The Far Post Header ‘Hall of Fame’ No.9 – Dino Zoff
Dino Zoff makes it into the ‘Far Post Header Hall of Fame’, becoming the third goalkeeper and second Italian on the list.
Zoff won 112 caps for Italy, winning the European Championships in 1968 and 1982 World Cup.
His illustrious career lasted 22 years, starting in 1961 for Udinese before finally retiring aged 41 in 1983 as a Juventus player. He also appeared for Mantova and Napoli.
Between 1972 and 1974, Zoff went an incredible 1142 minutes without conceding a goal for Italy. The record finally came to an end in the 1974 World Cup, with Manno Sanon scoring past him for minnows Haiti.
In his career, the Italian keeper won the 1968 European Championship for Italy and also captained them to the 1982 World Cup at the age of 40.
He won six Serie A titles for Juventus as well as two Italian Cups and a UEFA Cup in 1976/77.
Zoff took up a managerial career five years after retiring as a player. His first role was at Juventus and even though he won the Italian Cup and UEFA Cup, he was sacked by his old club.
He managed Lazio for two separate spells between 1990 and 1998 where he won the Italian Cup. Zoff then took over the Italian national team in 1998, shortly after Italy were knocked out of France ’98.
He guided the Azurri to the Final of Euro 2000, where they lost in extra-time to France, who were the reigning World Champions at the time.
He spent a year at Lazio before resigning in 2001. He joined Fiorentina in 2005 and despite saving the club from relegation, was fired at the end of the season. This was to be his last spell as a manager.
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