Juve got Zambrotta
Football Italia - August 1999
It has been quite a year for Gianluca Zambrotta, Bari's flying 22-year old winger. Ten months ago none except the Bari tifosi knew his name. Now he is a part of Dino Zoff's Italian squad and will play for Juventus this coming season. Zambrotta, born in Como, made the Bari supporters forget about the loss of Nicola Ventola.
He exploded on to the scene in Week 1 of last season against Venezia in Bari's San Nicola Stadium, netting the only goal of the game after nine minutes. The Italian Under-21 international was a key man in Bari's surprise start to the campaign and in Week 7 he opened the scoring against Inter in the San Siro, a match Bari eventually won 3-2.
In February Zambrotta was rewarded for his outstanding club displays by becoming the firs Bari player to play for the national side in 50 years. Zoff, impressed by the fact he can play on either wing, picked him for the friendly against Norway in Pisa. He lined up alongside his idol, Roberto Baggio, and even though the score was 0-0 Zambrotta played well enough to figure in later squads and has so far picked up two caps.
Cool, calm and quick, he is a winger in the adventurous Bruno Conti mould rather than the defensive Angelo Di Livio style. Like all of Bari's promising players he found himself sold to one of the Northern giants. This season he will wear the black and white of Juventus. His move to the Turin giants was wrapped up halfway through last season.
Zambrotta owes his meteoric rise to Eugenio Fascetti. At Como, his hometown club, he made 48 appearances in three years. Fascetti spotted his potential on the left wing and snapped him up after the Biancorossi had won promotion. During the 1997-98 season he played 27 times scoring twice, but he came into his own after Ventola's departure. A further four goals in 32 appearances last season proved that.
