On 13 October 1977, striker Antonio Di Natale was born in Naples. He went on to become one of Italy's top scorers, leading Serie A in back-to-back seasons.
He started his professional career in 1996 with Empoli, at that time in Serie B, but made only one appearance in that first season, then spent the next two on loan. In 1999, he finally broke into Empoli's first team, making 30 appearances in all competitions and scoring seven goals. His best season there was 2001-02, when his 16 league goals helped them get promoted to Serie A and earned Di Natale his first cap with Italy.
After the 2003-04 season, with Empoli relegated back to Serie B, he stayed in the top flight by moving to Udinese and immediately helped them to a fourth-place finish. His breakout season came in 2009-10, when he scored 29 goals to claim the Capocannoniere and the 2010 Italian Footballer of the Year award. He claimed the scoring title a second time in 2010-11 with 28 goals.
He remained with Udinese until his retirement in 2016, scoring a total of 227 goals in 446 appearances for the club.
On 5 May 2002, Juventus completed a remarkable run to the Serie A title, thanks in part to a season-end collapse by Inter.
It was the last day of the season and Inter had been at the top of the table since 24 March. On 30 March, they had a six-point lead over Juventus, who were then in third, with Roma in between. But Juve went on an unbeaten run to climb into second, while an Inter loss to Atalanta and draw with Chievo saw their lead shrink to a single point. Roma had dropped to third, but were separated from the top by only two points.
All three teams were away for their final matches of the season, Inter at Lazio, Juventus at Udinese, and Roma at Torino. In his pre-match conference, Roma manager Fabio Capello took a fatalistic approach to the day, saying that he expected all three teams to win, leaving the table unchanged.
As it turned out, he was two-thirds correct. Both Juventus and Roma went on to win--0-2 and 0-1, respectively--but Inter fell hard to Lazio. Despite taking a 1-2 lead in the first half, they went into the break level at 2-2, then surrendered a pair of second-half goals to fall 4-2.
The results pushed Juventus into first, Roma into second, and Inter into third.
On 20 January 1985, 16-year old defender Paolo Maldini made his first professional appearance, coming on as a second-half substitute for AC Milan. He would go on to become the club's all-time appearance leader with 902 matches.
Maldini was following in the footsteps of his father, Cesare, who played defense at Milan from 1954 to 1966, winning 4 Serie A titles and the 1963 European Cup. Paolo was born in 1968 and joined the Milan youth team at the age of 10. By 1985, he had earned a spot on the bench and then, in a match against Udinese, he took the pitch for the first time, coming on for the second half.
The match ended in a draw and was Maldini's only appearance that season. But he became an established starter at left back the next season, making a total of 40 appearances in all competitions. In his 25 seasons with the Rossoneri, they won 7 Scudettos and 5 European Cup/Champions League titles.
Although Maldini maintained an incredibly high performance level for his entire career, his annus miribilis came in 1993-94. That season, Milan won both Serie A and the Champions League, while Maldini advanced to the World Cup Final with Italy, losing to Brazil on penalties. For his performance, World Soccer Magazine named him the 1994 World Player of the Year, the first time the award went to a defender.
On 24 September 1961, 19-year old Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff made his Serie A debut with Udinese in a 5-2 loss to Fiorentina. He made only four appearances for Udinese in the 1961-62 season, which ended in relegation for the club.
After a season in Serie B with Udinese, he moved to back to Serie A in 1963 with Montova, who were themselves relegated in 1965 and then promoted back to Serie A in 1966. He moved to Napoli for five seasons (1967-72) before finally settling with Juventus.
He played 11 seasons for the Bianconeri, winning six Scudettos, two Coppa Italia trophies, and the 1977 UEFA Cup Final. He also earned honors with the Italian national team, winning the 1968 UEFA European Championship and captaining the Azzurri to a 3-1 win over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup Final. He was 40 at the time, making him the oldest person to win the Jules Rimet Trophy.
He retired from playing in 1983 after making 330 Serie A appearances with Juventus.
On 3 March 1950, Brazilian playmaker and 1983 Player of the Year Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as "Zico," was born Rio de Janeiro. A supremely talented dribbler and finisher, the midfielder has also been nicknamed "the White Pelé," with Pelé himself saying "throughout the years, the one player that came closest to me was Zico."
He started his playing career with the youth academy of his hometown club, Flamengo, eventually signing for them professionally in 1971. He spent the majority of his career with the club, making a total of 504 appearances in all competitions, including friendlies, between 1971 and 1983. It was a tremendously successful period for the club, who won multiple trophies, including six Rio State titles and three Brazilian Championships. Their most successful year was 1981, which saw Flamengo win both the Copa Liberatadores and the Intercontinental Cup. For his role, Zico earned numerous individual accolades, including being named man of the match in the Intercontinental Cup Final for creating all three goals in Flamengo's 3-0 win over Liverpool in Tokyo's National Stadium .
In 1983, after leading Flamengo to a third Brazilian championship, Zico moved to Italy to play for Udinese. Although he got off to a promising start, notching 24 goals in his first season and being named World Soccer Magazine's 1983 Player of the Year, his scoring touch dropped off in his second season and he returned to Flamengo having failed to win any silverware with the Italian club. He made another 74 appearances for Flamengo between 1985 and 1989, bringing his career total to 731, the most of any Flamengo player. He also led them to yet another Brazilian title in 1987.
Although Zico had a distinguished international career with Brazil, earning 72 caps, he never appeared in a World Cup Final. Brazil's best finish during that time was third in the 1978 tournament.
Zico retired from playing in 1994 after time in Japan with Sumitomo Metals (1991-92) and Kashima Antlers (1992-94). He turned to management in 1999 with Kashima, but has not enjoyed the same success he had as a player. Most recently, he managed Qatari club Al-Gharafa, signing with them in August 2013, but was sacked after four months.
On 5 May 2002, Juventus completed a remarkable run to the Serie A title, thanks in part to a season-end collapse by Inter.
It was the last day of the season and Inter had been at the top of the table since 24 March. On 30 March, they had a six-point lead over Juventus, who were then in third, with Roma in between. But Juve went on an unbeaten run to climb into second, while an Inter loss to Atalanta and draw with Chievo saw their lead shrink to a single point. Roma had dropped to third, but were separated from the top by only two points.
All three teams were away for their final matches of the season, Inter at Lazio, Juventus at Udinese, and Roma at Torino. In his pre-match conference, Roma manager Fabio Capello took a fatalistic approach to the day, saying that he expected all three teams to win, leaving the table unchanged.
As it turned out, he was two-thirds correct. Both Juventus and Roma went on to win--0-2 and 0-1, respectively--but Inter fell hard to Lazio. Despite taking a 1-2 lead in the first half, they went into the break level at 2-2, then surrendered a pair of second-half goals to fall 4-2.
The results pushed Juventus into first, Roma into second, and Inter into third.
On 13 October 1977, striker Antonio Di Natale was born in Naples. He went on to become one of Italy's top scorers, leading Serie A in back-to-back seasons.
He started his professional career in 1996 with Empoli, at that time in Serie B, but made only one appearance in that first season, then spent the next two on loan. In 1999, he finally broke into Empoli's first team, making 30 appearances in all competitions and scoring seven goals. His best season there was 2001-02, when his 16 league goals helped them get promoted to Serie A and earned Di Natale his first cap with Italy.
After the 2003-04 season, with Empoli relegated back to Serie B, he stayed in the top flight by moving to Udinese and immediately helped them to a fourth-place finish. His breakout season came in 2009-10, when he scored 29 goals to claim the Capocannoniere and the 2010 Italian Footballer of the Year award. He claimed the scoring title a second time in 2010-11 with 28 goals.
In 2012, he signed a two-year extension with Udinese to keep him at the club until 2014.
On 20 January 1985, 16-year old defender Paolo Maldini made his first professional appearance, coming on as a second-half substitute for AC Milan. He would go on to become the club's all-time appearance leader with 902 matches.
Maldini was following in the footsteps of his father, Cesare, who played defense at Milan from 1954 to 1966, winning 4 Serie A titles and the 1963 European Cup. Paolo was born in 1968 and joined the Milan youth team at the age of 10. By 1985, he had earned a spot on the bench and then, in a match against Udinese, he took the pitch for the first time, coming on for the second half.
The match ended in a draw and was Maldini's only appearance that season. But he became an established starter at left back the next season, making a total of 40 appearances in all competitions. In his 25 seasons with the Rossoneri, they won 7 Scudettos and 5 European Cup/Champions League titles.
Although Maldini maintained an incredibly high performance level for his entire career, his annus miribilis came in 1993-94. That season, Milan won both Serie A and the Champions League, while Maldini advanced to the World Cup Final with Italy, losing to Brazil on penalties. For his performance, World Soccer Magazine named him the 1994 World Player of the Year, the first time the award went to a defender.
On 3 March 1950, Brazilian playmaker and 1983 Player of the Year Arthur Antunes Coimbra, better known as "Zico," was born Rio de Janeiro. A supremely talented dribbler and finisher, the midfielder has also been nicknamed "the White Pelé," with Pelé himself saying "throughout the years, the one player that came closest to me was Zico."
He started his playing career with the youth academy of his hometown club, Flamengo, eventually signing for them professionally in 1971. He spent the majority of his career with the club, making a total of 504 appearances in all competitions, including friendlies, between 1971 and 1983. It was a tremendously successful period for the club, who won multiple trophies, including six Rio State titles and three Brazilian Championships. Their most successful year was 1981, which saw Flamengo win both the Copa Liberatadores and the Intercontinental Cup. For his role, Zico earned numerous individual accolades, including being named man of the match in the Intercontinental Cup Final for creating all three goals in Flamengo's 3-0 win over Liverpool in Tokyo's National Stadium .
In 1983, after leading Flamengo to a third Brazilian championship, Zico moved to Italy to play for Udinese. Although he got off to a promising start, notching 24 goals in his first season and being named World Soccer Magazine's 1983 Player of the Year, his scoring touch dropped off in his second season and he returned to Flamengo having failed to win any silverware with the Italian club. He made another 74 appearances for Flamengo between 1985 and 1989, bringing his career total to 731, the most of any Flamengo player. He also led them to yet another Brazilian title in 1987.
Although Zico had a distinguished international career with Brazil, earning 72 caps, he never appeared in a World Cup Final. Brazil's best finish during that time was third in the 1978 tournament.
Zico retired from playing in 1994 after time in Japan with Sumitomo Metals (1991-92) and Kashima Antlers (1992-94). He turned to management in 1999 with Kashima, but has not enjoyed the same success he had as a player. Most recently, he managed Greek club Olympiacos, signing with them 2009, but was sacked after four months.
On 24 September 1961, 19-year old Italian goalkeeper Dino Zoff made his Serie A debut with Udinese in a 5-2 loss to Fiorentina. He made only four appearances for Udinese in the 1961-62 season, which ended in relegation for the club.
After a season in Serie B with Udinese, he moved to back to Serie A in 1963 with Montova, who were themselves relegated in 1965 and then promoted back to Serie A in 1966. He moved to Napoli for five seasons (1967-72) before finally settling with Juventus.
He played 11 seasons for the Bianconeri, winning six Scudettos, two Coppa Italia trophies, and the 1977 UEFA Cup Final. He also earned honors with the Italian national team, winning the 1968 UEFA European Championship and captaining the Azzurri to a 3-1 win over West Germany in the 1982 World Cup Final. He was 40 at the time, making him the oldest person to win the Jules Rimet Trophy.
He retired from playing in 1983 after making 330 Serie A appearances with Juventus.
