Next week's Club World Cup Final won't be Milan captain Paolo Maldini's swansong, the Azzurri great said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference a week before a probable final against Argentine champs Boca Juniors, Maldini, 39, squashed rumours he was set to announce his retirement.
Many pundits claimed the all-time Italy and Milan appearance record-holder was planning to hang up his boots after finally lifting a trophy he failed to claim in 1993, 1994 and 2003 - when it was known as the Intercontintental Cup.
Some added he might find it fitting to say his goodbyes at club level in Japan, where he ended his Azzurri career after defeat at the 2002 World Cup.
''I have absolutely no intention of retiring after the Club World Cup. I have a contract lasting until June 30, 2008 and that will be the end of my career,'' Maldini told a FIFA press conference.
On the Milan website he insisted that it would be ''absurd'' to break off at mid-season just when he had come through five months of intensive work to recovery from a leg injury.
''I'm fit and I want to enjoy the rest of the season,'' he said.
He was adamant that - barring a career-ending injury - he would be a Milan player until four days after his 40th birthday on June 26.
Maldini, who scored the fastest goal (51 seconds from kick-off) in European Cup Final history in the 2005 defeat to Liverpool, added: ''We are here to win, to crown two years of work with our coach''.
He said he had known he would have a chance to come back and win when he lost the three Intercontinental Finals for his club, but realised ''there was no coming back'' from the shock World Cup defeat against South Korea in 2002.
Regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time, Maldini won seven Serie A titles, five Champions League trophies, and two Intercontinental Cups with Milan and came second in FIFA's World Player of the Year vote in 1995.
This was an unprecedented achievement at the time, and only surpassed by Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro last year.
He has played a record 849 games in all competitions for Milan, his only club, and a record 126 times for Italy.
The FIFA Club World Cup is a rebranding of the FIFA Club World Championship, the Intercontinental Cup's successor for the last few years.
It is contested between the champion clubs from all 6 continental confederations, although since 2007 the champions of Oceania must play a qualifying play-off against the champion club of the host country.
Barring surprises, top seeds Milan and Boca will meet in the final on December 16.
