Italian football has always been strong enough. The national team of this country was the champion of not only Europe, but also the world. In the galaxy of outstanding football players of this power, a man named Dino Zoff stands out whose biography will be presented to your attention in this article.
Birth
The future great goalkeeper was born in the city of Mariano del Friuli on February 28, 1942. Dino Zoff, from a young age, was quite interesting to football breeders, and at the age of fourteen he was invited to watch in such giants of Italy as Inter and Juventus. However, at that time he was denied playing practice in these teams because of the small growth for the goalkeeper.
Debut in Series A
At the age of 19, Dino Zoff first began performing at a high level. His first team was Udinese. The Italian spent only two seasons with this football squad. Already in the debut match for the new team, the young goalkeeper conceded as many as five goals, but he had no fault for them. Unfortunately, in the same year, Udinese flew to Serie B, where our hero spent the season and played all matches without replacements.
Return to the big leagues
Such a talent as Dino Zoff should not be vegetated in the second league, and therefore he was again in the elite, but this time already in the club called “Mantova”. In it, he played 4 seasons.
Nothing special happened during this period of his life, except that the team was demoted, but then was able to return to Serie A. By the way, it was at this time that the goalkeeper decided to tie the knot and married a girl named Anna.
A new round of life
In 1967, the Italian had the opportunity to move to Milan, but in the end he ended up in Napoli. It was during the period of speaking for the Neapolitan team in the life of the famous goalkeeper that several significant events took place, which went down in history.
April 20, 1968 Dino Zoff first put on the uniform of the national team. His first game was against the Bulgarian team in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. The Italians then won 2-0. After this victory, the goalkeeper defended three more games, and the Italians ultimately became Old World champions. Thus, it was the first significant title of Zoff in his career, but, fortunately, not the last.
In 1970, Dino was again enrolled in the national team for a trip to the World Cup in Mexico. However, he was never destined to enter the field then. All games then held at the gates of Albertozi.
Transition to the "Old Signora"
For five seasons at Napoli, Dino Zoff won bronze and silver medals in the Italian Championship. But already in 1972 he transferred to Juventus, who had been trying to get the goalkeeper for three years. As it turned out later, it was in the composition of Juve that Zoff was destined to spend the rest of his career as a player.
At the age of 30, Dino, together with a new team, wins his first scudetto. In just 11 years spent in black and white, Zoff won the Italian championship six times and the Cup of the country twice. There was also one victory in the UEFA Cup.
A remarkable fact: for the entire time that Zoff spent in the “frame” of “Juventus”, the football squad did not fall below the third position in the championship. This result was made possible thanks to the goalkeeper’s impressive contribution to the team’s quality game.
World Championship Games
The 1974 world championship for Zoff cannot be called successful. Yes, he was already a “base” player then, but even his presence at the gate did not save the team from failure. The Italians at that championship were not even able to leave the group.
The next world tournament of 1978, Dino Zoff, whose photo is given in the article, also held as the main goalkeeper. That year, Italians became the fourth in the competition, but the press criticized them severely.
The goalkeeper received the largest portion of the dirt. He was accused of slowness and old age. But the Italian did not engage in controversy and decided in practice to prove that all the charges are unjustified.
At the age of forty, Zoff becomes the world champion, which to this day is the world record for a player of his role. In addition, he owns another unique achievement: the duration of his “dry” series is 1142 minutes at the international level among national teams in the period 1972-74.
On May 29, 1983, the goalkeeper spent his farewell match for the national team, which was 112th in his long-term playing practice. This achievement is also a record and is still beaten only by four players whose names are: Andrea Pirlo, Maldini Paolo, Canavarro Fabio, Gianluigi Buffon.
Coaching practice
Dino Zoff, whose achievements are respectable and to some extent still unattainable, became on the coaching path three years after the player’s career ended.
For the first time as a coach, he felt himself in the youth team, which he prepared and took to the Olympic Games in Seoul. However, the circumstances were such that he was not destined to go along with his wards to the tournament. And all because Zoff could not answer negatively to the invitation to become the head coach of Juventus, to whom he gave 11 years of his life as a player.
Mentor of the “Old Signora” Zoff spent only two seasons and during this time was able to win the Cup of the country and the UEFA Cup. In principle, no one expected more from him then ...
After some time, Dino Zoff, whose growth, by the way, by goalkeeper standards is very small (only 182 centimeters), headed “Lazio”. It happened in the 1990–91 season. Initially, the legendary athlete became the head coach of the Romans, and a little later took the post of president of the club, which Sergio Craniotti offered him. During the period that Zoff spent at the helm of the capital's team, he managed to bring it to a new level and put it on a par with the recognized leaders of Italian football.
In July 1998, Dino fills out another rather significant page of his biography - he leads the national team. Zoff took this post shortly before the start of the qualifying tournament for the 2000 European Championship. The Italian was then able to lead the national team to a prestigious tournament, however, the style of play that he preached was criticized by everyone who was not lazy.
Only thanks to his moral and psychological stability, Zoff could resist and withstand this onslaught. In many ways, all the attacks were explained by the fact that he preferred as a coach a defensive model of the game. Therefore, he was able to make enough enemies while he was at the helm of the Italian team.
Unfortunately, even despite the rather successful performance of the Italians who managed to reach the finals at Euro 2000, Dino was subjected to crazy criticism. This time, the legendary footballer could not stand it anymore and, having heard from Silvio Berlusconi 's lips claims about incorrect tactics, he resigned from his post.
After that, Zoff was able to lead Lazio to the bronze medals of the Italian championship, later becoming vice president of this metropolitan team.
Today
Many are interested in where Dino Zoff is now. It is difficult to answer unequivocally, but in December last year it became known that the titled football master was in the hospital.
According to information provided by many Italian print media, the great goalkeeper and coach has serious problems with the autonomic nervous system, which is why he had certain difficulties. There is no direct threat to life, but for Dino, walking is now a big problem.
Note the fact that the news of his hospitalization leaked to the press only three weeks after he ended up in a hospital bed. In general, nothing supernatural and surprising, since such behavior is quite characteristic and acceptable for him. The world record-holder has always been a rather closed person and a silent person.
Finally, we must add: Dino Zoff, whose number in the list of the best goalkeepers of the 20th century is the third, is precisely the person who unites Italy today, because this country literally lives and is sick with football, despite all its internal contradictions and disagreements in other aspects of life.