Hard work pays off for Zoff

To help mark UEFA's Jubilee, each national association was asked to nominate its most outstanding player of the past 50 years. Italy selected legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff.

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 uefa.com to find the best player of the last 50 years. In an extraordinary achievement for a goalkeeper Zoff was beaten only by Zinédine 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
Born in February 1942, Zoff 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, 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. His figures were just as impressive at international level: 112 caps (59 as captain), four FIFA World Cups 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. "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 hails 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 training 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 in 1972, he was a central figure in a decade of unprecedented success for Giovanni Trapattoni's side. 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 Coppa Italias, but suffered two European Champion Clubs' Cup final defeats by AFC Ajax in 1973 and Hamburger SV 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." 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.