Maldini, like father, like son: with the goal against Inter, Daniel equals dad

Do you remember “Sei forte papa” single by Gianni Morandi? Oh well, almost 50 years have passed since 1976, but Wikipedia is still there. Papa Paolo was strong, very strong. He played in defence, so he usually avoided rather than scored goals. But he had a deadly header, and a dry shot to respect. In 647 matches in Serie A, he has cheered for a goal with his arms raised 29 times. Let’s add the 3 in the Champions League and the one in the Italian Cup. Of those 33, only one at Inter. So it didn’t take long for his son Daniel, 21 years old, to equal him, with that of the first advantage of Spezia.

Dad’s goal

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It was 20 November 1994, the Nerazzurri had taken the lead with a great left-footed volley from outside the area by Davide Fontolan after only 4′. In the 50th minute the equalizer: Roberto Donadoni serves Paolo in the area, he falling to the ground in a turn with a low left foot sends the ball into the corner opposite to the one protected by Walter Zenga. Fast forward to March 10, 2023, 10,338 days later, or 28 years, 3 months and 19 days. This time it is Daniel who pierces Inter: long ball from Dragowski, Nzola jumps D’Ambrosio, defends the ball and serves Maldini who arrives running and primarily pierces Handanovic with a right foot in the bottom right corner of the goalkeeper.

one each

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Another curious fact: in Serie A Daniel scored three goals. One in Milan, in the first leg match at San Siro solved in the 90th minute by a magic from Giroud after the goal of his son and nephew in art had equalized the goal by Theo Hernandez. One at Inter, both of course with the Spezia shirt. To which, however, he had scored his first career goal, with the Rossoneri in the match on 25 September 2021, when he had given Milan the lead, which they then won 2-1 thanks to Brahim Diaz. The other marking instead came in the Italian Cup, on 6 August in Spezia’s 5-1 win over Como. And grandfather Cesare? Well, he wasn’t exactly one to talk about goals: he scored only 3 times, against Triestina, Rome and Catania, in 467 games played.

the words

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“We believed in it from the start, even when we conceded the 1-1 goal. We stayed in the game. I’ve been looking for this goal for a long time. It came against a strong team and we’re enjoying it – Daniel then told Dazn at the end match – I’ve been looking for this emotion for a long time. Did I equal my father’s goals at Inter? I didn’t even think about it. In the end we always concede goals, but this time we managed to get together well like a real team. Semplici brought us more serenity, it helped us more in words”. Like father Like Son.