Today, on the last weekend of the Serie A calender of 2009, and on the last occasion 3 greats walked onto the pitch as a professional footballers, we finally came to that day we knew would eventually have to come.
Now, I'm not Serie A's biggest fan by any means, particularly since the Calciopoli affair, but I am not ignorant to the point that I will not pay homage to the greats of the modern era who played their last games today, in what was once the greatest league in world football.
They are namely: Luis Figo(Inter), Pavel Nedved(Juventus), and of course, literally the grandaddy of them all, Paolo Maldini(Milan).
Where to begin?
In Figo's case, you could easily argue he made his name before his wildly successful stint with Inter. (which involved four Scudetti, three Supercoppas, one Coppa Italia) Nonetheless Figo, although usually having more of a squad role than the case with his previous clubs, has contributed to Inter's domestic success over the past few seasons.
As a former World player of the year(2001), Ballon D'Or winner(2000), Galactico and Portuguese Icon (now succeeded by Ronaldo in this role), he will be remembered as a great of the game, but probably more so for his exploits with Real Madrid and Barcelona than in Serie A.
Pavel Nedved is on the other hand made his name completely in Serie A. After backing out on an agreement to join PSV to join Lazio. Nedved would go on to become one of the world's top players during the late '90s and early noughties.
His prime was arguably reached in 2003 where Juventus made it to the CL final and won Serie A (1 of 3 Serie A medals for Nedved). He also won the Ballon D'Or that season and both the overall and foreign Serie A player of the year awards.
Likewise for the national team, Nedved had captained his country to their most successful stint since the fall of the Iron Curtain reaching the Euro 2004 semis and generally being considered the perennial dark horse of the European international scene.
Juventus fans will be forever in debt to him. When the chips were down, Nedved was one of the few foreign imports that chose to stay and play in Serie B after Calciopoli. Another true great of the modern European game.
But the man most around the world have been paying homage to is, quite simply, a legend; in this authors opinion the greatest defender of all time and easily one of the greatest players of all time, Paolo Maldini.
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