Dino Zoff (Italy) |
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Collection title
Portraits of legendary footballers
First broadcast date
2007
Abstract
A living icon of the Italian football, Dino Zoff has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers of all times.
His image as captain of the Italian Nazionale, holding the World Cup in 1982, when he was 40 ,was printed on postage stamps in Italy.
He played with Juventus from 1972 to 1983, winning six championships and the UEFA Cup in 1977.
Production companies
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RAI - Coproduction
- COPEAM - Coproduction
Primary theme
Sport and games
Map locations
- Italy - Western North - Turin
Context
Dino Zoff
Stéphane Mourlane
Dino Zoff was not only one of the greatest Italian footballers, he is also considered one of the best goalkeepers in the history of international football. He made his reputation over an exceptionally long career, which ended in 1983 when he was 41. He was born on February 28th 1942 in Mariano del Friuli in the province of Gorizia, which has a large minority of Slovenians. He made his debut in professional football with Udinese having been turned down by the most prestigious clubs Inter Milan and Juventus because his small stature (he later grew another 33 cms). Although Udinese is old (1896), its only claim to fame was being runner-up in Serie A in 1955. Dino Zoff signed his first contract in 1961 and two years later the club was relegated to series B. He then transferred to Mantova, a Series A club but not at the top of the league. In 1967, Dino Zoff joined southern Italy’s biggest club, Napoli, which even though it had not won many titles (a Coppa di Italia in 1962), nevertheless benefitted from huge and fervent support in its San Paolo stadium. It was, however, with Juventus, from 1972, that Dino Zoff played the most outstanding matches of his career. The "old lady", founded in 1897, was and still is considered the most prestigious and most popular of Italian clubs. Controlled by the Agnelli family of industrialists, owners of Fiat, Juventus had won 14 Italian league titles when Dino Zoff joined them. During his time with them he greatly helped Juventus add six more titles to the prize list, and a UEFA Cup in 1977,
Dino Zoff was not only one of the iconic players of Juventus, he was also part of the national Italian squad, joining just as it began its international revival. In fact he made his debut with the national team in 1968, when it won the European Nations championship, its first international title since the two World Cup victories in 1934 and 1938. Italy had suffered many disappointments, the worst being defeat to the modest Koreans during the 1966 World Cup. Zoff was only a substitute in the 1970 World Cup, but played in the following three: 1974, 1978 and in 1982, the year Italy won. The height of his career was receiving the World Cup as captain of the Italian team. He was the oldest player to have won the trophy. In the eyes of the Italians the title was worth more than its purely sporting value. It erased the bitter sting of the Totonero scandal, a piece of football corruption which helped reinforce abroad the derogatory stereotype that Italians inevitably cheat. Even more, the victory of the squadra nazionale in the final against West Germany (3-1) is forever associated with the image of Italy’s president, Sandro Pertini, on his feet in Madrid’s Santio Bernabeu Stadium overcome with joy like a simple tifoso. Elected in July 1978, the old president – he was 82 when elected – was the incarnation of democratic values for a public shaken by the violence of the previous decade, the so-called Years of Lead (late 1960’s to early 1980’s). Especially with his oft-repeated descriptions of his fight against fascism when he was a young man. The photograph of the president playing cards on the plane bringing the players back from Spain, sitting next to the coach Enzo Bearzot and captain Dino Zoff, was shown throughout Italy: it took on a symbolic value. Many journalists called the victory in the 1982 World Cup a “second Risorgimento”, an event finally able to unify Italy, while in the streets people were waving national flags and posters proclaimed “Italy is great”. All observers agreed that on no other occasion since the end of the war had they seen such patriotic fervour. Dino Zoff, at the epicentre of all this, was made Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian republic. Although naturally of a quiet disposition, he became the figurehead of this event which acted as a true national catharsis.
Bibliography :
Papa Antonio, Guido Panico, Storia sociale del calcio in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2002, 489 p.
De Ponti Roberto, Dino Zoff. Campioni del Mondo, Roma, Aliberti, 2006,
Manfredi Giuseppe, Fra I Legni. I Voli taciturni di Dino Zoff, Arezzo, Limina, 2011, 260 p.
Mourlane Stéphane, « La question nationale en Italie au travers des Coupes du monde de football (1934-1982) » in Wahl Alfred (dir.), Aspects de l’histoire de la Coupe du monde de football, Metz, 2007, p. 23-40.
