Dino Zoff: biography, sporting achievements

Italian football at all times was strong enough. The national team of this country was the champion of not only Europe but also the world. In the galaxy of outstanding players of this power stands a man named Dino Zoff, 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 already with young children was quite interesting to football breeders, and already at the age of fourteen he was invited to watch in such grants of Italy as "Inter" and "Juventus". However, at that time he was denied the game practice in these teams because of the small goalkeeper's growth.

Debut in the series A

At the age of 19, Dino Zoff first began performing at a high level. His first team was Udinese. With this football team, the Italian spent only two seasons. Already in the debut match for the new team, the young goalkeeper missed five goals, but he had no fault for them. Unfortunately, "Udinese" in the same year flew to the series B, where our hero spent the season and played all the matches without substitutions.

Return to the big leagues

Such a talent as Dino Zoff did not have to live in the second league, and so he again found himself in the elite, but this time already in the club called "Mantova". In it, he played four seasons.

Particularly noteworthy in this period of his life nothing happened, except that the team was lowered in the class, but then again was able to return to the series A. By the way, it was at this time the goalkeeper decided to tie the knot and took a girl named Anna.

A new round of life

In 1967, the Italian had the opportunity to move to Milan, but eventually he was in the "Napoli". It was during the speeches 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 form of the national team. His first game was against Bulgaria in the quarterfinals of the European Championship. The Italians then won with a score of 2: 0. After this victory, the goalkeeper defended three more games, and the Italians eventually became champions of the Old World. Thus, this was the first significant title of Zoff in his career, but, fortunately, not the last.

In 1970, Dino was re-enlisted in the national team for a trip to the World Cup in Mexico. However, in the field he was not destined to leave. All the games then held in the gates of Albertozi.

Going to the "Old Signor"

For five seasons in "Napoli" Dino Zoff won bronze and silver medals of the Italian championship. But already in 1972 he moved to Juventus, who tried to catch the goalkeeper for three years. As it turned out later, it was in the "Juventus" Zoff was destined to spend the rest of his career as a player.

At the age of 30, Dino, along with the new team, wins the first scudetto for himself. In just 11 years in the black and white, Zoff won the Italian championship six times and the Cup twice. There was also one victory in the UEFA Cup.

Noteworthy fact: for all the time that Zoff spent in the "framework" of Juventus, the football team did not fall below the third position in the championship. This result was made possible thanks to the impressive contribution of the goalkeeper in the quality game of the team.

Games at the World Championships

The 1974 world championship for Zoff can not be called successful. Yes, he was already a "base" player, but even his presence at the gate did not save the team from failure. The Italians at that championship could not even leave the group.

The next world tournament in 1978, Dino Zoff, whose photo is given in the article, also held as the main goalkeeper. That year, the Italians were the fourth in the competition, but the press was severely criticized.

The biggest piece of dirt got the goalkeeper. He was accused of slowness and old age. But the Italian did not get involved in the controversy and decided in fact to prove that all charges are unjustified.

At the age of forty, Zoff became the world champion, and to this day is the world record for the player his role. In addition, he owns another unique achievement: the duration of his "dry" series is 1142 minutes at the international level among teams in the period 1972-74.

On May 29, 1983 the goalkeeper held his farewell match for the national team, which was 112th in his long practice game. This achievement is also a record and has been beaten so far only by four players, whose names are: Andrea Pirlo, Maldini Paolo, Kanavarro Fabio, Gianluigi Buffon.

Coaching practice

Dino Zoff, whose achievements inspire respect and to some extent still unattainable, became on the coaching path three years after the completion of the player's career.

For the first time as a coach he felt himself in the youth team, which he prepared and brought to the Olympic Games in Seoul. However, the circumstances developed in such a way that he was not destined to go with the players to the tournament. And all because Zoff could not respond negatively to the invitation to become the head coach of Juventus, to whom he gave 11 years of life as a player.

The mentor of the "Old Lady" Zoff spent only two seasons and was able during this time to win the Cup and the UEFA Cup. In principle, from him no one expected more ...

After a while, Dino Zoff, whose growth, by the way, is very small by goalkeeper standards (only 182 centimeters), headed "Lazio". It happened in the season of 1990-91. Initially, the legendary athlete became the head coach of the Romans, and later became the president of the club, which was offered to him by Sergio Craniotti. During that period, which Zoff held at the helm of the capital's team, he managed to bring it to a new level and put on a par with the recognized leaders of Italian football.

In July 1998, Dino fills another fairly significant page of his biography - he heads the national team. This post Zoff took shortly before the start of the qualifying tournament for the European championship in 2000. The Italian was then able to bring the national team to a prestigious tournament, but the style of the game, which he preached, was criticized by all who are not lazy.

Only thanks to his moral and psychological stability Zoff was able to withstand and withstand this onslaught. In many respects, all the attacks were explained by the fact that he preferred as a coach the defensive model of the game. Therefore, he was able to make himself a lot of opponents, 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 final at Euro 2000, Dino was subjected to a crazy criticism. This time, the legendary football player could not stand it and, hearing from the mouth of Silvio Berlusconi claims of improperly chosen tactics, resigned from his post.

After that, Zoff was able to lead "Lazio" to the bronze medals of the Italian championship, becoming later the vice-president of this metropolitan team.

Today's Day

Many are interested in where Dino Zoff is now. Unequivocally difficult to answer, but in December last year it became known that the titled football masters was in hospital.

According to information provided by many Italian publications, the great goalkeeper and coach has serious problems with the vegetative department of the nervous system, which is why he had some 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 was leaked to the press only three weeks after he was on a hospital bed. In general, nothing supernatural and surprising, since such behavior is quite peculiar and acceptable for him. The world record holder has always been a fairly closed man and silent.

Finally, we must add: Dino Zoff, whose number in the list of the best goalkeepers of the 20th century is the third, is exactly the person who today unites Italy, because this country literally lives and suffers football, despite all its internal contradictions and disagreements in other aspects of life.