AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini will retire from football at the end of the Serie A season.
Italian legend brings career to an end
Paolo Maldini has confirmed that he will retire from football at the end of the Serie A season.
The 40-year-old captain of AC Milan will hang up his boots after a glittering career at both club and international level.
Although he does not wish to sever all ties with football, Maldini insisted, due to business commitments, that he will not be moving into management.
"I will never be a coach. I would like to remain in the football world, but we will see," he told
La Stampa.
"I am 100 per cent sure about my decision. At the same time last season I had doubts: 'Would I leave, would I continue?', but today I haven't."
Regrets
When asked if he would like to replay any matches in his extremely long career, Maldini surprisingly stated that he would not want to turn back time and prevent a Liverpool comeback in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final.
Instead the veteran defender opted for the 2002 World Cup tie between Italy and South Korea, when Maldini's side were knocked out by an Ahn Jung-Hwan golden goal.
"I wouldn't replay Milan-Liverpool in Istanbul because we played really well for 116 minutes," he added.
"The match I would like to replay is South Korea-Italy at the 2002 World Cup, when Ahn scored the golden goal. (It was) my last game for the national team."
