Dino Zoff

Dino Zoff
OMRI
Zoff with Juventus in 1972
Personal information
Full name Dino Zoff[1]
Date of birth (1942-02-28) 28 February 1942 (age 82)
Place of birth Mariano del Friuli, Italy
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1961–1963 Udinese 38 (0)
1963–1967 Mantova 131 (0)
1967–1972 Napoli 143 (0)
1972–1983 Juventus 330 (0)
Total 642 (0)
International career
1968–1983 Italy 112 (0)
Managerial career
1988–1990 Juventus
1990–1994 Lazio
1996–1997 Lazio
1998–2000 Italy
2001 Lazio
2005 Fiorentina
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy (as player)
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1982 Spain
Runner-up 1970 Mexico
UEFA European Championship
Winner 1968 Italy
Representing  Italy (as manager)
UEFA European Championship
Runner-up 2000 Belgium-Netherlands
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Dino Zoff OMRI (pronounced [ˈdiːno dˈdzɔf]; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he lifted as captain of the Italy national team in the 1982 tournament, at the age of 40 years, 4 months and 13 days.[3] He also won the award for best goalkeeper of the tournament and was elected to the team of the tournament for his performances, keeping two clean-sheets, an honour he also received after winning the 1968 European Championship on home soil. Zoff is the only Italian player to have won both the World Cup and the European Championship.[4] He also achieved great club success with Juventus, winning six Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, and a UEFA Cup, also reaching two European Champions' Cup finals in the 1972–73 and 1982–83 seasons, as well as finishing second in the 1973 Intercontinental Cup final.

Zoff was a goalkeeper of outstanding ability, and he has a place in the history of the sport among the very best in this role,[5][6][7] being named the third greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century by the IFFHS behind Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks.[8] He holds the record for the longest playing time without allowing goals in international tournaments (1,142 minutes) set between 1972 and 1974.[9] Haiti's Emmanuel Sanon ended the streak at the 1974 FIFA World Cup, in the Haiti–Italy group match.[10] With 112 caps, he is the eighth most capped player for the Italy national team. In 2004, Pelé named Zoff as one of the 100 greatest living footballers. In the same year, Zoff placed fifth in the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll, and was elected as Italy's golden player of the past 50 years. He also placed second in the 1973 Ballon d'Or, as he narrowly missed out on a treble with Juventus. In 1999, Zoff placed 47th in World Soccer Magazine's 100 Greatest Players of the Twentieth Century.[11]

After retiring as a footballer, Zoff went on to pursue a managerial career, coaching the Italy national team, with which he reached the Euro 2000 final, losing to France, and several Italian club teams, including his former club Juventus, with which he won an UEFA Cup and a Coppa Italia double during the 1989–90 season, trophies he had also won as a player. In September 2014, Zoff published his Italian autobiography Dura solo un attimo, la gloria ("Glory only Lasts a Moment").[12]

  1. ^ "Zoff Sig. Dino" [Zoff Mr. Dino]. Quirinale (in Italian). Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Dino Zoff". www.worldfootball.net. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Dino Zoff". My Football Facts. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  4. ^ "I 70 anni di Dino Zoff" (in Italian). RAI. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Il mito compie 70 anni: auguri Dino Zoff, campione di sport e di vita" (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  6. ^ Luigi Garlando (8 September 2008). "E se Buffon fosse più bravo di Zoff?". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. ^ Michael Cox. "Dino Zoff: The quiet genius". ESPN. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. ^ IFFHS' Century Elections Archived 12 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine – rsssf.com – by Karel Stokkermans, RSSSF.
  9. ^ Neale Graham (9 February 2009). "The best goalkeepers of all time". CNN. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  10. ^ Roy, Shilarze Saha (19 May 2023). "When Haiti's Emmanuel Sanon punctured Italy's Dino Zoff's record". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  11. ^ "World Soccer Players of the Century". World Soccer. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  12. ^ "Calcio, Zoff si inventa scrittore: "Dura solo un attimo la gloria"". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 22 September 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.