Dino Zoff
Encyclopedia
Dino Zoff is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 former football goalkeeper and is the oldest winner ever of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian team
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 in the 1982 tournament
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

 in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days.

Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability and has a place in the history of the sport among the very best in this role, being named the 3rd greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS behind Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin
Lev Ivanovich Yashin nicknamed as "The Black Spider", was a Soviet-Russian football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his superior athleticism in goal, imposing stature, amazing reflex saves and inventing the idea of...

 and Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....

. He holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974. With 112 caps he is third only to Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro
Fabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...

 and Paolo Maldini
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club...

 in number of appearances for the Azzurri
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

. In 2004 Pelé named him as one of the 125 greatest living footballers.

After retiring as a footballer, Zoff went on to become coach for the Italian national team
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 and several other Italian clubs.

Playing career

Dino Zoff was born in Mariano del Friuli
Mariano del Friuli
Mariano del Friuli is a town and comune in the province of Gorizia, part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy. It is the birthplace of former Italian national football team goalie Dino Zoff....

, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...

 (Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

), and was elected in a poll by the IFFHS as the third best goalkeeper of the 20th Century - after Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin
Lev Ivanovich Yashin nicknamed as "The Black Spider", was a Soviet-Russian football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his superior athleticism in goal, imposing stature, amazing reflex saves and inventing the idea of...

 (1st) and Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....

 (2nd).

Zoff's career got off to an inauspicious start, when at the age of fourteen he had trials with Inter Milan and Juventus F.C.
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

, but was rejected due to a lack of height. Five years later, having grown by 33 centimetres, he made his Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

 debut with Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....

, though Zoff made only four appearances for Udinese before moving to Mantova
A.C. Mantova
Mantova Football Club is an Italian football club, based in Mantua, Lombardy. Mantova had played consecutively in the Italian Serie B from the 2005–06 season to 2009–10 as Associazione Calcio Mantova, when they were relegated after ending the season in 20th place.During the summer 2010, the club...

 in 1963.

In 1968, Zoff was transferred to Napoli. In the same year he made his debut for Italy, playing against Bulgaria
Bulgaria national football team
The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...

 in the quarter final of the 1968 European Championships. Italy proceeded to win the tournament, Zoff taking home a winners' medal after only his fourth international appearance.

Left out of the Italian starting eleven in the 1970 FIFA World Cup
1970 FIFA World Cup
The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...

, Zoff resumed his success after signing for Juventus in 1972. In eleven years with Juventus, Zoff won the Serie A championship six times, the Coppa Italia
Coppa Italia
The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

 twice and the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 once. However, Zoff's greatest feat came in the 1982 FIFA World Cup
1982 FIFA World Cup
The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

, where he captained Italy to victory in the tournament at the age of 40, making him the oldest ever winner of the World Cup. He followed in the footsteps of compatriot Giampiero Combi
Giampiero Combi
Gianpiero Combi was one of Italian football's greatest goalkeepers of all-time. He spent his entire career at Juventus FC and won the 1934 World Cup with the Italian national team...

 (1934
1934 FIFA World Cup
The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

) as only the second goalkeeper to captain a World Cup-winning side. He was also voted as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament. His manager Enzo Bearzot
Enzo Bearzot
Vincenzo "Enzo" Bearzot was an Italian association football player and manager. He is best known for having led the Italian national football team to a triumph in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.-Playing career:...

 said:
Zoff, Gianpiero Combi (in 1934
1934 FIFA World Cup
The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

) and Iker Casillas (Spain in 2010 World Cup) are the only goalkeepers
Goalkeeper (football)
In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...

 to captain a team that won the World Cup. Zoff is also the oldest player ever to have won the trophy. He holds the record for the longest stretch (1142 minutes) without allowing any goals in international football, set between 1972 and 1974. That clean sheet stretch was ended by Haitian soccer player Manno Sanon's beautiful goal during the 1974 World Cup. He also held the records for the oldest Serie A player and most Serie A appearances (570 matches) for more than 20 years, until the season 2005–06 when the record was broken by S.S. Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

 goalkeeper Marco Ballotta
Marco Ballotta
Marco Ballotta is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper.His senior club career spanned a quarter of a century, but Ballotta was never capped for the Italian national team...

 and A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

 defender Paolo Maldini
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini is an Italian former footballer who played as a left or central defender. He spent all 25 seasons of his career at Serie A club Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009, becoming a symbol and a legend of the club...

 respectively.

Coaching career

After his retirement as a player, Zoff went into coaching, joining the technical staff at Juventus, where he was head coach from 1988 to 1990. In 1990 he was sacked, despite winning the UEFA Cup. He then joined Lazio
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio, commonly referred to as Lazio, is a professional Italian football club based in Rome. The team, founded in 1900, play in the Serie A and have spent most of their history in the top tier of Italian football...

, where he became president in 1994.
In 1998 Zoff was appointed coach of the Italian national team. Using a more open and attacking style than usually used by Italian sides, he coached Italy to a second-place finish in Euro 2000
2000 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe....

, suffering an extra-time defeat at the hands of France
France national football team
The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation , the governing body of football in France, and competes as a member of UEFA, which encompasses the countries of Europe...

 in the final, when in the 90th minute of the game, Italy were 1-0 up and less than sixty seconds from winning the tournament before France scored to equalise and go to extra time. A few days later Zoff resigned, following strong criticism from A.C. Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

 president and politician Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...

.

Zoff returned to Lazio, but resigned following a poor start to the 2001–02 season. In 2005, he was named the coach of Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A...

. But after saving the team from relegation on the last day of the season, Zoff was let go.

Juventus

  • Serie A
    Serie A
    Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

     -
    • 1972-73,1974–75,1976–77,1977–78,1980–81,1981–82
  • Coppa Italia
    Coppa Italia
    The Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...

    • 1978-79, 1982–83
  • UEFA Cup
    UEFA Cup
    The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

    • 1976-77

International

  • FIFA World Cup
    FIFA World Cup
    The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

    • 1982
      FIFA World Cup
      The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

  • European Football Championship
    UEFA European Football Championship
    The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

    • 1968
      UEFA European Football Championship
      The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...


Other honours

  • November 2003: Italy's Golden Player
    UEFA Jubilee Awards
    To celebrate the Union of European Football Associations 's 50th anniversary in 2004, each of its member associations was asked by UEFA to choose one of its own players as the single most outstanding player of the past 50 years . The 52 players were known as the Golden Players...

     - the best Italian player of the last 50 years, selected by the Italian Football Federation.

Statistics

|-
|1961-62
Serie A 1961-62
-Final classification:-Results:...

||rowspan="2"|Udinese
Udinese Calcio
Udinese Calcio is an Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and currently plays in the Serie A. Founded in 1896, Udinese is the second oldest club in the Serie A, after Genoa....

||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||4||0||||||||||||
|-
|1962-63
Serie B 1962-63
-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005...

||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||34||0||||||||||||
|-
|1963-64||rowspan="4"|Mantova
A.C. Mantova
Mantova Football Club is an Italian football club, based in Mantua, Lombardy. Mantova had played consecutively in the Italian Serie B from the 2005–06 season to 2009–10 as Associazione Calcio Mantova, when they were relegated after ending the season in 20th place.During the summer 2010, the club...

||rowspan="2"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||27||0||||||||||||
|-
|1964-65
Serie A 1964-65
-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||32||0||||||||||||
|-
|1965-66
Serie B 1965-66
This article contains information on the 1965-1966 season of Serie B, the second highest football league in Italy.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:...

||Serie B
Serie B
Serie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...

||38||0||||||||||||
|-
|1966-67
Serie A 1966-67
Serie A 1966-67 season was won by Juventus, it was their second scudetto of the 1960s. The season was closely contested and went down to the final day of the season; Inter were left needing just a draw or having Juventus not beat Lazio to win the title. However, Inter lost 1-0 on the final day to...

||Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||34||0||||||||||||
|-
|1967-68
Serie A 1967-68
Serie A 1967-68 season was won by A.C. Milan.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||rowspan="5"|Napoli
S.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....

||rowspan="5"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1968-69
Serie A 1968-69
The 1968/1969 Serie A season was won by A.C. Fiorentina.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1969-70
Serie A 1969-70
The 1969/1970 Serie A season was won by Cagliari Calcio.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1970-71
Serie A 1970-71
The 1970/1971 Serie A season was won by F.C. Internazionale Milano.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1971-72
Serie A 1971-72
The 1971/1972 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||23||0||||||||||||
|-
|1972-73
Serie A 1972-73
The 1972/1973 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||rowspan="11"|Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

||rowspan="11"|Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1973-74
Serie A 1973-74
The 1973/1974 Serie A season was won by S.S. Lazio.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1974-75
Serie A 1974-75
The 1974/1975 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1975-76
Serie A 1975-76
The 1975/1976 Serie A season was won by Torino Calcio.-Classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1976-77
Serie A 1976-77
The 1976/1977 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1977-78
Serie A 1977-78
The 1977/1978 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1978-79
Serie A 1978-79
The 1978/1979 Serie A season was won by A.C. Milan.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1979-80
Serie A 1979-80
The 1979/1980 Serie A season was the 50th edition of Serie A, the top-level football competition in Italy. The championship was won by F.C. Internazionale Milano.-Final classification:-References:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1980-81
Serie A 1980-81
The 1980/1981 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1981-82
Serie A 1981-82
The 1981/1982 Serie A season was won by Juventus F.C..-Final classification:Juventus FC became the first, and as of 2011, the only team in Italian football to be awarded two golden stars, to commemorate their 20th title win.-Results:...

||30||0||||||||||||
|-
|1982-83
Serie A 1982-83
The 1982/1983 Serie A season was won by A.S. Roma.-Final classification:-Results:-References and sources:*Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005-External links:...

||30||0||||||||||||
570||0||||||||||||
570||0||||||||||||
|-
|1968||5||0
|-
|1969||4||0
|-
|1970||2||0
|-
|1971||6||0
|-
|1972||5||0
|-
|1973||8||0
|-
|1974||8||0
|-
|1975||7||0
|-
|1976||10||0
|-
|1977||6||0
|-
|1978||12||0
|-
|1979||4||0
|-
|1980||12||0
|-
|1981||7||0
|-
|1982||13||0
|-
|1983||3||0
|-
!Total||112||0
|}

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK