(acmilan.com translation)

There are no point of contacts between Sunday’s final and that of 2003. This was stated more than once by Paolo Maldini, who spoke about the enthusiasm of the Japanese, Kaka and the Club World Cup competition formula.


YOKOHAMA – Milan returned at the sports centre of Yokohama F. Marinos, the “Marinos Camp”, after two days of absence: on Wednesday the training at the stadium and yesterday the semi-final. Today, just before the start of the session, Paolo Maldini spoke: “In the past years, at the question of what I would like to still reach in the football world, I often spoke about the return to Tokyo, because this is presence has a value, you arrive here if you win the Champions League. Boca tried the long balls? We already noticed it by watching the quarter final between our opponents and the Tunisian side Etoile du Sahal. It’s a characteristic which they have and that they will try to take advantage of against us. We must be prepared."

The other issues: "Here in Japan there’s so much enthusiasm towards me that it almost embarrasses me. I notice it also from the many shirts with my name which I see outside the hotel of our training camp. The applause of Platini yesterday? It pleases me, maybe he pays me these tributes for a certain spirit we share, as we have played against each other various times. It’s quite nice to talk about, in this country and this occasion, of the nice gestures and enthusiasm seen, where often in football you only talk about scandals and problems. The atmosphere of last night’s game was very particular. Their ‘curva’ was very noisy, more than ours. In fact, usually in Japan the home advantage does not count from the public point of view. The Argentinean fans? We saw them, on Sunday they will sing throughout the entire game. So far there haven’t been any nice games? We knew that from the technical point of view, the game which had to give most was the last one, the final, with the clash between the European and South American team. However, let's remember that it will be a final, and we can’t always expect that it’s a nice game. In this tournament, I was surprised by the Mexican teams. They are strong but here in Japan they fail to shine. At first I wasn’t in favour of this formula, but now, living it, I think it is well guessed."

Then the issue becomes Kaka: “Him and Van Basten,” started Paolo Maldini, "Are different players, but Kaka has reached extraordinary levels: even though he played little, he has already won a World Cup, then with Milan he did extraordinary things. As an emblem I certainly see Van Basten in him. The captain’s armband? There is no exact rule in the clubs, whereas in the national team, whoever has more caps is the captain. In a club team you become captain also according to the evaluation of the club, coach and the team’s sensations. Milan has not yet decided in six months time when I will conclude my career, but I know that there will be a democratic discussion. Up till this moment we spoke between us, the previous night during dinner. Me? Surely, even I will give my opinion. Being the captain means occupying yourself of many aspects of the team."

The final words are on Boca Juniors: “This game is a different story from 2003, just like at Athens between Milan and Liverpool was a different story than Istanbul. Boca is a classic Argentinean team, it has it’s trade mark, that of Boca. They have a slow rhythm, they play on that too, they aim on making you lose the rhythm. Differently than 2003, we maybe feel more that game. After all, also thanks to the influence of our Brazilians who want to do very well in this game, the importance of the Club world Cup title is felt even more. It’s a competition which keeps on growing.”

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