Dino Zoff
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
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Italy
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Playing career: Udinese Calcio, AC Mantova, SSC Napoli, Juventus
Coaching career: Juventus, S.S. Lazio, Italy, S.S. Lazio, ACF Fiorentina
UEFA honours (as a player)
UEFA European Championship: winner 1968
UEFA Cup: winner 1977
(as coach)
UEFA European Championship: runner-up 2000
UEFA Cup: winner 1990
• One of the game's most celebrated goalkeepers, Zoff achieved his career high at the age of 40 when he captained Italy to victory at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He also won countless honours at club level during a glorious 11-year spell with Juventus.
• Made the grade with local club Udinese before moving to Mantova and Napoli, where, at the end of his first season, he made his debut for Italy at the 1968 UEFA European Championship and helped the Azzurri win the title, earning only his fourth cap in the replayed final against Yugoslavia.
• Moving to Juventus he won Serie A in his debut campaign and followed it up with five further titles, two Coppa Italia triumphs and, in 1976/77, the UEFA Cup.
• A member of four World Cup squads, he also appeared in goal for the Azzurri at the 1980 UEFA European Championship and went through the entire tournament without conceding a goal − until a long-range strike from Czechoslovakia's Ladislav Jurkemík flew past him in the third-place play-off.
• Two years later he made history when he captained the Azzurri to glory in Spain, becoming the oldest World Cup winner in the process. He carried on for another year, ending up with a then Italian record of 112 caps (with just 84 goals conceded and 61 clean sheets, including a world-record 12 in succession – 1,142 minutes to be precise − between 1972 and 1974).
• In 11 years at Juventus he did not miss a single Serie A match, running up 330 consecutive appearances, which contributed to an all-time league record of 570 that took 22 years to be eclipsed (by AC Milan's Paolo Maldini).
• Later moved into coaching, including a two-year spell at Juventus that produced victories in the Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup, and a two-year stint in charge of Italy, which ended after a heartbreaking defeat by France in the final of UEFA EURO 2000.
• Zoff received a commemorative cap and medal from UEFA to mark his century of international appearances on 11 October 2011, before Italy's 3-0 win against Northern Ireland in UEFA European Championship qualifying.
• "I'm happy to be here today," he said. "This is certainly a good moment for the Italian national team. I'm sure they are among the best four teams in Europe."