Cesare Maldini - new man in charge (Allsport).

By Reece Killworth, Sportinglife.com

Cesare Maldini has done it all in Italian football - but now he has taken on a new challenge.

At the last World Cup Maldini - whose son Paolo is the current captain of the Italian national side - was in charge of his native country as they crashed out in the quarter-finals to eventual winners France.

This time around he will lead Paraguay, despite being appointed after they had already qualified for the Finals.

He replaced Sergio Markarian after Paraguay lost their last two qualifying games and after the controversial Uruguayan had clashed with the powers that be.

Maldini brings with him a wealth of experience in the game.

As a player, his finest hour was the European Cup final of 1963 when Milan beat Benfica and on his retirement his commitment to the San Siro side was rewarded when he was made youth coach.

Spells at Foggia and Parma followed before Maldini was named assistant coach of the Italian national side.

He then took charge of the Under-21 side, winning three European Championships in an impressive 11-year reign.

That earned him the post of national coach in 1997 when Arrigo Sacchi made way.

His spell as Italy coach ended just after the 1998 World Cup finals and he returned to the San Siro to work as Milan's chief scout.

In 2000 he made the long-expected rise to Milan's coach, but only in a caretaker capacity and the lure of international football was too strong when Paraguay approached him.

Maldini is an astute manager with good tactical awareness, although he was criticised for adopting too negative an approach when in charge of Italy.

His knowledge will be a major help to Paraguay as they go into their second successive World Cup finals and will be vital as he leads a side he is still getting to know.