Gianfranco Zola
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Gianfranco Zola, OBE (born July 5, 1966 in Oliena, Sardinia) is an Italian footballer.
Zola signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. Five years later he signed for Napoli in Serie A.
Talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Italian title in 1990. He helped Napoli to win the Italian Super Cup in 1991 and he made his debut for the Italian national side under coach Arrigo Sacchi in the same year.
In 1993 Zola left Napoli and joined fellow Serie A side Parma A.C. He won the UEFA Cup with Parma and they were runners-up in Serie A and the Italian Cup in 1995.
In 1996, Zola joined Premier League football club Chelsea F.C. He won the FA Cup with Chelsea and was voted the English Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1997: the only player ever to receive the accolade without playing an entire season. He helped Chelsea win the English League Cup, European Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup in 1998. He helped Chelsea to win FA Cup again in 2000.
Zola left Chelsea and joined Cagliari, a club from his native Sardinia, in 2003. They obtained promotion to the Italian Serie A soon afterwards. Then he renewed his contract for Cagliari Calcio for one more year. Recently, Zola claimed he's seriously thinking about continue to play for Cagliari even in the 2005-2006 Serie A season.
Zola won 35 international caps, scoring 8 goals. He played for his country at the Template:Wc and Template:Ec. Zola last played in World Cup qualifier against England in Rome in October 1997.
In early 2003, 'franco was voted as the best ever Chelsea player by the Chelsea fans. In November 2004, he was awarded an OBE - Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire in a special ceremony in Rome.
| Preceded by: Eric Cantona | English Footballer of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by: Dennis Bergkamp |