Javier Zanetti

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Javier Zanetti
Personal information
Full name Javier Adelmar Zanetti
Height 1.78 m (5ft 10 in)
Position(s) Right Back / Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Internazionale

Javier Adelmar Zanetti (born August 10, 1973 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine football player and the current club captain of Inter Milan.

Career

Beginnings

He grew up in the harbour area of Buenos Aires, in Dock Sud district, Still as a child, Zanetti combined scholastic and working commitments, helping his bricklayer father without neglecting his passion for football, He began playing football on a pitch in the suburbs of the city, and personally took care of pitch maintenance.

On the club level, Zanetti has played in Argentina for Talleres de Remedios de Escalada[1] (a second division team and currently on third) and in 1993 made his debut in the Argentinian First Division with Banfield where soon demonstrates his ability.

Club

In 1995, Zanetti moved to Italy's F.C. Internazionale Milano becaming Massimo Moratti's first ever purchase.

To the Inter fans, Zanetti remains one of the greatest players to have ever worn the colors of the black and blue. Throughout his stay with the club, Il Capitano has won 6 trophies: the UEFA Cup in 1998, a final in which he scored the second goal from a wicked shot just outside the box, the 2005 and 2006 Coppa Italia, the 2005 and 2006 Italian Super Cup, and the the 2005/2006 league championship (scudetto). The Inter tifosi often sing, in reference to Javier Zanetti, "Noi abbiamo un argentino che gioca al calcio meglio di Pelé" ("We have an Argentine that plays football better than Pelé").

Zanetti's qualities has made him a respected footballer all around the world. He is sometimes criticized for being too soft-spoken on the pitch, but he makes up for this by being one of Inter's most consistent, reliable and trusted players. As such, he was rewarded with the club captaincy, taking over from Giuseppe Bergomi, the legendary defender. He is currently one of Inter's longest-tenured players, having stayed with the team for nearly 12 years. He is nowadays better known as Il Capitano, the captain, moral leader of the Inter fans.

On September 27, 2006, against Bayern Munich, Javier completed 500 professional matches for Inter since the first one August 27, 1995 against Vicenza at Milan [2].

Country

For Argentina, he has been capped 101 times (as of July 2005) and played for his country at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, being the captain on many occasions. He was also a member of the team, that won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. However, he was not included in the Argentina team for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Known as Pupi in Argentina, he was nicknamed El Tractor after moving to Italy because of his strength and resilience, Zanetti carries this title with pride owing to his fantastic ability to run past defenders from deep in his defensive position.

Olympic medal record
Men’s Football
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta Team competition

Zanetti was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004.

Charity

Zanetti has also proven that, he has a highly-developed social conscience. In response to Argentina's recent economic crisis, which threw millions of people into poverty, Zanetti with his wife Paula, they created the Pupi fundation in Argentina for the social integration of poor children, whose aim it is to help children by giving them educational opportunities, as well as taking care of their nutritional requirements who were left impoverished by the country's economic crisis.

"Even though I don't live in my country at present, I'm well aware of what's going on there and the devastating effect it's having on our poorest children. I've always believed that our public actions need to take account of our social responsibility," he explains.

In 2005 The Milan townhall awarded Zanetti with the Ambrogino d'Oro for his social initiative.

He has also launched light blue and white bracelets "A Hand For A Smile" to help gather funds for the PUPI foundation. The aim is to reach a million smiles.

Zanetti is also the FIFA ambassador for the SOS Children's Villages project in Argentina.

Personal life

In 1992 at the age of just nineteen he met Paula, who became his wife seven years later. Today, Paula Zanetti, daughter of a university teacher, dedicates herself to photography with good results, She enjoys 'immortalising' Javier from the touchline during Inter's home matches.

His role model is former Nerazzurro Lothar Matthaeus, His favorite actors are Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, but his favourite film is When a Man Loves a Woman with Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan.

Zanetti doesn't consider himself a superstitious person, but before each match does the sign of the cross when taking to the pitch, just like his best friend and former team-mate Ivan Zamorano.

Javier Zanetti considers the most best moment of his career is the UEFA Cup final Inter won in Paris on May 6, 1998 thanks to the goal he scored.

On June 11, 2005 Zanetti's wife Paula gave birth to a baby girl Sol Zanetti. The Inter captain commented "I'm very happy about this baby girl who has come into my life. It was a beautiful experience with my wife. My daughter will have all the happiness she deserves."

Zanetti's elder brother Sergio is a former football (soccer) defender.

External links


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