 |
|||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
Gianfranco Zola
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2006 |
Profile by Robert Galvin, the author of Football's Greatest Heroes, the official book of the National Football Museum Hall of Fame:
A diminutive Italian with an ever-ready, impish smile, Gianfranco Zola provided the creative spark that transformed Chelsea into a side capable of winning honours on a regular basis.
During his six years at Stamford Bridge, Zola earned cult status; and in 2003, Blues fans voted him the club's best-ever player. ‘Amazing,' Zola said, on hearing the news.
Perhaps even more revealing, Zola was immensely popular with rival fans. At away grounds, spontaneous applause greeted his emergence from the team bus.
His impact was both dramatic and immediate: at the end of his first season in England, Zola was voted player of the year by the football writers – the first Chelsea player to be so honoured.
Off the field, Zola was a model professional: modest, enthusiastic, respectful, loyal and uncomplaining, even if dropped. At away grounds, rival fans would often break into spontaneous applause as Zola descended the team bus before a game.
Standing five foot six inches tall and wearing the playmaker's number 10 shirt – a habit initiated during his days as understudy to Diego Maradona at Napoli – Zola regularly conjured up moments of sublime improvisation. ‘I think my way around the pitch, always changing my pattern to make it difficult for opponents,' the Italian once said.
One example, above all, lingers in the collective memory at Stamford Bridge: the audacious back-heel from a near-post corner against Norwich City. The Blues manager that day, Claudio Rainieri, described the goal as ‘a fantasy, magic'. Forced to improvise, Zola later described it as ‘a thing of the moment'.
Over the years, Zola developed an abiding passion for the traditions of English football, particularly the FA Cup, and he would describe the victory over Middlesbrough at Wembley in 1998 as ‘the greatest experience of my career'.
The following season, Zola created another indelible memory for Chelsea fans when he scored the winning goal in the European Cup-winners' Cup final against Stuttgart, barely twenty seconds after coming off the bench.
But for injury, he would undoubtedly have started the game in Stockholm. But it all ended well: voted man-of-the-match, Zola famously donned an oversize blue and white hat during the on-pitch celebrations. ‘When the ball came to me,' I remember thinking: “This is it, Gianfranco. Hit the target.” It was a fantastic moment when the ball went into the net.'
Awarded an OBE, in recognition of his football prowess and charity work, Zola – now aged 37 – agreed to join Cagliaria in 2003. Belatedly, Chelsea offered him almost four times as much money to stay – but, for all his deep-felt affection for the club, the honourable Zola refused to go back on his word.
According to Ryan Giggs, Zola was the only player in English football whom Manchester United routinely man-marked, on the orders of their manager. ‘Gianfranco was an exceptional player for Chelsea,' Sir Alex Ferguson said, explaining his decision. ‘All in all, a clever little so-and-so.'