"One of the craziest but also the funniest was Faustino Asprilla at Parma. The Argentinean had a huge influence on him and his playing career. From the section Premier League Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought his balloon and Leeds were absolutely not ready for it. Tiers are all the rage right now, so how about we sort the greatest of all time into different echelons? While the tag of ‘Maradona’s successor’ followed Zola around, to the point where it was mentioned in essentially every article about him in the early days at Chelsea, it’s clear that those two years had a profound effect on him, about both on the pitch and about the life of a superstar off it. Gianfranco Zola, légende du football italien, a parlé de la grande rencontre entre Naples et le Barça de ce mardi et a souligné la soirée spéciale que vivra Leo Messi dans le temple de Diego Armando Maradona. They used t… His friendship with Diego Maradona also played a significant role in shaping his career. You were always one step behind. ”It is as if they have disqualified soccer for 15 months.” Maradona left Napoli to sign for Sevilla when the suspension ended, while Zola stayed and inherited the No.10 jersey for another couple of seasons, until financial problems at the club meant he was sold to Parma in 1993. “I learned a lot from him. Born a Catholic, Diego Maradona said that meeting Pope John Paul II was a “disappointment”. Think Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klopp. “He was the best player in the world and I learned so much just from watching him and training with him.”, ‘He paid really close attention to the things I did during training sessions,’ wrote Maradona, ‘and some of it stayed with him.’ That work helped Zola significantly in some early games for Napoli when he stood in for Maradona which, for a wet-behind-the-ears 23-year-old, just signed from the relative footballing backwaters, came with obvious and significant pressure. Maradona arrives last. "I cannot tell you how many times in training we had to stop and clap him. Later on, Maradona was the one I was using to look up to. This transfer changed Zola’s professional football career completely. Gianfranco Zola débute sa carrière en série A en 1989 avec le club de Naples, où il a la dure tâche de remplacer Maradona au sein de l’effectif napolitain. "I arrived in England in November 1996 and didn't know there was a tradition to go out for Christmas lunch. Even when he was doing his own laces!". "They used to play football in a way that nobody could. "It is difficult to compare to nowadays, in those years it was much harder to score goals.". When Gianfranco Zola met Diego Maradona… Date published: Thursday 10th October 2019 3:26. We couldn't believe the goal he scored.". You can subscribe here, and they will all be delivered straight to your favoured device. “Platini captured my imagination as a boy. It was a home game against Atalanta. "Scoring the winner against England was such a big satisfaction for me (in a 1-0 win at Wembley in World Cup qualifying) - especially the day after when I went to the training ground and saw Dennis Wise's face!". “He was my idol,” Zola told our own James Richardson recently. Day 22 of BBC Sport's advent calendar is for former boxer Nicola Adams, who swapped the ring for the dancefloor in this year's Strictly Come Dancing. “One day when we played against Pisa…he made me play in the No.10 jersey and picked the No.9 for himself. “I was very lucky to be his team-mate and get to play with him as well as watch him train every day,” he told FourFourTwo in 2007. If he went out for a walk, the whole town wanted to touch him, then many bad people began to stay near him. Zola was a young man in a new city and in need of a mentor to guide his development. Liverpool and Manchester United get all the praise while Arsenal get a complete shoeing. “He was Maradona, yet with the team he seemed just like an ordinary lad like the rest of us. Klopp had the pleasure of meeting Maradona once and has described what it was like to meet the superstar. When he did just that against Atalanta early in the season, things weren’t going well. Last updated on 15 July 202015 July 2020.From the section Premier League. "They found him still asleep on the road. I liked him, not only as a player, but also a man. He joined Gary Lineker and Jermaine Jenas to reflect on the moments and people that shaped his career. Yet it is Liverpool's to lose. Update your browser to view this website correctly.Update my browser now. He changed my life. “The person I looked up to. VIDÉO SUIVANTE. Gianfranco Zola né le 5 juillet 1966 à Oliena, en Sardaigne, est un footballeur international italien devenu entraîneur. "It's very easy to answer that question. For me, that Brazil team I still reckon is one of the best I've seen play. Home F365 Features When Gianfranco Zola met Diego Maradona…, Date published: Thursday 10th October 2019 3:26. I could hardly kick a ball straight.”, Then Zola got a chance, cutting in from the left, and he pulled back his right foot, remembering Maradona’s lessons. One Mailboxer wants your help in understanding why Diego Maradona was better than Thierry Henry... Liverpool will probably win it. “A sentence as rigid as this?” he lamented. He played his debut match for Napoli in 1989. Gianfranco Zola OMRI OBE is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a forward. We said he must've fallen asleep, he wasn't in his house… this guy, he went to a party the night before and on the way back he just dropped on the side of the road. ‘He was my substitute, usually, and on that Sunday we played together…We never imagined, neither one of us, nor anyone else, that it would be one of the last opportunities we would have to do so. "The first goal in Serie A. Listen to the latest MOTD Top 10 podcast with Gianfranco Zola. He found that figure in the epochal form of Maradona, a man reborn in … It was very important, gave me such a boost, also with the supporters. The goalkeeper threw the ball to him halfway in the middle of the pitch, he controlled it with his chest, lobbed the marker and without letting the ball bounce hit this volley and lobbed the keeper on the other side. ‘We beat them 1-0, with a goal by Zolita, Gianfranco Zola,’ wrote Maradona. Gianfranco Zola’s presentation at Napoli, five years later, was slightly more low-key. The story of an extraordinary day that saw India start as favourites for the first Test but crumble to 36 all out and lose to Australia by eight wickets. Le légendaire meneur de jeu de Chelsea, Gianfranco Zola, aujourd'hui entraîneur d'Al Arabi, donne son point de vue sur l'éternel débat Maradona-Messi. But they might not. Zola was shocked – shocked! Six new episodes of Golazzo – including the Zola edition – will be released in the week commencing October 14. "One day, we all started training in the morning and we looked at each other and said 'Where is Tino?'. I wasn't supposed to play that game because I pulled my groin very badly, I managed to recover and then scored a goal that was very important.". That was one of the reasons we were successful, because we had a very good atmosphere between each other.". “Everything was going wrong for me. ‘I didn’t know what was going on,’ wrote Maradona in his autobiography. Indeed, Maradona arrived for the start of the season late and in…not the greatest shape. “I can’t believe he took drugs. Gianfranco Zola a encouragé Lionel Messi à se mettre en évidence sur l'ancien terrain de jeu de Diego Maradona lorsque Barcelone affrontera Napoli au Stadio San Paolo. "And that's before the … "Although I played him only once in a friendly, the impression he gave me from watching him in that game was unbelievable. Here are just a few of the highlights that Maradona has left us with. Mourners started filing past the coffin of Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires as Argentina began three days of national mourning on Thursday following the death of the former national football team captain. He was most recently the assistant manager of Chelsea. Diego really wants to win tonight. Deep trouble indeed. “He had so many problems because he couldn’t have a normal life. – to hear that drug-taking was going on. "The other one, without doubt, was against Stuttgart when we won the Cup Winners' Cup with Chelsea. The story goes, as told on the upcoming Golazzo episode about Zola, that Ferlaino took one look at the skinny, 5ft 6 Sardinian signed from Serie C and told Moggi that he could present him to the media, while he would introduce the taller and more established Mauro. This piece first appeared on The Totally Football Show.com, home of Golazzo, a … And the very opposite can also be true, great players can be shocking managers! The two arrivals in many ways reflected their respective personalities, Maradona the extrovert (in public at least), living high and thriving on being the symbol of a team and city; Zola the introvert, the modest and unassuming type who once approached a group of men who were planning to kidnap him and asked if they wanted an autograph. Try not to do anything stupid.’ I stayed still, like a doll, saying nothing…and in the end, I looked stupid.”, Zola signed for Napoli at the start of their second Scudetto season, but things were already starting to go slightly awry for Maradona. "One day we were playing 11 v 11 on the pitch. Some of the things that used to come out from him were incredible. He will always be the greatest ever. The diminutive forward, dubbed 'Magic Box' for his quick feet and close control, played for Napoli and Parma before joining the Blues in 1996. “He was always fantastic to me and I will never forget the help he gave me,” Zola told the Daily Mirror in 1997. FF y était. "He was the player that got close to what Diego used to do. I just turned round and there were 60,000 people going mad.”. Diego Maradona's kiss of the divine will not diminish over time. Gianfranco Zola : Son grand regret avec Chelsea Dailymotion. It was Ronaldo, the Brazilian. Both were small men blessed with high technical skills and a low centre of gravity. We only really ever saw him at training. He was and will always be unique. Luciano Moggi – the Ernst Stavro Blofeld of Italian football in the 1980s and 90s, always seeming to lurk in the background, the hand behind everything – had spotted this small kid with big hair playing for Torres in Sardinia and brought him over, at the same time as Massimo Mauro, who arrived from Juventus. I was very blessed, had very good coaches, but Sacchi was in those years a step ahead of everyone. Best Football Players - Then and Now - Ronaldo, Maradona, Messi, Pelé,...etc - Duration: 10:07. But despite the disparity in personas, the two had a master-apprentice relationship in those early days at Napoli. Read about our approach to external linking. It was a big blessing for me, because half of the player I am is down to him. "Brazil 2-3 Italy in the 1982 World Cup. Join us down a Diego-themed rabbit hole... Peter Shilton on Diego Maradona should not have appeared in print the day after a legend's death. Maradona once told the Pope to sell his gold ceiling. He was very humble and down to earth. But Maradona’s impact on the young Zola was not just due to his absence. Well, sort of: he claimed he was clean at that particular time, while admitting to a more general cocaine habit, and hinted that dark forces were at work when he tested positive. Halfway through, Maradona peered up at the ceiling to witness some giddy fans banging on the skylight. Soon we’re on the team bus. "Against Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round - I didn't know how important the FA Cup was. It was Gigi Riva. I got picked for the drug test.’, Maradona claimed he was clean. It suits no-one to accept the Premier League title race is an illusion. Gianfranco Zola has backed Lionel Messi to rise to the occasion of playing at Diego Maradona's old stomping ground when Barcelona take on Napoli at Stadio San Paolo. "I'm walking next to a young Gianfranco Zola, Alemão, Careca and at the top of the pack was Maradona, who was absolutely amazing. The midfield was a dream.". Maradona died on Wednesday at the age of 60 after a heart attack at his home in northern Buenos Aires.His body was taken to the Casa Rosada - the presidential palace - where up to one … Club president Corrado Ferlaino threatened to call the whole thing off if the assembled media didn’t calm down a little bit. Gianfranco Zola spent seven seasons as a player at Chelsea after joining in 1996 July 15, 2020 keyrincare Memories Comments Off on MOTD Top 10 podcast: Gianfranco Zola on Diego Maradona… Gianfranco Zola: The little genius who dropped jaws and opened minds. Gianfranco Zola has hailed the impact Diego Maradona had on his career when the two played together at Napoli. Off the pitch, I always liked his simplicity. Diego Maradona was a … L'actuel entraineur d'Al-Arabi (Qatar) raconte son histoire et évoque son futur de technicien. I’ve learnt so much just from watching him.”, Maradona, despite his famously casual relationship with training, would stay behind after sessions to teach the young pretender how to take free-kicks and curl the ball in that Maradona way. Diego Maradona and Dennis Wise: Two small men (5ft 5in an 5ft 6in respectively) who had a big influence on Gianfranco Zola (all 5ft 5.5in of him). He speaks Spanish and acts as translator. The difference that there was between Diego and the others, was similar to Ronaldo and the others. For me it was the most beautiful thing I could ever imagine; Maradona letting me play in the No.10. "Mark Hughes came on and was unbelievable for us, after a few minutes we scored and there was electricity on the pitch, you could feel it was a special game. Diego Maradona arrived at Napoli in a blizzard of hype and confusion, so superbly documented in ‘Diego’, Asif Kapadia’s film about the great man. Imagine my confidence, but especially my shock!”, That season they won the title again, but the following year is when things really started to go south for Maradona. What amounted to a car chase through the Neapolitan streets ended in 80,000 people screaming holy worship at the San Paolo, and a press conference that was more a scrum than a respectful posing of questions. This piece first appeared on The Totally Football Show.com, home of Golazzo, a podcast about the history of Italian football, presented by James Richardson. "Playing for your own country, I've always thought that was the best thing that could happen to you. - … "A lot of specific training for the defence, the midfield, the strikers, I thought he was on a different level.". Obviously, it's Diego Maradona. ... Gianfranco Zola Teaches Jimmy Bullard How To Take PERFECT Free-Kicks! Soon, the team officials started considering him as the perfect substitute of the legendary Argentinean footballer Diego Maradona. He described the season as a ‘nightmare’, with assorted incidents which all came to a head in March 1991, after a game against Bari. Angry that Ferlaino had reneged on an apparent promise to let him leave the club for Marseille earlier that year, Maradona took his own sweet time returning to the club. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian … ‘I went skiing in Las Lenas, in Mendoza, and I enjoyed it, I enjoyed my first holidays for years. He chastised the pontiff in his autobiography for living in … At Naples, Maradona was grooming an understudy, a young Sardinian player called Gianfranco Zola. Deep to the tune of a 15-month ban, much to the dismay of Zola. The preparation - we used to train in a certain way but when we went to him he had had this different approach, looking after every single detail on the pitch. Gianfranco Zola is preparing for his managerial debut with West Ham today by looking to one of the game's greats for inspiration. Gianfranco Zola had an unspectacular start to his professional career and plied his trade in Serie C till the age of 23. It was a flash of lightning. We went to this disco, I was a little bit late as usual, the first thing I stepped in and saw Frode Grodas on top of a table half undressed, completely drunk and singing a Norwegian song! When I grew up he was my first hero. “I have great esteem and respect for Diego,” he said. Gianfranco Zola est une des légendes du football italien des années 90, après avoir fréquenté Diego Maradona à Naples, il a rejoint Chelsea en 1996. "When we played against Liverpool we were getting better as a team. He was Maradona, yet with the team, he seemed just like an ordinary lad like the rest of us. “The things he did! so Rob runs us through The Football Republic's Top 10 world class players who turned in to useless managers, featuring Gary Neville, Gianfranco Zola and Diego Maradona. Gianfranco Zola managed West Ham United for 73 Premier League games during a turbulent time for the club. He sits next to me, taps me on the leg and does a pumped up grimace that says “I am up for this.” Gianfranco Zola is over the way. “I thought it was going to hit the corner flag but then it suddenly curled and went in. So when we met I said to myself: ‘Try not to say anything stupid. It’s quite touching listening to Zola – or ‘Marazola’, as he became known – talk about those early days alongside El Diego. "When you are young, and playing and training with a player like that, you get so many insights and things that can improve the game. MOTD Top 10 podcast: Gianfranco Zola on Diego Maradona, Ronaldo and life at Chelsea Last updated on 15 July 2020 15 July 2020 . “Off the pitch, I always liked his simplicity,” said Gianfranco Zola, who played alongside Maradona at Napoli. Former Chelsea and Italy star Gianfranco Zola is the latest Premier League legend to reveal all to Match of the Day's Top 10 podcast. A fantastic team-mate, always creating a good atmosphere.". His influence has been terrific.”. I always took big pride at being part of the Italian squad. "Arrigo Sacchi. "My first one when I was very young, growing up in my hometown. Napoli had messed me around and now they were going to have to dance.’. "I used to watch every single movement, everything Diego used to do in training. En juin 2005, à l'occasion du jubilé de Ciro Ferrara, Diego Maradona faisait son retour à Naples après quatorze ans d'absence. In the end, we came from 2-0 down to beat Liverpool 4-2.". He’d finish and go away to his house – no-one could get near him.”, “I knew I was in the presence of one of the best talents of all-time and it was a blessing for me,” Zola told talkSPORT a couple of years ago. “It was very sad but I couldn’t help him,” Zola said in 1996. Gianfranco Zola has hailed the impact Diego Maradona had on his career when the two played together at Napoli. Then I met Maradona. The good news for Sam Allardyce is that not every team attacks with the Villa verve. The immensely talented Zola scored a couple of goals to help Napoli win the 1990 Serie A title. He didn’t behave at all like a football star.” The Greatest of All Time? "It was so hilarious to see him in that condition. “The list is qualified, not long,” he said in 1997, just after joining Chelsea, when asked which players he looked up to. I don’t think anyone like Diego will ever be born again. “I was having a nightmare,” Zola said in 1997. Lord. The atmosphere was unbelievable. He didn’t behave at all like a football star. It was unbelievable. He may have wanted to punish his club, but the knock-on impact was that Zola was given a chance to impress earlier than a callow youth from the third tier would usually have done. ‘After the Copa America I went fishing in Esquina, in Corrientes,’ Maradona wrote. After 45 minutes we were 2-0 down. All Napoli players are upset as a friend is in deep trouble.”.