AC Milan skipper Maldini: I'm sorry, this hurts

tribalfootball.com - March 05, 2008

AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini admits he is hurting after last night's Champions League elimination by Arsenal.

Maldini is expected to hang up his boots at the end of the season and said: "We must accept this defeat. Analyzing the two games, we can see they were better than us. We created too few chances to bring home the qualification.

"I'm very sorry, it hurts, but we have to accept it."

Asked if coach Carlo Ancelotti should remain in charge next season, Maldini added: "I believe so, I do not see why we should change. He has proven to be one of the best coaches in Europe, winning almost everything.

"You cannot talk of a farewell, sometimes we must also accept defeat."

Adebayor Salutes Maldini

Arsenal star Emmanuel Adebayor was delighted with the win over Milan last night, and says that he was up against three of the best defenders of the world, including retiring legend Paolo Maldini.

Milan’s reign as European Champions came to an end as they were deservedly beaten 2-0 by The Gunners at San Siro.

“I was facing three of the best defenders in the world in Alessandro Nesta, Kakha Kaladze and Paolo Maldini,” said Adebayor, who scored Arsenal’s second goal in injury time.

“Maldini may be 40, but he has great experience, the ability to play football and he had a good game.”

Adebayor scored his first Champions League goal in an Arsenal shirt last night, and he was delighted that it helped take his team through to the quarter-finals.

“Of course this feels special, as I have been looking for this goal for a long time,” the Togolese international continued.

“I am very happy and pleased with myself, but the most important thing is that Arsenal won and got through.

“I think the way we played over the two legs made it difficult for Milan and we had more chances than them to win the game. We had more desire too and in the end won the match.”

I LEAVE THE DOORS OPEN

The Rossoneri’s captain, Paolo Maldini, spoke with regards to the current condition of Roma and about his future: “With regards to my future, I still leave the doors open.” – PAOLO MALDINI’S DECLARATIONS -

MILANELLO – These are the declarations of Paolo Maldini with Milan Channel, before today’s training session:

“On Saturday evening there will be the match against Roma. They are a team which express the best game in the Italian football and managed to find continuity despite the delicate moment it went through. It managed to go forward in the Champions League, even in such a moment. I thought that even we would qualify, but a lot was due to the draw. Roma proved to have more character and quality than Real Madrid. On Saturday we shall find a good group, amongst the Giallorossi there are important players such as Totti, Vucinic and Mancini, therefore we shall have to run a lot.

“Milan right now is not at its best, but the away game at Yokohama forced us to an incredible tour de force. History tells us that whoever plays this type of tournament, on their return finds difficulty in the league, but now we have the possibility to work more and to train well to improve our quality of the game.

“The win at Empoli was surely a positive note, as it gave us an important sign. It was fundamental to take back home a positive result.

“With regards to my future, I still leave the doors open. Before I thought I was hundred percent convinced that I will stop by the end of the season, but lately I received a lot of praise and together with my physical condition, which is better than last year during the same period, they made me think. I must therefore still decide what to do about my future.”

Maldini Again Admits He May Continue Playing

Milan captain Paolo Maldini has admitted again that he is considering postponing his retirement at the end of the season.

Retirement Plans

The 39-year-old had announced several months ago that he would be finally hanging up his boots, following a glittering career spanning almost a quarter-of-a-century.

However last week Maldini dropped a bombshell by revealing that he was having second thoughts, and the defender has again stated today that he is still mulling over the idea.

“I am leaving every door open regarding my future,” Maldini told Milan Channel.

“I was convinced before that I wanted to quit at the end of the season, but lately I have received lots of praise and my physical condition is better than it was at this point of the season last year.”

Roma

Maldini also looked ahead to this weekend’s big clash with Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. The Rossoneri are facing arguably the most in-form side in Serie A at the moment.

“We are expecting a real struggle against the Giallorossi,” the legend conceded.

“They play the best football in Italy and have managed to find some consistency, even after a few delicate moments recently.

“They progressed in the Champions League where we didn’t and showed that they have a stronger character than Real Madrid.

“We will be up against a strong unit with big players such as Francesco Totti, Mirko Vucinic and Amantino Mancini and we will need to chase everything down.”

Poor Condition

Finally Maldini echoed the sentiments of a number of Milan players, who have been complaining of tiredness following a very heavy schedule in January and February.

“We aren’t in top condition,” he conceded. “But the trip to Yokohama [in the Club World Cup] demanded an amazing show of strength.

“History tells us that teams who take part in competitions like the Club World Cup find it hard in the League.

“But we just have to keep working and the win over Empoli was certainly a boost and showed that we can keep getting good results.”

TOTTI: 'Maldini is a positive figure'

ROME - During the celebration for his 200 gaols with the Giallorossi, organized by a sponsor at Civita Castellana, Francesco Totti also spoke about the match against Milan and in particular about Paolo Maldini: "It will be a difficult game. Maldini? He's an important player, a positive figure off and on the pitch." Roma will arrive to this game against the Rossoneri hungry for points because they don't believe that the Scudetto race is over, as the Giallorossi's captain confirms: "In 2007 Inter killed the league, now we want to arrive until the end in the Champions League and recover Scudetto points. We believe."

ROMA-MILAN

GOALKEEPERS: Dida, Fiori, Kalac;

DEFENDERS: Bonera, Digao, Favalli, Kaladze, Maldini, Oddo, Simic;

MIDFIELDERS: Ambrosini, Brocchi, Emerson, Gattuso, Kaka, Pirlo, Seedorf;

STRIKERS: Gilardino, Pato, Paloschi.

Thanks LuNo

You're welcome

AC Milan coach Ancelotti keen to see Maldini play on

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has intimated he'd welcome veteran captain Paolo Maldini playing on next season.

He said: "The best person to evaluate this is himself. He will decide whether to continue. I can say that he is still very reliable from the point of view fitness. He plays because he deserves to and has the qualities to do so.

"Moreover, he has shown great flexibility; other players would have said 'no' to my request to play as a wing-back, he has adapted, however, with excellent results.

"Against Arsenal and Empoli, he was one of the best."

AS Roma 2:1 AC Milan - match report

Scorers: Kaka 56', Giuly 78', Vucinic 81'

Ludovic Giuly and Mirko Vucinic overturned Kaka's goal in three minutes for Roma's 2-1 victory over Milan.

There was a great deal at stake at the Olimpico, as the Giallorossi needed to keep up the pressure on Inter and the visitors had to maintain their race for a top four finish. Gennaro Gattuso returned from suspension, but Alessandro Nesta, Nelson Dida, Serginho, Marek Jankulovski, Ronaldo, Pippo Inzaghi and former Roma hero Marcos Cafu didn't make the trip. This meant Carlo Ancelotti - an ex-Giallorossi hero as a player - was able to field a Christmas Tree formation.

Christian Panucci performed a perfectly-timed challenge to tackle Kaka in the box, while Giuseppe Favalli had to clear for a corner when a dangerous Amantino Mancini cross found the Milan defence unprepared.

Zeljko Kalac's poor clearance was straight at Simone Perrotta and risked giving away a goal, but 30 seconds later Alexandre Pato's chipped cross was just too high for Clarence Seedorf.

The first real chance was on 25 minutes when De Rossi's cross was flicked on by Totti and Mancini's acrobatic scissor-kick was over the bar. Moments later Milan threatened too, as Seedorf went past two defenders and Alexandre Doni plucked Kaka's header out of the air.

Totti found space from nine yards on a chipped Rodrigo Taddei pass over the defence, but flashed his shot across the face of goal.

Seedorf dribbled past four defenders to enter the area, but eventually Taddei managed to cut off his path as the last man with a crucial intervention. Kaka nodded a Favalli cross wide of the far post.

Totti rolled back for the unmarked David Pizarro, but his scuffed shot and a Juan attempted deflection were off target.

Max Tonetto's cross from the left was a couple of inches too high for Totti to connect a header from six yards in first half stoppages. At the half-time whistle Totti and Luciano Spalletti were furious, as a corner was halted for an irregularity.

Straight after the restart Seedorf slipped a pass through the crowd of defenders for Kaka, but the Brazilian had a powerful effort parried from seven yards by one strong Doni hand.

Moments later Doni was again called into action with a low one-handed save at the near post on Seedorf, as Milan were far more aggressive in the second half.

Milan were piling on the pressure and opened the scoring on 56 minutes. Massimo Oddo had acres of space down the right channel to run onto Andrea Pirlo's pass and crossed for Kaka to smash under the bar from eight yards with the inside of his left foot.

Totti had a great chance to equalise, but the move was halted for an evident handling offence.

The Rossoneri really should have been 2-0 up on the hour mark. Seedorf combined brilliantly with Pato and the Dutchman squirmed past Doni, but lost his footing from that challenge and Cicinho was able to get back for a goalline clearance.

Ludovic Giuly and Mirko Vucinic were introduced to spice up the Roma attack, but Milan kept pushing and Pirlo's pass over the defence found Kaka totally unmarked for a half-volley that Doni palmed over the bar.

Zeljko Kalac smothered a Vucinic snapshot, but on the counter Pato skipped past Juan and jumped over Doni, earning only a booking for simulation. Emerson replaced Seedorf and was greeted with jeers by the Roma crowd, as he had left the club controversially to join rivals Juventus.

Totti's backheel sent Vucinic clear and he fired over, while Pato selfishly went for goal.

Roma equalised in chaotic circumstances 12 minutes from time. The ball ricocheted around and Perrotta eventually managed to thread a pass through for the utterly unmarked Giuly to volley in from eight yards.

Paolo Maldini's challenge prevented Perrotta from giving them the lead 60 seconds later, but Vucinic turned the game around completely! He sprung the offside trap on a De Rossi ball from the right to slide an angled drive past Kalac.

It wasn't over yet and Totti's lob was just too wide and it was end to end stuff in these final minutes. There was more bad news for the Rossoneri, as Kaka pulled up with lower back pain, something that has been troubling him for some time.

Kalac saved from Giuly and Totti didn't get enough power to a header from Vucinic's cross, but in stoppages Milan players were queuing up and couldn't make contact with Oddo and Pirlo crosses, as Alberto Gilardino took it off Alberto Paloschi's head. The last kick of the game was a Pirlo free kick over the bar.

Roma: Doni; Cicinho, Panucci, Juan, Tonetto; De Rossi, Pizarro (Giuly 62); Taddei (Aquilani 72), Perrotta, Mancini (Vucinic 56); Totti

Milan: Kalac; Oddo, Maldini, Kaladze, Favalli; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini (Gilardino 85); Kakà (Paloschi 87), Seedorf (Emerson 72); Pato

Player Ratings: Roma 2-1 Milan

Late goals from Ludovic Giuly and Mirko Vucinic cancelled out Kaká's opener to give Roma a 2-1 victory over AC Milan at the Stadio Olimpico

Kalac 3.5 – Hard to be positive here. Looked nervous throughout, didn’t command his box, was dodgy with clearances and probably shouldn’t have let Vucinic beat him at his near post.

Oddo 6 – Awful before the break with unconvincing defending and disappointing crosses, but far more assured in the second half and gave a superb assist for the goal. Less to blame for the late mistakes than the rest of the back line.

Maldini 6.5 – Had an outstanding game, commanding at the back and ruthless going forward – only to then play a leading role in the late collapse.

Kaladze 4.5 – It’s clear the Georgian isn’t yet on top form – looked very fragile in the first half and his indecision proved costly at the end.

Favalli 5.5 – Looked fairly comfortable at the back and got forward well but things changed with the emergence of Giuly.

Gattuso 5.5 – Struggled to stamp his authority on this game.

Pirlo 6 – Wasteful with his own chances but delivered some terrific passes, not least in the build-up to the goal.

Ambrosini 5 – Clearly a loser in the battle of the midfield

Kaka 6.5 – Sloppy at times, brilliant at others. Got the goal and always carried a threat.

Seedorf 7 – Probably Milan’s best player even though he squandered a great chance to make it 2-0. Things fell apart only when he was subbed.

Pato 5.5 – Poor final balls didn’t help his cause but then he didn’t make use of what he was given either. Terrible dive.

Substitutes

72mins Emerson (NA); 85mins Gilardino (NA); 88mins Paloschi (NA)

WE DESERVED MORE

At the end of the match the rossoneri talked about their disappointment for a defeat which came after a good performance by Milan: "Too bad we didn't finish them off after it was 1-0". - THE DECLARATIONS -

ROME - Here are the declarations made by the rossoneri following Roma-Milan 2-1:

KAKHA KALADZE:

"We are disappointed because we lost a match we didn't deserve to lose: the team played well, it was truly a great Milan. We can win games even with just one goal, we have to be more careful once we go in front. If we had scored the second goal maybe we would have closed the game, but this is football and it's good also for this reason. Their first goal came in a really strange way, we could have kicked the ball away, but we failed to do so and Totti played a nice ball to Giuly who was all alone."

MASSIMO ODDO:

"We're very disappointed because tonight we finally gave a good performance, it was the match which signalled a new start and the defeat was completely undeserved, we weren't cynical enough and we could've closed the game before. We have to start again with the knowledge that we are on the right road.

Roma were different to what we expected, they were a bit low key and we really played a good match. Our only mistake was not to have closed the match after going 1-0 up."

PAOLO MALDINI:

"Personally I'm doing fine, but today I'm disappointed because we played a great match and coming to play in Rome and going home with no points hurts.

Also tonight we suffered some injuries like the one to Clarence. He's a very important player for us, who always manages to put the opposition teams in difficulty by moving between the lines. Too bad about this game, we should have closed it before."

KAKA':

"Tonight we saw a great Milan on the pitch, I think it was our best match of the season. I'm really disappointed about the result because we didn't deserve to lose. I hurt my back when I tried to pass the ball to Favalli. Now it still hurts, but it's early to decide if I'll be there on Wednesday against Sampdoria, let's see tomorrow."

Thanks LuNo

You're welcome Sandy

TORINO-MILAN

GOALKEEPERS: Dida, Fiori, Kalac,

DEFENDERS:Digao, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Maldini, Nesta, Oddo, Simic,

MIDFIELDERS:Ambrosini, Brocchi, Emerson, Gattuso, Gourcuff, Pirlo, Seedorf,

STRIKERS: Gilardino, Paloschi, Pato.

Torino 0:1 AC Milan - match report

Scorer: Pato 66 (M)

Alexandre Pato grabbed a decisive goal as Milan get back on track following two defeats on the trot, but relegation is becoming a real threat for the Granata.

These were desperate times for both teams after two straight losses. The Rossoneri's midweek home defeat to Sampdoria not only left them four points adrift of fourth place, but also put their UEFA Cup spot under pressure. Toro had Nikola Lazetic suspended and Matteo Sereni injured, while Kaka, Pippo Inzaghi, Ronaldo, Marcos Cafu and Serginho were sidelined.

Milan had not lost in Turin since November 2001, winning both their following visits. Torino had the first chance when Roberto Stellone held off Kakha Kaladze to thump the side-netting.

At the other end Alberto Maria Fontana beat away a deflected Andrea Pirlo free kick, then he flew to palm Clarence Seedorf's set play out from under the bar.

Another Pirlo free kick tested Fontana as he seemed to know little about the trajectory, while Seedorf's impressive scissor-kick was palmed round the near post.

Paolo Maldini dribbled down the left channel for his cross to be touched on by Alberto Gilardino, but Alexandre Pato's shot was deflected over the bar. From the resulting corner a looping Alessandro Nesta header hit the roof of the net.

Gilardino should have done better on the counter, but went for glory rather than rolling to the unmarked Pato.

Alessandro Rosina had a great chance smothered by Kakha Kaladze's perfectly timed challenge from eight yards. At the other end Fontana did well at full stretch to smother a deflected cross for Pato that came off Marco Di Loreto.

Seedorf was totally unmarked from nine yards for a right-foot sweeping shot on the volley that cracked against the underside of the crossbar from Pato's assist.

Gilardino wasted another golden opportunity when one-on-one with Fontana.

Milan finally broke the deadlock on 66 minutes. Gilardino gathered Seedorf's pass and with his back to goal managed to draw out the goalkeeper and swing across for Pato to prod the ball over the line. He was not in an offside position, as the Brazilian was clearly behind the ball.

Pato went forward and set up Seedorf, bringing a tough save out of Fontana's outstretched leg.

Toro threw on Alvaro Recoba and Nicola Ventola in a bid to get level. They went close too on 77 minutes, but Zeljko Kalac rushed out to flap the ball of Stellone's feet and Ventola fired the follow-up wide.

Torino: Fontana; Diana, Natali, Di Loreto, Pisano; Rosina, Corini (Ventola 70), Grella, P Zanetti; Stellone, Di Michele (Recoba 73)

Milan: Kalac; Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Maldini; Gattuso (Brocchi 66), Pirlo, Ambrosini; Seedorf; Pato, Gilardino

Ref: Saccani