Paolo Maldini played in seven international summer tournaments and reached the final of both the World Cup and European Championship although he sadly never lifted either trophy. His summer tournament debut came in the 1988 European Championships in West Germany. It is strange that this is perhaps the least memorable of all Maldini’s national tournament appearances since it laid the foundations for Italy’s squad for their home World Cup two years later and beyond.
Italy had gone into the World Cup in Mexico two years earlier as the reigning champions, but they couldn’t back up that win in South America. Despite a draw with eventual winners Argentina in the group stage, Enzo Bearzot’s men were knocked out by a Michel Platini-inspired France in the first knock-out round.
It was clear to many that the current squad was largely too old to still be together by the time World Cup hosting duties would arrive in four years’ time. Bearzot was replaced by Azeglio Vicini who had been relatively successful as manager of the national under-21 side. Vicini’s squad for the 1988 European Championships had a much younger feel to it. Captain Alessandro Altobelli was one of only two players in the squad who were over 30 along with reserve goalkeeper Stefano Tacconi.
Players like Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli and Giuseppe Giannini were all just 23 whilst defender Ciro Ferrara was establishing himself as a 21-year-old. Paolo Maldini was the youngest player in the group selected for the summer in West Germany. Still a teenager, the 19-year-old had only been handed his Azzurri debut three months before the tournament began.
A teenage Maldini was in the midst of a title battle as his Milan team successfully challenged Napoli for the Serie A crown. His first appearance in his country’s colours came as a 53rd minute substitute in a friendly international against Yugoslavia. He went on to start the next game against Luxembourg the following month and would retain his starting place, barring injury, until his retirement in 2002.
Euro’88 would be the last competitive fixtures that Italy would play for the next two years as they were spared World Cup qualification by being hosts. Having debuted against Yugoslavia and started the following game against Luxembourg, Maldini once again took his place in the side for their last tournament warm-up match against Wales. That one didn’t quite go to plan as Terry Yorath’s Welsh team ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a goal from recently departed former Juventus striker Ian Rush.
That defeat may have tempered expectations somewhat ahead of the tournament starting. If the Welsh defeat hadn’t led to a more muted build-up, the group that awaited Maldini and co surely must have. Italy was joined in Group 1 by three teams who all performed well at Mexico’86, Spain, Denmark, and World Cup finalists West Germany.
The tournament was a much shorter format than it is nowadays with two groups of four teams, the top two from each going through to contest the semi-finals. Italy kicked off their group as they faced their section’s toughest team in the West Germans. Maldini started his third successive game, earning just his fourth cap as he lined up on the left. Amongst others, he was up against the strike force of Rudi Voller and Jurgen Klinsmann who were leading the line for the Franz Beckenbauer’s side.
It may have been down to his inexperience or perhaps he just wanted to stamp his authority on the game, but Maldini’s first act of the tournament was to pick up a sixth-minute yellow card. There wasn’t much to separate the sides in the game and when Italy did take the lead through Roberto Mancini seven minutes into the second half, they were pegged back almost immediately. The equaliser came just four minutes later as the man who would go on to play left-back for the other Milan side found the net. Andreas Brehme was the scorer, and he would join Inter that summer and spend the next for years in Italy.
Maldini again took his place in the starting eleven for the all-important second group game against Spain. Although lined up as a left midfielder, Maldini was essentially utilised as a wing-back which wasn’t part of footballing vernacular at the time. The teenager could drop back and create a back four if required whilst the more natural midfielder Roberto Donadoni played a similar role on the opposite flank.
Franco Baresi acted as sweeper in between Inter defenders Riccardo Ferri and captain Giuseppe Bergomi. The defensive solidity of Vicini’s Italy would be a prominent factor in the following years with those same personnel and so it was in the remaining group games in Germany. A Gianluca Vialli goal seventeen minutes from time saw the Azzurri take the points from the strong Spanish side and head into the final group game with fresh confidence.
The Denmark game was arguably Italy’s best performance of the tournament as they sealed a 2-0 win to progress to the semi-final. The Danes had shown their quality in Mexico two years earlier and had Juventus midfielder Michael Laudrup in the heart of their side. Another clean sheet for Maldini and his fellow defenders was the platform for a deserved 2-0 victory. Altobelli came off the bench to put Italy in front in the second half before Luigi De Agostini added a second in the closing minutes.
Italy had reached the semi-final and the Danes left the competition that they would go on to win four years later in Sweden. A strong Soviet Union side were waiting for Italy in the last four and it was they who would bring an end to Italian hopes. Two goals in two second half minutes form Gennadiy Lytovchenko and Oleg Protasov in minutes 61 and 63 respectively saw the Russians into the final.
Maldini’s stellar 1988 had ended in disappointment as he was substituted just after the second Soviet goal. It was easy to forget that the teenager had only just won his 7th cap against the Russian side who would go on to lose the final to the Netherlands.
The young Italian squad would dust themselves down in the coming months as they looked forward to Italia ‘90. In the absence of a qualifying campaign the Italian international calendar was dominated by friendlies between the end of Euro ‘88 and the summer of 1990, with fifteen arranged in total.
Maldini established himself as one of the first names of Vicini’s team-sheet over those fifteen games, missing only three with injury. In the twelve friendly games that Maldini played, his team lost only two goals. The defensive solidity continued when the tournament began too as the host nation never conceded a goal until the 67th minute of the semi-final.
Still only 21-years-old Maldini played every minute for his country at Italia ’90. He went on to play every minute of every game Italy played at the 1994 World Cup, Euro’96, France’98 and his final tournament appearance at the 2002 World Cup. Injury prevented him from being ever-present at Euro 2000 despite featuring in every game including the heart-breaking final defeat to France.
Paolo Maldini finished his playing career with 126 international caps, which featured 124 starts and two substitute appearances. That level of involvement over seven major tournaments is a testament to a player who, despite never winning either competition, must be considered as one of the greatest international tournament players of all-time.