Hello all.
Paolo is going to retire soon. I thought I will just share with everyone what I feel about him, what makes him so special to me among everyone else.
Here we go:
I was 13. All my friends were better than me. I was always the last one to get picked in kick-about games. Even though I grew up playing football, many said I couldn’t make the cut. Even though me and my bunch of friends made a pact to turn professional together, even though I was the least likely to make it. That was 5 years ago.
I thought my friends had a point. They were right. I was not going to be a good player.
THEN HE CAME ALONG.
When I first watched a video clip of him online, I was fascinated. Who was this player, who could stop even the best of forwards? Who was this player, who had mastered defending?
I soon found out.
GOD does exist. And he goes by the name of PAOLO MALDINI.I believe that as long as I believe in him, I could make it. I found myself a local team, got involved with the games and stuff. And it carries on from there.
Every time I needed inspiration to go for training, or to play football, I just had to think of him. PAOLO MALDINI. Those two words were all that I needed. Whenever I was tired, I would think of MALDINI, imagine him looking at me from above, and I would feel a fraction of all the passion, emotion, and form of energy which had kept MALDINI going all these years. And I would be energized again.
5 years on. The pact between me and my friends has long gone. Among all of them, I was the only one, still chasing the dream of being a good football player. I may not have yet turned professional despite, but I am certainly on the way there. And even if I don’t, I may look back, smile and said that at least I went to training, and did my very best.
Without anyone’s support, without anyone’s encouragement, I forged on. I went for training alone. Countless hours spent in the field while others my age were out enjoying themselves. If anyone asks, how I made it till today, I say: “
BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN THE POWER AND MAGIC THAT IS PAOLO MALDINI.”
And like I always say in tune to my answer above: “
FOOTBALL WILL ALWAYS BE RELIGION, AND PAOLO MALDINI WILL ALWAYS BE GOD.”
And that is how much PAOLO MALDINI means to me.
On Jun 26 2008, I celevrated Paolo Maldini's birthday:
((