Milan grew into a unit that seemed inseparable. He is one of the rare footballers who remained loyal to his club forever. By 2009, his debut in Udine had been followed by another 900 appearances for the Rossoneri and 26 titles – he lifted the Champions League trophy five times.

A love story since the 1950s

Milan and the Maldinis have been a love story since the 1950s. Paolo’s father Cesare, who died in 2016, moved to the metropolis from the port city of Trieste and became multiple Italian champions with the Milanese team.

He also became a European Cup winner, but he found little place in the national team. After just 14 appearances, his career with the Azzurri was over. She was in the association’s tracksuit for much longer. As assistant to national coach Enzo Bearzot, Cesare Maldini was part of the 1982 World Cup team. He later led the U21s to three European Championship victories, the last time in 1996. The squad included the later 2006 World Cup winners such as Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro and Francesco Totti .

Cesare then became senior national coach himself and was boss of his son Paolo for two years from 1996 until the quarter-final exit at the 1998 World Cup. His career in the national team was much more illustrious with 126 games. Nevertheless, the junior remained humble and ambitious. “I was the most unsuccessful national player,” Paolo once said. Although he belonged to a golden generation of Italians, he was denied titles in azure. He left the field as a loser in the 1994 World Cup final and the 2000 European Championship final.

He is a bright spot on offense

And now Daniel is writing a new chapter in the Maldini saga. Despite a short playing time, he contributed to the Italians’ fourth goal. He is considered a great striker talent, physically robust with a length of 188 centimeters and a sophisticated technique. A ray of hope for coach Luciano Spalletti in the acute shortage of strikers in the national team.

However, Daniel Maldini is still lacking experience, which Daniel Maldini has only gained since moving to Monza. Before that, Milan had – as is often the case with young Italian players – loaned him out to La Spezia and Empoli in the provinces. Then came the dispute and the break, which experts assessed in talks as “violence against Milan history”.

The fact that Maldini junior plays in Monza is no coincidence and still has something to do with Milan history. After selling his club, Berlusconi took over Monza together with former Milan managing director Adriano Galliani. This led the suburban club into Serie A for the first time. He is now coached by a former teammate of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta.

Daniel Maldini likes Inter? This is a horror scenario for Milan fans

In this Milan context, Daniel Maldini thrives and starts to attract attention with good moves, assists and goals. Italian journalists are ruling out a return to AC Milan as long as the current management owns the club. And as long as Maldini plays so conspicuously. He could soon be worth so much that the resized Milan can no longer afford him.

Rumors recently made headlines that must feel like renal colic for Milan fans: Daniele Maldini is said to like arch-enemy Inter Milan.