Maldini, not Houdini: I tried to bring Messi to AC Milan

Less than half a year has passed since Paolo Maldini left AC Milan for the second time. In an ugly, painful way, unworthy of everything the legendary defender represents for the Rossoneri. The management of the club led by the American owners made a decision not to continue cooperation with the man who laid the foundations of the new Milan due to differences in politics. A little more than five months later, Maldini is out of work and, as he jokingly tells Poretcast, he is a 'pensioner' now, and in the conversation for the mentioned podcast, among other things, he touched on the details from the director's episode with San Siro.

Maldini revealed that this summer, before he was fired, he tried to bring Lionel Messi to Milan. For a long time there was uncertainty about where the Argentine would continue his career, but in the end he decided to accept Inter Miami's invitation. And although Maldini had ambition, he knew he was not a magician - a Houdini - and openly admitted - it was not realistic.

"For ten days we tried to bring Messi to Milan, but then we realized that it was impossible. Now it's too late, but a player like Messi is a spectacle for everyone. When I read that he could go to Inter, I was scared," admits Maldini.

An unavoidable topic was Maldini's playing career. He dedicated the whole of it to Milan and with 902 games became the Rossoneri's record holder for the number of appearances, which is an example that is increasingly difficult to see in today's football...

"It is difficult to find someone who started and finished his career at the same club, but in my time going abroad was not 'fashionable' and I was lucky to have a president like Silvio Berlusconi, who had the same goals as me."

And while he won almost everything with Milan, he did not manage to win a single trophy with Italy, although he was very close on several occasions, since he lost in the finals at the 1994 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. And then the Azzurri climbed to the top of the world at the first subsequent World Cup after his retirement.

"In 2006, Marcello Lippi planned to invite me to the team. I told him that I wouldn't be able to keep up, since I was already starting to feel pain, I wanted to be at the best level in the last years of my career. Then they won the World Cup that summer, so I would say that after four World Cups I was the problem" says Paolo with a laugh.

Four years earlier, Italy ended the competition already in the round of 16, in that controversial match against the hosts South Korea.

"Already then, I knew that going to the World Cup in 2002 was my last experience in the national team, so such an elimination in a harsh end of a beautiful experience. Playing for Italy, listening to the national anthem, it's an experience that carries you... And that's why, to end such an experience because of referee Byron Moreno... That year, teams were not required to shake hands with the opponent before the game. But before that match, Damiano Tomasi wanted to shake hands with the referee and was denied. That's when we realized that something was wrong. We said a lot to him."

Perhaps an even more painful defeat for Maldini came with Milan in the famous Istanbul final, which they lost to Liverpool despite being three goals ahead.

"I scored a goal in Istanbul after 40 seconds. After that goal, I thought - this is weird, to score a goal in a Champions League final after 40 seconds... Something was definitely not right there..."

He broke into Milan's first team in 1985 and stayed there for almost two and a half decades. During that time, Maldini welcomed and saw off dozens of football players...

"I started with Franco Baresi and Beppe Bergomi, and I ended with Alessandre Pato and Andrea Pirlo, so I experienced several different generations of players. The generations have not changed, but the pressure has - for the worse. Social media impose great expectations on players. When I get asked what I miss, I always say it's the environment in the dressing room and that mix of fear and emotions before the game, the contact and adrenaline of the people, 80,000 people is a lot! I've played so many derbies."

Since he experienced Milan's matches both as a player and as a sports director, he says that they were much harder for him while he was watching them from the armchair, that is, from the stands.

"There is a huge difference when you experience the game as a player and a manager. The worst is when you are in the stands, you suffer because of the result and you cannot influence it. That affected me terribly. Ricky Massara also suffered, but more quietly."

When asked if he thinks about trying himself as a coach one day, Maldini answers without hesitation:

"I will never be a coach. My father's bag was always packed, so I know what life is like. When I retired, at least I knew what I didn't want to do."

And, does he know what he wants right now and what the future holds for him after parting ways with Milan?

"I think about it every now and then... I lost my parents so I felt that loss. When I turned 50 I thought - you're halfway there. But am I really halfway there? In theory I'm retired. Or at least I became one last summer", ends Maldini with a laugh.