“Every time our team won, we would embrace each other. Sometimes I would go to him, and sometimes he would run towards me. What was beautiful about Paolo was that he always said ‘thank you.’ After each success, as a true leader, when he returned to the locker room, he had two rituals:
The first was to take off the captain’s armband and place it on top of his locker. The second was to thank everyone, shaking their hands.
I had never seen a player like him, with his charisma. On the day of his last game in Florence, when he left, he hugged me for the last time. At that moment, I realized that the essence of my Milan had gone. That’s what great men are made of. Paolo was the leader of that team. If a player made a mistake or didn’t behave as expected, he would tell them with just a glance.
What was remarkable was that even players from other teams would lower their guard in front of Paolo. I don’t remember anyone ever saying anything to him. He didn’t need to speak… There were champions like Seedorf, Nesta, and Shevchenko, who would melt like snow in the sun when the captain gave them a look. If someone was late for training, they knew they had to explain themselves to Paolo before they even spoke to me. There were young players who immediately gave up their indiscipline because of him. He set the example, even at 39 years old, at the highest level.
I remember one day I asked him: ‘Paolo, how do you do it?’ He replied: ‘I do it to show everyone who comes here that you should never let your guard down, even when you’re 40. I always lead the group because I’m the captain, and I have to be the first to set the example.’
AC Milan won titles because we had great players, but above all, we had a soul. That soul was called Paolo Maldini…”
