Gianfranco Zola earned the respect of players and fans alike for his footballing wizardry and humble personality, traits which were a compliment to a colourful career at the top level.
Born in Oliena, Sardinia on July 5 1966 Zola’s career started at Nuorese in 1984 and later Torres before moving to Napoli in 1989. This gave him the opportunity to learn from the great Diego Maradona, and he would usually stay behind and study him in training and practice free kicks to perfection with him.
Zola scored two goals as Maradona’s understudy as Napoli won the league title. He went on to become Napoli’s first choice striker after Maradona tested positive for drugs, effectively destroying his career at the club. In 1991 Zola won the European Super Cup and also received his first cap for Italy.
In 1993 Zola moved on to Parma where he partnered Faustino Asprilla in attack. Zola’s reputation grew as Parma won the UEFA Cup and finished runners up in Serie A and the Italian Cup. He went on to make 104 league appearances for Parma and scored 49 goals, but his time came to an end when his flair went against the current managers tactics.
In November 1996 Chelsea’s bid of €4.5 million for Zola was accepted by Parma as Zola’s creativity didn’t fit into Carlo Ancelotti’s rigid system. Zola had a huge impact in his first season at Stamford Bridge, helping them to an FA Cup triumph with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough and scoring past Liverpool in an earlier round to secure a sensational 4-2 victory from being 2-0 down.
He showed a masterclass of talent to English viewers, and after dribbling around the Manchester United defence and scoring past Peter Schmeichel, Alex Ferguson described him as a ‘clever little so-and-so’. Zola went on to win the Football Writers Association player of the year despite not having played a full season in England.
His grace with the ball pushed Chelsea to three trophies the following season – the League Cup, the Super Cup and the Cup Winners Cup. In the latter he started on the bench due to injury but following his introduction as a second half sub he scored the winner after just 21 seconds.
From 1999 Zola found his starting opportunities more limited due to Gianluca Vialli’s and later Claudio Ranieri’s squad rotation policies. However, Zola was still a key player and contributed three goals in Chelsea’s run to the Champions League quarter finals in 1999/2000, including a superb free kick against Barcelona. The FA Cup returned to Chelsea’s trophy cabinet the same year.
The arrival of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen coupled with Claudio Ranieri’s efforts to ship out the older players and bring in a younger generation further restricted Zola’s appearances. In the 2001-02 season although he was a regular he was beginning to be used more and more as a substitute. However, this didn’t stop him from demonstrating his magic every moment he got.
His most famous goal came against Norwich in 2002 when he back-heeled a cross into goal mid-air, a sublime effort that any striker today would be proud of. In 2002-03, his final season for Chelsea, he scored 16 goals, his best for a season and was awarded the accolade of Best Chelsea Player Ever by the supporters. He played a total of 312 games for the Blues, scoring 80 goals.
What made him so appealing to fans was in both countries was his humble personality; you wouldn’t find him raving about his performance in post match interviews, and he never showed arrogance in his play. Looking at the stars of today this is what is lacking so much in the modern game, Ronaldo, Tevez and many others could learn something from Zola’s conduct.
In November 2004 he was awarded an OBE (Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire) in a ceremony in Rome.
In 2003 Zola left Chelsea to join Cagliari from his native Sardinia. A week after he left Roman Abramovich tried to lure Zola back to London, but Zola had made a verbal agreement to join the Sardinian club and would not go back on his word. Abramovich was not accustomed to hearing no for an answer, and it was rumoured that Abramovich tried to buy the whole club in an effort to get Zola to change his mind.
Rebuffed this time the Russian billionaire would return a few years later to try and secure Zola as a coach under Avram Grant at Chelsea, but after talking with ex team mates who warned him not to get involved with the owner, he turned the offer down.
In his first year at Cagliari Zola led the club to promotion from Serie B scoring 13 goals in 43 appearances. His contract was extended for another year enabling Serie A fans to witness his magic, and in June 2005 he announced his retirement, signing off with a double against Juventus.
Zola represented the Azzurri 35 times, a smaller number than what you might expect given his undoubted talent. He made his debut against Norway in November 1991 and went on to play in the World Cup ’94 in the USA, making just the one appearance against Nigeria and getting a red card just after coming on from the bench.
After serving the two match ban Zola did not feature for the team again in the tournament. His last game was against England in Rome in a World Cup qualifier in October 1997 and he later retired from international duty when he was not in the 1998 World Cup squad.
After retiring Zola moved into football punditry, despite persistent rumours he was moving to the Australian A-League and that a number of clubs over there were chasing him. However, Zola once again demonstrated he is a class act by quashing the rumours – it would have been an easy last big pay day – and stuck to his guns by stating his decision to retire was final.
Zola moved into coaching in 2006 when he became assistant coach of the Italy Under 21s. In the 2008 Olympics in Beijing the Azzurrini reached the quarter finals before being knocked out, but this was enough to bring Zola to the attention of West Ham.
His venture into English Premier League management was short-lived, overseeing the Hammers’ slender finish outside of the league’s relegation places before being ousted in favour of Avram Grant.
He was to have a second bite at the cherry when he took over Watford, but this particular spell ended with his resignation letter, after a two-month winless sequence took its toll on the Italian.
To date, Zola’s last appearance on the touchline was for Cagliari, another swift appointment and departure as he lasted only three months in the hotseat before his dismissal.
One of the most supremely talented footballers of his generation, a career of stupendous trickery and wonderful moments is, in reflection, so great that even an unsuccessful coaching career doesn’t even make the slightest mark on his glittering reputation as one of Italy’s finest.
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