Gianfranco Zola

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Gianfranco Zola
G Zola signing autographs Upton Park 09May09 (edited) .jpg
Gianfranco Zola (2009)
Personnel
birthday 5th July 1966
place of birth Oliena ,  Italy
size 168 cm
position striker
Juniors
Years station
1980-1983 Corrasi Oliena
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1984-1987 Nuorese Calcio 31 (10)
1986-1989 ASD Torres Calcio 88 (21)
1989-1993 SSC Naples 105 (32)
1993-1996 AC Parma 102 (49)
1996-2003 Chelsea FC 229 (59)
2003-2005 Cagliari Calcio 74 (22)
2007 Marconi Stallions
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1991-1997 Italy 35 (10)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2006-2008 Italy U-21 (assistant coach)
2008-2010 West Ham United
2011–2012 Italy U-16
2012-2013 Watford FC
2014-2015 Cagliari Calcio
2015-2016 al-Arabi
2016-2017 Birmingham City
2018– Chelsea FC (assistant coach)
1 Only league games are given.

Gianfranco Zola (born July 5, 1966 in Oliena , Sardinia ) is a former Italian soccer player and today's soccer coach . He has been assistant coach at Chelsea FC since 2018 .

Gianfranco Zola was a striker and mainly active as an offensive all-rounder. His technique was seen as his greatest strength.

Career as a player

society

Zola signed his first professional contract in 1984 with Nuorese Calcio ( Nuoro , Sardinia) in the C2 series. There he came to seven games in his first year and scored one goal. In the following season, Zola came on more missions and was able to prevail. He stayed at the Nuoro club for two years before moving to ASD Torres Calcio ( Sassari , Sardinia) in 1987 . There he became a top performer and regular player and rose with the club in 1987 in the C1 series. He gained fame after signing a contract with Serie A club SSC Napoli . There Zola should be built up from 1989 to the successor to Diego Maradonas , who played until 1991 with the SSC. In the first year, the then youngster was used seven times. In 1990 he won the Italian championship with the Partenopei . It was Zola's first major national title. The following year, the Supercoppa Italiana was won, and Zola made the breakthrough in Italy's highest class. In 1993 he moved to the aspiring AC Parma , where he probably had the best time of his career. The good technician won the 1994/95 UEFA Cup with the yellow-blue team .

In the current tournament, the team eliminated teams like Vitesse Arnheim , Athletic Bilbao and Bayer 04 Leverkusen . In the purely Italian final on May 3, 1995 at the home stadium Ennio Tardini , the Gialloblu defeated Juventus Turin 1-0. In the same year they finished second in the league and reached the Italian Cup final. In the two national competitions they were defeated by Juve . After Carlo Ancelotti became the new coach of AC Parma in 1996, Zola was no longer used and wanted to sell him. So it happened that he moved to England to Chelsea , where he became one of the club's most popular players. The transfer was only carried out in November, not at the beginning of the season. In London, Zola met player- coach Ruud Gullit . The striker made his Premier League debut against Tottenham Hotspur . He quickly adapted to the new style of play and attracted attention with good performances and goals. In the FA Cup Zola played a key role and led the team to the final against Middlesbrough FC . This final was won 2-0. At the end of the first season in London he was voted England's Footballer of the Year by journalists . He was the first player to win this title without having played a full year in England, and also the first Chelsea player to receive this honor.

In the 1997/98 season he helped the blues win three more titles, the League Cup , the European Cup Winners' Cup and the European Supercup . An injury prevented him from starting the team in the final for the Cup Winners' Cup. However, he was substituted on in the second half of the game and scored the winning goal just 21 seconds later. Zola was also an important part of the team when Chelsea qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 1999/00 . With three goals in the group stage, he secured the way to the quarter-finals of the competition. However, his stakes in the league decreased due to the rotation principle applied by new coach Gianluca Vialli . In the 2000 FA Cup final, he gave Roberto Di Matteo's goal in a 1-0 win over Aston Villa a free kick . After strikers Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen had already been signed by the Pensioners in 2000 , Zola's playing time was increasingly limited.

In the 2002/03 season there was yet another renaissance in the career of the dribbling player when he scored 16 league goals, more goals than in any other season for the Londoners. He was then voted Player of the Year by the fans. This season should also be his last for Chelsea. Zola played his last game for the blues on the last matchday in 2002/03 when he made a 20-minute appearance against Liverpool . In 2003, fans thanked him for his good performance by naming him Chelsea Player of the Century. In November 2004 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his achievements in the English League . In a total of 312 games, the striker scored 80 goals for Chelsea. Zola's number 25 jersey has not been given to any other player since leaving.

Then Gianfranco Zola went to Cagliari Calcio in his home country Sardinia , where he was promoted to Serie A in 2004 and then played there for a year. His jersey with the number 10 was not awarded in the coming year. It was not until the 2006/07 season that Andrea Capone received it .

Gianfranco Zola ended his career in Australia with Marconi Stallions . In January 2007 he finally said goodbye to active professional football.

National team

During his up-and-coming period at SSC Napoli, Zola was appointed to the Italian national football team for the first time in 1991. Under the then national coach Arrigo Sacchi , the striker made his debut for the colors of his country in November against the selection of Norway .

He was nominated for the 1994 World Cup and played in the round of 16 against Nigeria , where he was sent off just 12 minutes after being substituted on. It was his only use at this World Cup. Italy reached the final but lost to Brazil on penalties .

At the European Championships in England in 1996 , he played all three preliminary round matches. In the last game against Germany , Zola missed a penalty at 0-0. This meant the end for Italy.

Although he played for Italy in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, he was no longer included in the World Cup squad. The striker made his last game in October 1997 against England , his last goal in the first leg against England in a 1-0 win in February of the same year.

Gianfranco Zola played 35 times for the Italian national soccer team and scored ten goals.

Success as a player

National team

SSC Naples

AC Parma

Chelsea FC

Personal awards

Career as a coach

From 2006 to September 2008 Gianfranco Zola coached the Italian U-21 national team with Pierluigi Casiraghi , whom he had already met when he was at Chelsea . The duo also led the Italian selection at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing , where they reached the quarter- finals and were beaten 2: 3 by the Belgian team .

On September 9, 2008, Zola signed a three-year contract with the English club West Ham United as the successor to Alan Curbishley and officially took office on September 11, 2008. After having narrowly missed qualifying for the European Cup at the end of the first season for the English club as ninth in the table , he played with the team the following year against relegation. Although the class was held 17th in the final classification, the club dismissed him shortly after the end of the season.

On July 7, 2012, the English second division FC Watford announced the commitment of Zola. The Football League Championship 2012/13 he finished with his team as third in the table. After a play-off success over Leicester City , Watford moved into the final, but failed there at Wembley 1-0 after extra time to Crystal Palace . After a false start in the subsequent season, Zola resigned from his post on December 16, 2013.

On December 24, 2014, Zola was signed as coach of Cagliari Calcio , where he succeeded Zdeněk Zeman . However, he was released on March 9, 2015.

On July 11, 2015, Zola became the coach of Al-Arabi in the Qatar Stars League . He was released there on June 27, 2016.

On December 14, 2016 Zola coach of the English second division club Birmingham City , succeeding Gary Rowett . After winning only 2 games, Zola resigned on April 18, 2017.

On July 18, 2018, Gianfranco Zola became assistant coach of the English first division club Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri .

Career overview

society league season league Nat. Cup European Cup Other total
Games Gates Games Gates Games Gates Games Gates Games Gates
Nuorese Calcio Series C2 1984/85 4th 0 - - - - - - 4th 0
Series D 1985/86 27 10 - - - - - - 27 10
total 31 10 - - - - - - 31 10
ASD Torres Calcio Series C2 1986/87 30th 8th - - - - - - 30th 8th
Series C1 1987/88 24 2 - - - - - - 24 2
1988/89 34 11 - - - - - - 34 11
total 88 21st - - - - - - 88 21st
SSC Naples Series A 1989/90 18th 2 6th 1 2 0 - - 26th 3
1990/91 20th 6th 7th 0 2 0 - - 29 6th
1991/92 34 12 4th 1 - - - - 38 13
1992/93 33 12 6th 2 4th 0 - - 43 14th
total 105 32 23 4th 8th 0 - - 136 36
AC Parma Series A 1993/94 33 18th 3 3 9 1 2 0 47 22nd
1994/95 32 19th 6th 4th 12 4th - - 50 27
1995/96 29 10 1 0 5 2 1 0 36 12
1996/97 8th 2 1 0 2 0 - - 11 2
total 102 49 11 7th 28 7th 3 0 144 63
Chelsea FC Premier League 1996/97 23 8th 7th 4th - - - - 30th 12
1997/98 27 8th 1 0 8th 4th 5 0 41 12
1998/99 37 13 6th 1 5 1 1 0 49 15th
1999/00 33 4th 5 1 14th 3 - - 52 8th
2000/01 36 9 3 2 2 0 2 1 43 12
2001/02 35 3 6th 1 4th 1 5 0 50 5
2002/03 38 14th 3 2 2 0 3 0 46 16
total 229 59 31 11 35 9 16 1 311 80
Cagliari Calcio Series B 2003/04 43 13 1 1 - - - - 44 14th
Series A 2004/05 31 9 6th 4th - - - - 37 13
total 74 22nd 7th 5 - - - - 81 27
Career total 629 193 72 27 71 16 19th 1 791 237

Others

On July 14, 2007, Zola laced his boots again for an A-line Allstars game against Shrewsbury Town . That game was part of a sponsorship deal between A-line and Shrewsbury. It was also the first game that was played in the New Meadow Stadium . Not only Zola, but his entire school class, which was on a school trip in England at the time, starred in Bonnie Tyler's surrealistic video of her hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. Towards the end of the music video, Zola sang, but only on playback.

Web links

Commons : Gianfranco Zola  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ West Ham United statement ( Memento of the original from May 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , May 11, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.whufc.com
  2. ^ Gianfranco Zola named as new Watford manager , BBC Sport , July 7, 2012
  3. ↑ Play-Off Final 2012/13 (BBC Sport)
  4. ↑ Gianfranco Zola resigns as Watford head coach (BBC Sport)
  5. ↑ Zola new trainer at Cagliari
  6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.corrieredellosport.it
  7. ^ Football Italia. Retrieved November 18, 2017 .
  8. ^ Perform Media Deutschland GmbH: Zola fired in Qatar . June 27, 2016 ( spox.com [accessed November 18, 2017]).
  9. ↑ Official: Zola is the new Birmingham coach . December 14, 2016 ( transfermarkt.de [accessed November 18, 2017]).
  10. ↑ Confirmed: Zola resigns as Birmingham coach . April 18, 2017 ( transfermarkt.de [accessed November 18, 2017]).
  11. ↑ Welcome home Gianfranco . July 18, 2018 ( chelseafc.com [accessed July 18, 2018]).
personal data
SURNAME Zola, Gianfranco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH 5th July 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Oliena