Zola on meeting Maradona, Chelsea joy and Italy suffering

Gianfranco Zola looks back over his career at Cagliari, the joke Diego Armando Maradona made when meeting him at Napoli, why he enjoyed Chelsea and ‘suffered’ for Italy.

The Festival dello Sport in Trento was organised by La Gazzetta dello Sport and has seen a series of speakers interviewed on stage over the last few days.

‘Magic Box’ will always have to begin his story in his childhood home in Sardinia, where he started out at Cagliari.

“You need to keep your identity solid in order to help you navigate through stormy waters. Growing up in a small town with 7,000 inhabitants gave me a strong sense of identity and values that helped me in those moments when my beliefs and abilities were being challenged,” said Zola.

“I started hanging around training sessions at the age of 3, because my father was president of the local club, so football was always part of my life.”

Zola joked with Maradona and soared at Chelsea

The move to Napoli in 1989 allowed him to work with the legendary Maradona, who at that time was at the height of his powers.

“It was my first time outside of Sardinia and that Napoli was the strongest team in Italy, so I was just starting out. Francini and Corradini practically adopted me, on the field and off it.

“As for Maradona, we were two very different people, even if he was far more humble and relaxed in private than in public. The first thing he said when he saw me was: ‘Finally, they have signed someone shorter than me!’ But he was only taller because of his hair…”

Zola came of age at a time when Serie A was in thrall of tacticians who had no place for a trequartista like him, so he was pushed towards the Premier League and Chelsea.

“I had good seasons at Parma and when I left, I was crying in front of (President Calisto) Tanzi. When I arrived in London, at the start it wasn’t all going well, but I discovered an incredible style of football. There they played only for the pleasure of playing and all the fans wanted was for each of us to give our all.”

Zola ended his career where it had begun, in his home of Sardinia and specifically Cagliari in Serie B from 2003 to 2005, before a very brief spell in Australia.

“I had important offers, but I chose with my heart and never regretted that decision.”

The one area where he never managed to really make his mark was for the Italy squad, scoring 10 goals and providing seven assists in 35 senior caps.

“I became a football player because I watched Italy win the 1982 World Cup and wanted to follow those footsteps. That’s why when I missed the penalty at EURO ’96, I suffered so very much. It was like a light went off inside me and I just could not react to that moment.”