Maldini launches Miami soccer team

(ANSA) - Rome, May 21 - Former Milan and Italy defender Paolo Maldini has bought into a new United States football club destined to play in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the US second division has said.
    Maldini, 46, has become co-owner of the newly created Miami Football Club alongside television rights entrepreneur Riccardo Silva and a group of private investors, NASL added. The team will enter the second-tier league, currently dominated by the New York Cosmos, in 2016.
    "I am proud and pleased about this adventure awaiting me," Maldini said. "I strongly believe in the growth of soccer in the US and this seems a perfect project to develop a top-class team," he added. "We are pleased to bring professional football to Miami and also to support the entire community," Maldini said, adding that NASL represented a perfect starting platform.
    British soccer legend David Beckham also has plans to create a team in Miami, although it is not clear if this will play in the NASL like Maldini's team or in the first-division Major League Soccer.