The Maldini, the family of the 3 generations in football
The Maldini family can boast of having had 3 generations of footballers at AC Milan.
In the history of football, there were fathers and sons who managed to have very good sports careers. There are many examples of this, Diego "Cholo" and Giovanni Simeone, Peter and Kasper Schmeichel or Carlos and Sergio Busquets. However, very few families can boast of having had 3 generations of football players. And one of those families is the Maldini, which has the following players: Cesare Maldini (grandfather), Paolo Maldini (son) and Daniel Maldini (grandson). The curiosity is that the 3 have scored at least 1 goal and won at least 1 title with AC Milan from Italy.
Cesar Maldini
Grandpa Maldini made his professional debut at the age of 20 at the U.S. Triestina, a team that at that time played in Serie A. His position was as a defender. He was only there for 2 years when he was transferred to AC Milan. In the Milanese team, he played almost his entire career, a total of 12 seasons. It is important to note that when he joined AC, the team had only 4 Serie A titles and was the 6th team with the most leagues in Italy. However, when he left the team in 1966, Milan was already the third most successful team in Italy with 8 trophies. In total, he played 412 matches and won 4 Serie A and a Champions League (the first in the history of Italian football). As coach of AC Milan, he also led his team to win an Italian Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup.
Paolo Maldini
Grandfather Maldini's history as a player was fantastic. However, the story of the son Maldini (Paolo) is almost second to none. It's not for nothing that AC Milan fans call him L'eterno Capitano (eternal captain). Paolo Maldini was a One Club Man, that is, a player who played for the same club all his life, AC Milan in this case. His debut as a professional took place at the age of 16 years and seven months (1984) and his retirement from the club only took place in 2009, after 25 seasons. In total, he played 902 games (record number of games played at the Rossoneri institution), where he won 7 Serie A titles, 5 Italian Super Cups, 1 Italian Cup, 5 UEFA Champions League, 5 European Super Cups, 2 Intercontinental Cups and 1 Club World Cup. Paolo Maldini is a true legend of the club and probably the best player in Rossoneri history.
On December 14, 2020, he was included as a left-back defender in the historical Ballon d'Or Dream Team.
Daniel Maldini
It was Maldini's grandson who broke with the Maldini's historical tradition of playing in a defensive position, as Daniel plays as a striker. Like his father, he made his professional debut at AC Milan at the age of 18. For now, the young Maldini is starting his career so his sporting achievements are few. Despite that, he managed to score a goal and win 1 Serie A. After 3 seasons at AC Milan, his team loaned him to Spezia Calcio, with the aim that he can play more minutes and return to the Rossonero club as a best striker.