Paolo Maldini has turned down the offer, so Giovanni Malagò will have to find another technical director for Italy

Paolo Maldini will most likely not be the new technical director of the Italian national team. In recent hours, speculation had emerged about his return to the Azzurri, strongly supported by Giovanni Malagò, the new president of the FIGC, who reportedly saw him as the ideal candidate for the role of Italy’s technical director. It was an intriguing prospect that would have brought one of the greatest soccer players in history back to wear—albeit in a different capacity—the jersey that, along with the Milan jersey, defined his entire career: the Azzurri jersey.

Paolo Maldini’s time with the national team came to an end on June 18, 2002, in the controversial Round of 16 match at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan against South Korea—a game that remains etched in the memory of Italians, in part due to referee Byron Moreno’s decisions. Since then, despite continuing to play until May 2009, every attempt to bring him back to the Azzurri has come to nothing, including the latest one promoted by Malagò.

Among the most significant attempts was that of Marcello Lippi, who in 2006 wanted Maldini to be one of the leaders of the World Cup squad that ultimately triumphed in Berlin. The former defender, however, turned down the offer out of a sense of integrity and respect for the team: he felt it would be unfair to take a teammate’s spot after having missed the entire qualifying campaign and the four preceding years.

A decision in line with the principles that have always defined his career. And fate had a curious coincidence in store: the last two Italian national teams to win the World Cup were the 1982 squad—before his debut with the Azzurri—and the 2006 squad, which came after his retirement from the national team.