THE BOY WHO CAUGHT PLUMS. THE GLOVES OF DINO ZOFF, ITALY'S GREATEST GOALKEEPER, TO BE AUCTIONED
It was the year 1935 when, following the death of a toreador friend killed in the arena, Federico García Lorca composed “Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías” (Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías), a poem which became famous for the phrase “A las cinco de la tarde” (At five in the afternoon) which marks each passage in the composition and each movement of the ill-fated toreador only moments before being pierced by the bull’s horns.
The phrase has a precise meaning; the words evoke the smell of sweat, of sun-baked foreheads, of tension, and of challenge – of a battle to the death. And it was exactly “A las cinco de la tarde” when on 5 July 1982, Italy and Brazil went out onto the playing field of the Sarria Stadium in Barcelona to play the match which would decide which team would advance to the World Cup semi-finals – an “in or out” match. A bullfight with no banderillas or red capes, but with jerseys, soccer spikes, and... gloves. If the Brazilians could count on players such as Zico, Falcao and Socrates, Italian hopes were mostly placed on the strong defense and the sure hands of the national team captain, Dino Zoff. Born in Friuli and a man of few words, 40 years old, half of which spent between the goal-posts, he was a symbol of the glorious Juventus team during the 70’s and 80’s, a team which saw him on the field 479 times, winning six Italian championships, two Italia Cups, and a UEFA Cup. An important and satisfying career. A reputation for unwavering professionalism and virtue.
In short: the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Italian soccer. At the Sarria in Barcelona, the role of the bull was supposed to be played by Italy, but a las cinco de la tarde of that 5 July, 1982, just as in Garcia Lorca’s poem, the roles were inverted. The Italians attacked, and Paolo Rossi became the implacable attacker they had never had until that moment. Twice, the Italians took the lead. And twice, the Brazilians came back to tie. Exhausted, Bearzot’s boys attacked once more. Another goal was scored by Rossi, who with that triple enterprise, earned himself the nickname of “Carrasco do Brasil”. Brazil’s executioner.
Just a few minutes later, it was Antognoni who got a goal past Waldir Peres, but a non-existent offside call kept a washed-out, shocked Brazil in the game, needing only one goal to move to the next round. Italian victory was within reach, but the Gods of soccer were not satisfied with a 3-2 score. They had reserved the role of absolute protagonist for Zoff. It was the 89th minute: Eder kicked a penalty which crossed the entire area from left to right and found Oscar’s head, who, only a few meters away from the goal, hit the ball as hard as he could, angling it toward the goal. The whole of Italy imitated Nando Martellini; he remained silent, interrupting the live broadcast, breathless. The net on the goal remained motionless, the ball was stuck on the grass, right on the goal line drawn in white, blocked by Zoff’s gloves, who, in order to reach it, had spun around, covering the referee’s sightline. On the hottest afternoon ever, the Sarria froze and time stopped. Zoff, like a true captain, jumped to his feet.
In one hand, the ball – the other hand he raised to the sky, with his index finger wagging frenetically “no, no, no”. “I was afraid the referee hadn’t been able to see clearly,” said Zoff himself some years later, explaining his unusual behavior so different from his usually elegant and distinguished self.
The match ended and Brazil returned home in tears while Italy moved on to the semi-finals, and probably understood on that same afternoon that the final victory was really within reach. Six days later, at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, once more it was Dino Zoff who made the wildest dream of Italian fans come true. No gloves this time, just bare hands raising the World Cup trophy to the sky of Madrid, under the joyful eyes of the Italian
President Sandro Pertini.
It was the brightest moment in the career of a man who, even today, is considered an example not only as an athlete, but above all as a human being. More than a soccer player, Dino Zoff considers himself to be a worker: serious, perfectionist, tenacious, a symbol of an Italy that was able to rise to its feet again, a working Italy. His gloves were genuine tools of the trade, instruments which always accompanied him and helped to make
him great.
Gloves which protected the most prestigious hands in the history of Italian football, hands which guarded the most beautiful dreams of a kid, Luca Maddalo, who in 1983, at the age of 11, asked the Italian goalkeeper to be his Godfather at his confirmation. Zoff declined the invitation, but presented this huge fan with the pair of gloves that Aste Bolaffi is now offering to all sports enthusiasts. It is an object which, at that time, certainly made little Luca very happy and connected him with a sort of invisible thread to that child from Friuli who was always catching the plums his grandmother threw him, going on to become one of the greatest goalkeepers in soccer history.
by JACOPO SUPPO
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The phrase has a precise meaning; the words evoke the smell of sweat, of sun-baked foreheads, of tension, and of challenge – of a battle to the death. And it was exactly “A las cinco de la tarde” when on 5 July 1982, Italy and Brazil went out onto the playing field of the Sarria Stadium in Barcelona to play the match which would decide which team would advance to the World Cup semi-finals – an “in or out” match. A bullfight with no banderillas or red capes, but with jerseys, soccer spikes, and... gloves. If the Brazilians could count on players such as Zico, Falcao and Socrates, Italian hopes were mostly placed on the strong defense and the sure hands of the national team captain, Dino Zoff. Born in Friuli and a man of few words, 40 years old, half of which spent between the goal-posts, he was a symbol of the glorious Juventus team during the 70’s and 80’s, a team which saw him on the field 479 times, winning six Italian championships, two Italia Cups, and a UEFA Cup. An important and satisfying career. A reputation for unwavering professionalism and virtue.
In short: the greatest goalkeeper in the history of Italian soccer. At the Sarria in Barcelona, the role of the bull was supposed to be played by Italy, but a las cinco de la tarde of that 5 July, 1982, just as in Garcia Lorca’s poem, the roles were inverted. The Italians attacked, and Paolo Rossi became the implacable attacker they had never had until that moment. Twice, the Italians took the lead. And twice, the Brazilians came back to tie. Exhausted, Bearzot’s boys attacked once more. Another goal was scored by Rossi, who with that triple enterprise, earned himself the nickname of “Carrasco do Brasil”. Brazil’s executioner.
Just a few minutes later, it was Antognoni who got a goal past Waldir Peres, but a non-existent offside call kept a washed-out, shocked Brazil in the game, needing only one goal to move to the next round. Italian victory was within reach, but the Gods of soccer were not satisfied with a 3-2 score. They had reserved the role of absolute protagonist for Zoff. It was the 89th minute: Eder kicked a penalty which crossed the entire area from left to right and found Oscar’s head, who, only a few meters away from the goal, hit the ball as hard as he could, angling it toward the goal. The whole of Italy imitated Nando Martellini; he remained silent, interrupting the live broadcast, breathless. The net on the goal remained motionless, the ball was stuck on the grass, right on the goal line drawn in white, blocked by Zoff’s gloves, who, in order to reach it, had spun around, covering the referee’s sightline. On the hottest afternoon ever, the Sarria froze and time stopped. Zoff, like a true captain, jumped to his feet.
In one hand, the ball – the other hand he raised to the sky, with his index finger wagging frenetically “no, no, no”. “I was afraid the referee hadn’t been able to see clearly,” said Zoff himself some years later, explaining his unusual behavior so different from his usually elegant and distinguished self.
The match ended and Brazil returned home in tears while Italy moved on to the semi-finals, and probably understood on that same afternoon that the final victory was really within reach. Six days later, at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, once more it was Dino Zoff who made the wildest dream of Italian fans come true. No gloves this time, just bare hands raising the World Cup trophy to the sky of Madrid, under the joyful eyes of the Italian
President Sandro Pertini.
It was the brightest moment in the career of a man who, even today, is considered an example not only as an athlete, but above all as a human being. More than a soccer player, Dino Zoff considers himself to be a worker: serious, perfectionist, tenacious, a symbol of an Italy that was able to rise to its feet again, a working Italy. His gloves were genuine tools of the trade, instruments which always accompanied him and helped to make
him great.
Gloves which protected the most prestigious hands in the history of Italian football, hands which guarded the most beautiful dreams of a kid, Luca Maddalo, who in 1983, at the age of 11, asked the Italian goalkeeper to be his Godfather at his confirmation. Zoff declined the invitation, but presented this huge fan with the pair of gloves that Aste Bolaffi is now offering to all sports enthusiasts. It is an object which, at that time, certainly made little Luca very happy and connected him with a sort of invisible thread to that child from Friuli who was always catching the plums his grandmother threw him, going on to become one of the greatest goalkeepers in soccer history.
by JACOPO SUPPO
VIEW THE AUCTION LOTS