Hard work pays off for Zoff
By Sergio Di Cesare

If you want an insight into the greatness of Dino Zoff, Italy's outstanding
player of the last half-century, just cast an eye over the results of the
Europe-wide survey conducted by the uefa.com website to find the best player
of the last 50 years.

High five
In an extraordinary achievement for a goalkeeper, Zoff was beaten only by
Zinedine Zidane, Franz Beckenbauer, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten.
Indeed, he polled ahead of the likes of Alfredo Di Stéfano, Eusébio, Michel
Platini, Paolo Maldini, Ferenc Puskás, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Lothar
Matthaüs and Bobby Moore.

Records galore
Zoff, now 62, is a living legend in Italian football, a world ambassador for
Italy and an extraordinary record holder. In his 22-year playing career
(1961-83) he made 570 Serie A appearances (for Udinese Calcio, Mantova
Calcio, SSC Napoli and Juventus FC), establishing two outstanding records for
the Turin team: 332 consecutive games, not missing a match in more than 11
years, and 903 minutes without conceding a goal.

Cover star
His figures were just as impressive at international level: 112 caps (59 as
captain), four FIFA World Cups (1970, 1974, 1978, 1982) and an unbeaten
record lasting 1,143 minutes which took him to the cover of Newsweek magazine
in 1974.

Calm and confident
In those days, football was just a sport, not the global phenomenon it is
now. Looking back, his calm, confident temperament contrasts sharply with the
excesses of modern players who often find themselves in the wrong pages of
the tabloid press.

Hard worker
"If I hadn't been a goalkeeper, I would have used the hands God gave me to be
a farm worker or mechanic," said Zoff, who hailed from Mariano del Friuli,
near Udine. He combined an athletic talent with a technique that was
initially raw. However, he worked exceptionally hard on all aspects of his
game, demonstrating that top-class footballers, if not born, can be made. He
trained ceaselessly, even at the age of 40 when he captained Italy to World
Cup glory. "I had such a long career because in life you never stop learning
and it's always possible to improve if the will is there," he said.

Napoli stint
Zoff's career took off in 1967, when aged 25, he joined Napoli. Life in
turbulent Naples served merely to reinforce his cool character. "Naples and I
were like two extremes that touched. We immediately fell in love." Already 30
by the time he moved to Juventus (1972), he was a central figure in a decade
of unprecedented success for Giovanni Trapattoni's side.

Juventus glory
He starred alongside Claudio Gentile, Antonio Cabrini, Gaetano Scirea, Marco
Tardelli, Franco Causio, Paolo Rossi and Roberto Bettega (an all-Italian
squad which won the UEFA Cup in 1977). In eleven seasons in Turin, Zoff
claimed six Italian titles and two Italian Cups, but suffered two European
Cup final defeats (by Ajax in 1973 and Hamburg in 1983).

Scirea tribute
Unforgettable times, especially those shared with defender Scirea, who was
tragically killed in a road accident in 1986. "I miss Gaetano terribly and it
annoys me that it was only after his death that his true worth as a player
and man was recognised. But it seems that if you are a good, honest person in
this world, nobody is interested."

World Cup winner
Scirea was also a team-mate in 1982, when Zoff won the World Cup with Enzo
Bearzot's Italy. This success made up for the disappointments of the three
preceding tournaments. In 1970 he had been a substitute to Enrico Albertosi;
in 1974 the Azzurri made a fast exit; while in Argentina, he conceded four
goals as the team finished fourth.

Iconic figure
The artist Renato Guttuso subsequently immortalised the image of Zoff's hands
lifting the World Cup to the sky at Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu stadium on a
commemorative stamp, an image which has become an icon in Italian football
history. Like the player himself

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