his generation, and one of Italy's best ever defenders. He was also highly regarded for his leadership, and consistency, as well as his discipline and class, both on and off the pitch; throughout his career, he only received five yellow cards and was sent off only once. A tactically versatile player, although he was usually used as a man-marking centre-back, or as a sweeper, he was also capable of functioning as a full-back on either side of the pitch, but was usually fielded on the right flank when played in this position; he was even used as a defensive midfielder on occasion, due to his tendency to advance into midfield when in possession of the ball and start attacking plays from the back. Despite his reputation as a consistently world-class defender, in his early career Maldini was at times also known for being overly confident in possession, and for having a penchant to take risks when carrying or playing the ball out of the defence, due to his passing accuracy and ability on the ball; this tendency occasionally led to sporadic and atypical defensive errors, which were later humorously dubbed Maldinate by the Italian media. Managerial career Early career After retiring from playing Maldini became a coach, starting his career as an assistant manager for Nereo Rocco at Milan in 1970, and later also coached the team between 1972 and 1974, while Rocco served as the club's technical director. Maldini's first official match as Milan's head coach came on 6 September 1972, in a 4–1 away win over FA Red Boys Differdange in the Cup Winners' Cup; Maldini won a Coppa Italia and a Cup Winners' Cup double in 1973, and also narrowly missed out on the league title that season. However, Milan also suffered a 6–1 defeat on aggregate to Ajax in the European Super Cup; this was the worst defeat for an Italian team in an UEFA competition final. He was sacked by the club in 1974, following a disappointing 2–1 defeat to Verona on 6 April, and was replaced by Giovanni Trapattoni for the final few games of the season. He later went on to coach Foggia (1974–1976), Ternana (1976–77), and Serie C1 side Parma (1978–80), helping the team to obtain Serie B promotion during his tenure with the club, after managing a second-place finish in the league during the 1978–79 Serie C1 season. Between 1980 and