Gianfranco Zola member of sports team S.S.C. Napoli
Napoli
He was noticed by Luciano Moggi in Serie C1 in 1989, he signed for Napoli in Serie A for ₤2 million, making his debut that year. The young and talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Serie A title in 1990, the only league title of Zola's career. Zola scored his first goal against Atalanta, whilst his second goal was scored against Genoa, during injury time, which allowed Napoli to win 2–1 and maintain a two-point lead over Milan, who were Napoli's main title contenders, in second place. Zola was excited by the transfer, and he developed an important friendship with Maradona, who commented "Finally they have bought someone shorter than me!" Maradona would prove to be a big influence on Zola's career. The two would spend hours practising free kicks together after training and Zola later said that "I learned everything from Diego. I used to spy on him every time he trained and learned how to curl a free-kick just like him."Zola helped Napoli to win the Italian Super Cup in 1990, partnering alongside Careca following Maradona's drug ban during the second part of the 1990–91 season, as Napoli finished in a disappointing seventh place. Due to his individual performances, however, Zola was given his debut for the Italy national team under coach Arrigo Sacchi in 1991, winning his first cap against Norway in November. He temporarily inherited Maradona's number 10 shirt the following season under manager Claudio Ranieri, after Maradona parted ways with the club due to his ban, scoring 12 goals in 34 appearances. Upon his departure, Maradona had recommended that the Napoli management focus on Zola's development, stating: "Napoli doesn't need to look for anyone to replace me, the team already has Zola!". In his final season with the club, he managed 12 goals in 33 league appearances, and he also finished the 1992–93 Serie A season as the joint top assist provider in the league, with 12 assists, alongside Francesco Baiano. During his time in Napoli, Zola scored a total of 32 goals in 105 appearances.International career
Zola made his debut for Italy on 13 November 1991 in Genova, under manager Arrigo Sacchi, at the age of 25, in a Euro 1992 qualifier against Norway, which ended 1–1. He appeared at the 1994 World Cup in the United States, making one substitute appearance in the second round knock-out match against Nigeria in Boston, with Italy trailing 1–0. After only twelve minutes, Zola was controversially sent off, after being judged by the referee to have fouled Augustine Eguavoen, which forced him to miss the two subsequent World Cup matches. Although Italy managed to win the match 2–1 in extra-time and reach the World Cup final, Zola did not regain his place in the side after this suspension.
His first two goals came on 25 March 1995, in a 4–1 win, in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Estonia in Salerno.Zola was called up for Euro 1996, and he played in all three group games at the tournament. He set up Pierluigi Casiraghi's second goal in the team's 2–1 win in the opening group match against Russia, but in the team's final group match, he notably missed a potential match-winning penalty in a 0–0 draw against eventual champions Germany as Italy surprisingly crashed out in the first round; the win would have allowed Italy to progress to the quarter-finals of the tournament. He scored the only goal of the game in an historic 1–0 victory over England in a 1998 World Cup qualifying match at Wembley, on 12 February 1997. He won his final cap for Italy in the return fixture against England in Rome on 11 October 1997, which ended in a draw. He retired from international play after he was not called up for the 1998 World Cup by manager Cesare Maldini, who had selected Del Piero and Roberto Baggio in his role. Zola finished his international career with a total of 35 caps and ten goals.As a Sardinian he could also be eligible for the Sardinian national football team, who represented the island on several occasions in Non-FIFA football. Indeed, he played in the first ever official documented appearance of the formation in 1990. The England national football team was in Sardinia for a training camp in order to prepare the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, where, among other things, it would have played two of the three matches of the group stage in Cagliari. Therefore, it had been set up a XI formed by the best Sardinian players caught between Serie C and Amateurs to face the Lions in their first friendly match. Zola, at that time a player for S.S.C. Napoli, was the only professional player and the most representative one of the squad. The Three Lions won with a 10–1 score. 7 years later he was called for the second match against Corsica. For this match, all professional players were called (Zola was in Parma A.C.) and the Sardinians won 1–0 with a winning goal by Zola.
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