Record Breakers No.4 – Dino Zoff’s clean sheet record
When it comes to defending, there is no other country that can do it better than the Italians. Three standout memories include an Italian side keeping a clean sheet; the 1994 World Cup Final, England’s 0-0 draw in Rome in 1997 and Arsenal’s 0-0 draw away at Juventus in 2006.
The 1994 World Cup Final was the first that I can remember watching. It was supposed to be the most exciting match of the tournament but was so dull!
England’s 0-0 draw in Rome meant they would qualify automatically for France 98 at the expense of the Italians in 1997. We knew that England wouldn’t score against a stubborn Italian defence so a clean sheet was desperately needed.
Arsenal went into the second leg of the 2006 Champions League Quarter Final2-0 up from the first leg at Highbury. My Great Uncle and Aunt from America watched the game with me and they couldn’t understand how we were so excited about a game where no one scored a goal!
Dino Zoff was Italy’s goalkeeper from 1968 to 1983 and was one of the finest goalkeepers to ever play the game. I featured him in the ‘Far Post Header Hall of Fame’ and you can read the article here.
Between September 1972 and June 1974, Zoff kept a world-record 12 clean sheets in a row whilst playing for the Azzurri. This lasted 1,142 minutes until Emmanuel Sanon scored for Haiti in Italy’s opening game of the 1982 World Cup.
The matches in Zoff’s incredible run were against Luxembourg, Switzerland, Turkey home and away, Luxembourg, Brazil, England, Sweden, Switzerland, England, West Germany and Austria.
About Author
