Milan great Cesare Maldini dies aged 84

Football is in mourning following the death of former Milan and Italy legend Cesare Maldini.

The father of Paolo passed away last night, announced his family, at the age of 84.

Born in Trieste in 1932, Maldini was the first Italian to lift the European Cup as captain of Milan in 1963.

A commanding yet graceful player typically deployed as a centre-back or sweeper, Maldini played in excess of 400 matches for Milan between 1954 and 1966, helping them to four Serie A titles and the European Cup in 1963.

Internationally, he played 25 times for Italy and participated at the 1962 World Cup in Chile.

Maldini finished his playing career with Torino before continuing his association with Milan by serving as assistant manager and then manager between 1972 and 1974.

He then served as assistant manager of the Italian national team from 1980 to 1986, before achieving great success with their Under-21 team, who won three consecutive European Championships.

Maldini helped nurture the likes of Francesco Totti, Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro.

Replacing Arrigo Sacchi as Italy manager in 1996, he guided the Azzurri to the 1998 World Cup finals in France, where they would lose to the hosts and eventual champions on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Maldini would taste another World Cup with Paraguay in 2002, where the South American team were knocked out by eventual finalists Germany.

Maldini's son, Paolo, also a defender, would become a Milan and Italy legend in his own right.