Italy and Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola proved he hasn’t forgotten the finer points of the English language, as he swore on live television.
Zola was working as a pundit today for BT Sport when covering Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat to West Ham United in the Premier League.
The 55-year-old former striker was shown a compilation of his highlights in the Chelsea jersey, including his memorable free kick goals.
He was asked by fellow presenter Rio Ferdinand how much of that came naturally to him and how much of it was down to simply practicing set plays regularly on the training ground.
“No, no absolutely not. It didn’t come naturally,” replied Zola.
“That’s why when people tell it was natural… Sorry, forgive me the word… it’s bulls***. Forgive me, that’s a very strong word.”
The Magic Box evidently picked up some salty language at Stamford Bridge during his career and didn’t always realise what was appropriate for television.
BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey was forced to apologise for viewers, while Rio Ferdinand found the whole incident very amusing indeed.
“What I want to say, is everything is down to work and I used to spend at least one hour and 15 minutes every week on these fundamentals,” continued Zola with a much cleaner explanation for his free kick technique.
“And only by doing that I could get good stats. It’s not just about scoring one every now and then. You need to know that if you get three free-kicks in a football match, you need to convert one.
“And that one you convert is what can make you lose or win a game.”
Before retirement in 2005, Zola scored 75 goals in 301 competitive matches for Chelsea.
BT Sport are forced to apologise as Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola SWEARS live on TV https://t.co/x16DMdH6Pr
— MailOnline Sport (@MailSport) December 4, 2021
Not nice. I hate dirty talking.
Here we go once again with the clutiching of pearls. It’s truly pathetic how sensitive and delicate society has become, not to mention malleable.
CMON ZOLA BE A COACH IN SERIE A.