Dino Zoff is among the greatest goalkeepers that world ever seen. He kept 1142 minutes without conceding goals in International matches during 1972-1974 period and it’s a the world record .Zoff led Italy to world cup glory in 1982 and he was the oldest player to win world cup.
Italian giants like Juventus and Internazionale found Zoff to be shorter to their liking, at the age of 14. Zoff started his senior career with Serie A side Udinese, in 1963.In his first season he played only four matches. Udinese found them self in Serie B following relegation. He played 34 matches for them in his second season for them. In 1963, he joined another Serie A side Mantova. In 1965, Mantova faced relegation to serie B. He helped them to achieve promotion to Serie A, in 1966.Zoff played 131 league matches for Mantova.
In 1967, Zoff joined Napoli. Between 1967 and 1972, Zoff played 143 matches for Napoli in serie A. His performances for Napoli caught the attention of Juventus. They signed Zoff in 1972.He helped Juventus to win Serie A in 1973,1975,1977,1981 as well as in 1982.He helped them to win Copa Italia in 1979 and 1983.His Juventus career reached the pinnacle of success when he helped them to win UEFA cup, in 1977. He missed out on UEFA cup in 1973, as Juventus lost to Ajax. Juventus lost final of UEFA cup to Hamburg, before winning in 1977.He retired from club football in 1983.He played 330 matches for Juventus. For many years, he held the record of being the player with maximum appearances in Serie A, with 570 matches.Dino Zoff made his International debut for Italy, while playing against Bulgaria at the quarterfinal of 1968 European championships. He helped Italy to win the European championship defeating Yugoslavia in the replay of final. At 1970 World cup, he had peripheral role in the Italian team. However, in 1982 world cup, Zoff took the centre stage as he captained Italy. At the age of 40, he led Italy to an amazing world cup win. He won the award for the best goalkeeper in that tournament. He played 112 matches for Italy. He quit international football in 1983.
Italian football federation named Zoff as the golden players of last 5 decades, in 2003. Zoff turned to coaching in 1988 as he joined them as head coach. He helped them to win UEFA cup in 1990.After shunned out by Juventus Zoff joined Lazio. In 1994, he went on to become Lazio president. He became the Manager of Italy in 1998.His team finished as runner up at the Euro 2000,after an amazing match in the extra period. After the euro 2000,he resigned his post. He later joined Lazio in 2001.He joined Fiorentina as manager in 2005.He left them after avoiding relegation. Dino Zoff is a legendary figure in Italian football.
