Cafu: ‘Ancelotti more than a father, Maldini should be at Milan’ | OneFootball

Milan legend Marcos Cafu reveals Carlo Ancelotti was ‘like a father’ to him, but ‘cannot understand’ why Paolo Maldini was fired. ‘He is the symbol of Milan.’

Cafu was in Trento for the annual Festival dello Sport, an event organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport with many invited to speak on stage and answer questions.

You can read the rest of the Brazilian’s comments here on his career and why he almost didn’t join the Rossoneri from Roma in 2003.

As the conversation continued, he covered his special time at San Siro until retirement in 2008.

“Ancelotti only wanted to play me for 12 games a season, but in the end I played them all until I turned 38 years of age,” said Cafu.

“I never wanted to rest and we won everything there was to win. The secret was we were a team who ran so hard, we needed to be at our best physically.”

Cafu misses Maldini at Milan

The rapport with his Milan coach proved a pivotal moment in the right-back’s career path.

“Ancelotti was a coach, a father, a brother. He was everything to me.”

President Silvio Berlusconi was at the helm of the Rossoneri for over 30 years and a near constant presence in the locker room.

“He would come to Milanello and hand out advice on tactics, set plays and all that. Every day he had a new tactic in mind, would come and give us advice, but he respected all the players.”

Those included Cafu’s teammate at the time, Maldini, who went on to be a director at Milan from 2019 to his shock dismissal in 2023.

“Maldini is the symbol of Milan. He was the best defender in the history of the game, he made Milan great and he should always be working there,” concluded Cafu.