A big crowd turned out to say a
final farewell to Cesare Maldini at the former Italy coach and
AC Milan captain's funeral on Tuesday, including his visibly
moved son Paolo.
Ex-premier and Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi was among
the mourners at Milan's Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, along with
many other big names from Italian football.
These included former Milan players Massimo Ambrosini,
Clarence Seedorf and Andriy Shevchenko and Inter Milan Vice
President Javier Zanetti.
Cesare Maldini, who died aged 84 at the weekend, helped
Milan win four Serie A titles between 1954 and 1962 and was the
captain of the team that won the 1963 European Cup.
An elegant defender, Maldini won 14 caps for Italy and
played at the 1962 World Cup.
After leading Italy's Under-21s to three consecutive
European Championships, he was in charge of the senior Azzurri
at the 1998 World Cup in France, where they lost in the
quarterfinals on penalties to the eventual champions.
He was also assistant to Enzo Bearzot when Italy won the
1982 World Cup.
"My condolences to my friend Paolo on the death of his
father, a great man and a great professional," Argentina great
Diego Maradona said in an open message to Italy and Milan great
Paolo Maldini on his Facebook page.
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