Milan Legends Corner: A tribute to Cesare Maldini

The following was written and can be found at milanlegends.com - great site with wonderful daily historical Rossoneri contributions.

Boffi The Rossonero Goalscorer

Colombo was Aldo Boffi. As he took on the position of striker, at the end of his seven years playing for Milan, he would be the leading goalscorer in Italy behind the great Giuseppe “Peppino” Meazza. The ease at which he was able to beat his opponents goalkeepers can be shown by his stats that resulted in 109 goals in 163 appearances. In a showering of goals, it lead Boffi and the Rossoneri to the top of the league during the 1936/37, 1939/40 and 1941/42 seasons. In particular, thanks to the nineteen goals of his first years playing for Milan in 1936/37, the Rossoneri nearly reached the scudetto, gaining just 1 point more than Juventus and five ahead of Ambrosiana-Inter.

Shortly after, Milan lost sight of their championship gains in their last six games of the season, winning only once, and losing three games with Juventus. In short, it was a championship almost won, but few knew that Milan had a change in technical coach during the course of the season. Baloncieri guided the Rossoneri for the last time on November 29, 1936, after which William Garbutt took on (the only Englishman to take that role in the history of Milan). In total, Boffi played for Milan 194 games while scoring 136 goals which earned him the fifth position in ranking as the Rossoneri top striker of all time.

Tribute to Cesare Maldini

At the time of this writing, a great Milan legend had passed away at the age of 84 on April 3rd, 2016. This is our tribute to Cesare Maldini, a man who dedicated his career to Milan and created one of the greatest and well known legacies known to Italian football.

tribute-to-cesare-maldiniWhen most hear the name Maldini today, they think of the most popular player in Milan history: Paolo Maldini. There was a time, however, when that name was prominent to another Maldini, his father Cesare. In Cesare’s most prosperous years he was himself a Milan player and a very good one at that. His time in Milan took place from 1954 to 1966, and he left quite a legacy. Out of his 14 or so years of playing professional soccer, he’d play 12 years for the Rossoneri! Not to mention he would also be a prominent member of the Azzurri and got to manage them as well. Not many players today could say that they managed and played for their respective football clubs at the national and international level.

During Cesare’s 347 appearances with the Rossoneri he would go on to win 4 scudetto, 1 European Cup (today’s equivalent of the UEFA Europa Cup), and 1 Latin cup. He didn’t score that many goals, as you’d expect, but that was because he was a Defender (Center-back). His leadership and play-making skills promoted him to the title of Captain for Milan.

tribute-to-cesare-maldiniAs a manager, his successes were a little less decorated, but he was certainly effective and better than most. As many players that played under his lead, they still are inspired by him today and he certainly has high regard by all Rossoneri and Azzurri fans alike. Although he did not win any cups for the Azzurri, his coaching ability had earned his team the U-21 European Championships in 1992, 1994, and 1996.

As a father, his legacy would pave the way for his son Paolo who would go on to be one of the greatest, possibly THE greatest Defender and Captain of Milan. Cesare’s 60 years of dedication to the sport would inspire not only his son, but his grandsons, as they have begun their journey in Milan’s youth club. If there’s anything that Cesare and Paolo taught us, is that the father-son legacy is strong with the Maldini name. There may be another father-son legacy that will live on with the Maldini family for years to come, possibly forever! At that, it would be another first for Cesare even in his passing, as the first father-son-grandson legacy.

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