Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini, the captain of the Milan soccer team, has also played in a recor number of games with the Italian national team... In between all that, he agreed to answer our questions about perfumes.

By Adriano De Grandis

Are you as comfotable with fragrance as you are on a soccer field?

I am less demanding of fragrances than I am with the ball, which is more stimulating to me and brings me much more. In fact, I don't use much eau de toilette. My wife, Adriana takes care of all that. She chooses them for me. I'm not like some other guys on the team who are crazy about them. The perfume world is somewhat different from the world that I'm used to. On the other hand, I do use after-shave because I like its coolness. That is the only type of scented product that I use regularly.

Has it always been that way for you?

When I was younger, I used Brut for Men by Fabergé. It was very trendy back then and I felt it helped me attract girls. But I stopped using it pretty quickly.

Are there any smells linked to your childhood or youth?

There are two of them. One is rather public and the other, more intimate. The first one is the smell of locker rooms. The smell of camphor pervaded the whole place (not so much these days), and that smell reminds me of when I was a teenager. The second smell brings me closer to my family. I remember fragrant aromas coming from mama's kitchen. Some were delicious, like pizza or meatballs. But others were just unbearable, like minestrone (vegetable soup), for example. I've always been attracted to the smell of a kitchen, though I am not a great cook. I don't eat much, but I am convinced that those smells are one of the best things in life.

What smells do you hate?

All bad smells... garbage, for example. A dirty place, a bathroom that hasn't been cleaned properly. Because of my extensive traveling, I have to deal with those situations quite a bit.

Are there any smells that remind you of loved ones?

My child's smell. We all have our very own smell, and it has nothing to do with perfume. In general, I find babies' smells very pleasant. But, if I really had to choose the smells that surround me, I'd opt for rose and mint.