Aldo Maldera, born 14 October 1953, Milan, Italy.
PART ONE
Aldo Maldera began playing at Cusano Milanino, where one of his young team-mates was Gabriele Oriali, the future Inter and Italy midfielder. Milan soon brought Maldera into their youth ranks and his Serie A debut arrived against Mantova on 26 March 1972, when he was only 18, and the circumstances offered an early indication that he could handle an unusual assignment, because Gianni Rivera was unavailable and Maldera appeared in the number 10 shirt rather than the number normally associated with a defender. It was his only league appearance of the season, and Milan were already a side filled with established names under Nereo Rocco, so there was no immediate opening for a teenager who still needed senior football, but the club did not allow him to disappear into the reserves.
Instead, Maldera was sent to Bologna for the 1972–73 campaign, where he made three Serie A appearances, hardly an imposing total but enough to expose him to the quicker decisions, tougher opponents and stricter defensive demands of the senior game. When he returned to Milan in 1973, the left side was still guarded by experienced players, including Karl-Heinz Schnellinger and Giuseppe Sabadini, and Maldera had to wait, learn and compete rather than simply inherit a position. His progress was gradual, but that served him well, because he learned the marking duties expected from an Italian defender while retaining the speed and confidence that encouraged him to move beyond midfield, exchange passes with Rivera and attack spaces which most full-backs of the period were content to leave alone. Milan’s own profile records his March 1972 introduction, the Bologna spell and the productive understanding he later developed with Rivera.
By 1974–75, Maldera was becoming an increasingly important part of Milan’s team, and on 28 June 1975 he started the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico, playing in a side that also contained Enrico Albertosi, Romeo Benetti, Alberto Bigon, Luciano Chiarugi and Egidio Calloni. Milan lost 3–2 in a lively final, but Maldera had moved beyond the stage of being merely a promising reserve, and during the following season he secured a regular place on the left, where his running changed the shape of the team.
He could remain deep and deal with a winger, but once Milan recovered possession he was ready to surge outside Rivera or move into central areas, and because his shot was unusually clean for a defender, opponents could not simply retreat and invite him to try his luck. That attacking quality did not make him careless, because Maldera was strong in the air, technically sound and willing to work back, but it did make him awkward to contain, especially when his long strides carried him through the first challenge and left the opposition’s right-back facing a second Milan attacker. Across his years with the club he would make 228 league outings and score 30 league goals, while his complete Milan record reached 310 competitive matches and 39 goals. He was a defender by position, but his output belonged to a wide midfielder, and at his best he gave Milan both at once.
International recognition followed during the summer of 1976, when Maldera made his senior Italy debut against England in the United States Bicentennial Cup, entering as a substitute in the 57th minute of a 3–2 defeat on 28 May. Competition for defensive places was severe, and Italy were developing the group that Enzo Bearzot would eventually take to Argentina, so Maldera never became an automatic choice, yet his presence gave the manager a different option on the left, particularly when Italy wanted greater pace and attacking width. Club football remained the stronger measure of his development, and the 1976–77 season brought a sharp contrast between Milan’s league troubles and their success in the Coppa Italia.
PART TWO
The Rossoneri spent much of the 1976-77 campaign far too close to relegation, but they recovered sufficiently to survive and then met Inter in the cup final at San Siro on 3 July 1977, with local pride and a trophy at stake in the same match. After a goalless first half, Aldo Maldera pushed forward and scored in the 64th minute, giving Milan the lead before Giorgio Braglia added a second in the 89th, and the 2–0 victory gave Rocco another trophy while providing Maldera with the first great night of his own senior playing life. It was also Sandro Mazzola’s final match, but the decisive figure belonged to the other half of Milan, as the left-back who had once worn Rivera’s number 10 delivered the goal that broke the final open. AC Milan’s official record confirms the date, the 2–0 score and the goals by Maldera and Braglia.
That cup success gave Milan something firm on which to rebuild, and the arrival of Nils Liedholm encouraged a calmer, more thoughtful passing style which suited Maldera perfectly. During the 1977–78 season he scored eight league goals, a remarkable total from left-back, while a teenage Franco Baresi made his Serie A debut in April 1978 and began the long rise that would eventually make him the leading figure in Milan’s defence. Maldera was already 24 and operating at full speed, however, and his understanding with Rivera became one of the team’s most effective attacking routes, because Rivera could hold the ball, draw an opponent and release his team-mate into the opening at exactly the right moment.
Maldera did not creep forward unnoticed; he came at pace, often covering a large stretch of grass before receiving the pass, and when he reached the final third he could cross, combine or drive for goal. Besides, his goals were not gathered in meaningless matches after the issue had been settled, for he developed the useful habit of appearing in important areas during tight contests. Milan finished fourth in 1977–78, which represented progress but not yet a serious challenge to Juventus, and the next campaign therefore began with cautious hope rather than certainty. Yet Liedholm had a balanced team, Rivera still controlled its rhythm, Albertosi offered experience in goal, and Baresi’s emergence provided youthful authority behind them, while Maldera’s running supplied the thrust that could turn controlled possession into something far more damaging.
The 1978–79 season became Milan’s chase for the Scudetto della Stella, the league title that would be the tenth in the club’s history and therefore allow a gold star to be placed above the badge, and Maldera contributed far more than overlapping runs. He played all 30 league matches and scored nine goals, his highest Serie A return, and that figure was extraordinary in a competition where matches were often narrow, marking was tight and defenders were rarely encouraged to gamble. One of his most memorable interventions came in the Milan derby in November 1978, when his second-half header gave the Rossoneri a 1–0 victory over Inter, and goals of that kind had a direct value in a championship decided by consistency rather than extravagant scoring.
Rivera directed the side, Ruben Buriani and Walter Novellino supplied energy, Roberto Antonelli led the attack, and Baresi continued to mature, but Maldera’s contribution gave Liedholm a weapon that did not fit conventional calculations, because an opposing winger tracking him all afternoon could suddenly find the Milan full-back arriving in the penalty area to finish the move. The title was secured with Milan finishing three points ahead of Perugia, who completed the league season unbeaten but drew too many matches, and so Maldera had his first Serie A medal after producing the finest scoring campaign of his life. Milan’s official account rightly singles out those nine goals as an essential part of the club’s tenth championship, while the season as a whole confirmed that an attacking full-back could be influential without neglecting the hard work behind him. AC Milan credits Maldera with nine goals in the title-winning campaign.
Italy had also taken Maldera to the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, although his opportunity came only in the third-place match against Brazil on 24 June. Bearzot had settled upon Antonio Cabrini at left-back during a tournament in which Italy defeated France, Hungary and Argentina in the opening phase, then drew with West Germany, beat Austria and lost 2–1 to the Netherlands in the second group stage, so Maldera remained among the substitutes until the meeting with Brazil. He started that match as Italy went ahead through Franco Causio, but second-half goals from Nelinho and Dirceu turned it into a 2–1 Brazilian victory and left the Azzurri fourth.
Maldera continued to appear intermittently for his country, starting in friendlies against Belgium, Spain, France, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands, and his tenth and final senior appearance came in a 2–0 victory over Switzerland on 17 November 1979. He was later included in Italy’s squad for the 1980 European Championship on home ground, but did not play, and the supplied record requires an important correction here: Italy drew 0–0 with Spain, defeated England 1–0 and drew 0–0 with Belgium before finishing 1–1 with Czechoslovakia in the third-place match and losing the shootout 9–8. Maldera therefore ended with ten senior caps and no goals, as well as the experience of two major tournaments, but the limited total reflected the strength of Italy’s defensive choices as much as any weakness in his own game.
Milan’s championship should have opened another prosperous period, but the 1979–80 season instead ended in disgrace and upheaval. On the field, the defending champions finished third in the standings, with Maldera making 28 league appearances and scoring four goals, yet the Totonero betting investigation overwhelmed the final table and Milan were ordered into Serie B because of their involvement, suffering the first relegation in the club’s history. Maldera was not one of the players banned, and although an established international full-back could have looked for a quick escape, he stayed with Milan, accepting the smaller grounds and harder surroundings of the second division.
The 1980–81 campaign therefore became less about style than repair, and Maldera contributed 27 league appearances and three goals as Milan won Serie B and returned immediately to the top flight. His decision to remain mattered because so much of the club’s authority had been damaged, and players who understood what Milan had been—and what it expected to become again—gave the side a degree of continuity. Still, promotion did not end the instability, and the 1981–82 season was desperately poor. Milan won the Mitropa Cup, with Maldera serving as captain during his final year at the club, but their Serie A form collapsed and this time there was no administrative judgment to blame: they were relegated because their results put them in the bottom three. Maldera played 27 league matches and found the net twice, then left after more than a decade tied to the Rossoneri first team.
PART THREE
Aldo Maldera´s next move, at the beginning of the 1982-83 campaign, was inspired, because Roma needed experience and width while the player himself needed a strong side capable of replacing the disappointment of Milan’s second fall. Nils Liedholm knew exactly what he could offer and brought the 28-year-old to the capital, placing him in a team built around goalkeeper Franco Tancredi, captain Agostino Di Bartolomei, the forceful Brazilian midfielder Falcão, Carlo Ancelotti, Pietro Vierchowod, Bruno Conti and striker Roberto Pruzzo. Roma had not won Serie A since the1941–42 season, and Juventus remained the established power, but Liedholm’s side combined control with resilience and Maldera settled immediately, accumulating 26 league appearances and scoring once. A seasoned campaigner, he was no longer required to carry the same attacking load that had produced nine league goals for Milan, yet his intelligence on the left allowed Conti and the midfielders to move with greater freedom, while his willingness to run remained undiminished.
Roma kept Juventus behind them and clinched the championship with an evenly contested 1–1 draw against Genoa at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on 8 May 1983, bringing the capital a celebration delayed for 41 years. For Maldera, the triumph completed an unusual personal double, because both of his Serie A titles had been won under Liedholm, first with Milan and then with Roma, and both had come at clubs waiting for a landmark: Milan for their tenth title and Roma for only their second. Roma’s official remembrance of the 1982–83 side records the decisive stages of that championship campaign.
The following season asked even more of Roma, because the champions were competing in the European Cup while attempting to hold off Juventus at home, and Maldera responded with his most productive year in the capital. He scored five goals in 25 league appearances and another in the Coppa Italia, while playing seven times in Europe as Roma eliminated IFK Göteborg, CSKA Sofia, Dynamo Berlin and Dundee United to reach the final at their own Stadio Olimpico. The league title went back to Juventus, but Roma won the Coppa Italia, overcoming Verona across two legs after losing the first match 1–0 and winning the return 2–0, and the European Cup final against Liverpool on 30 May 1984 offered the chance to complete the season on the grandest scale.
Maldera started at left-back, Liverpool moved ahead through Phil Neal, and Pruzzo equalised before half-time, but no further goal came through 90 minutes or extra time. In the shootout, Steve Nicol missed Liverpool’s opening penalty, yet Bruno Conti and Francesco Graziani failed for Roma, and Liverpool won 4–2. It was a brutal ending on Roma’s own ground, but Maldera had played the entire final and had helped the club reach a stage it had never previously occupied. He stayed for 1984–85, adding 22 league appearances without scoring, and left after three seasons with totals of 73 league matches and six goals, or 117 competitive appearances and nine goals—one more than the eight stated in the supplied notes. The European Cup final finished 1–1 before Liverpool won the shootout 4–2.
Fiorentina signed Maldera in 1985, but injuries and advancing years prevented him from establishing the rhythm that had carried him along the left side for Milan and Roma. He made only three Serie A appearances in 1985–86, although he played more frequently in the Coppa Italia and scored once, then returned for 15 league matches in 1986–87 without finding the net. His complete Fiorentina record stood at 32 competitive appearances and one goal, rather than 32 league matches, and by then the long, powerful runs were becoming harder to reproduce week after week.
A transfer move to Lucchese followed in 1987, but Aldo Maldera did not make a senior appearances for the side and stopped playing at the end of the 1987–88 season. His final league totals were 322 appearances and 36 goals, while his overall club record reached 468 competitive matches and 50 goals, an outstanding return for a man whose first responsibility was supposed to be defending. After leaving the field for good, Maldera worked as an agent, served within Roma’s youth structure and later held a sporting role with Panionios in Greece, remaining connected to the game of football without chasing attention.