Maldini wants world title

By Paolo Menicucci

Paolo Maldini's debut in Serie A dates as far back as January 1985. Almost 19 years later and after collecting an incredible amount of trophies and records, the 35-year-old AC Milan captain's hunger for success is as great as ever.

Glittering career
Since Swedish legend Nils Liedholm fielded Cesare Maldini's son for the first time in a Rossoneri shirt, the defender has played over 500 matches in Serie A, participated in four FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships. With Milan he has won everything a player can hope to: six Serie A titles, four UEFA Champions Leagues, four UEFA Super Cups, one Coppa Italia, four Italian Super Cups and two European/South American Cups.

'Perfect ending'
On Sunday the European champions will be attempting to win the European/South American Cup for a record fourth time when they take on CA Boca Juniors in Yokohama, their seventh appearance in the competition. "We will give our best to win this game because we want to return to Milan as world champions," Maldini told uefa.com minutes before leaving for Japan on Monday. "It would the perfect ending to a fantastic year."
 
Fifth attempt
It will be Maldini's fifth attempt at winning the trophy. He tasted success in 1989 and 1990 against Atlético Nacional de Medellín and Club Olimpia respectively, but lost against São Paulo FC and CA Vélez Sarsfield in 1993 and 1994. "I still haven't forgotten the defeat against Vélez," he said. "The match against Boca, another Argentinian side, can be considered as a kind of revenge for us. I would love to win the trophy for the third time."

Advance party
Seven Milan players flew to the Far East on Monday, while the rest of the squad will travel on Wednesday after the UEFA Champions League match against RC Celta de Vigo. "It's a bit strange but I think it's fair to give players who have been playing more often in this first part of the season a chance to adapt better to the different time zone," Maldini explained. "We will start training together on Wednesday and we will prepare for the match as well as possible because we really care about this trophy."

Fearsome adversaries
However, the Milan defender knows that it will be a difficult match against a team which will play in Japan for the third time in four years after beating Real Madrid CF in 2000 and losing to FC Bayern München the following year. "They are an extremely technical side, as every Argentinian team is, but they also have as much personality and solidity as European teams," warned Maldini.

Fantastic year
Respect for Maldini is universal in Italy and goes far beyond club rivalry. Italian fans are united in hoping that he will be named the European Footballer of the Year later this month after he was included in a 50-player shortlist for the award. Defenders do not usually receive this accolade but Maldini's 2003 has been fantastic with the Rossoneri lifting the UEFA Champions League, the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Super Cup and qualifying for the knockout stage of the most prestigious European club competition this season.

Milan first
However, as ever, the captain puts the results of the team ahead of personal achievements, saying: "I would prefer to win on Sunday than win the Golden Ball." Should Milan triumph in Yokohama, it is just possible that the stylish defender might end up with both.