Dino Zoff hopes Gigi Buffon can emulate him by winning the European Championships and the World Cup with Italy.
The Azzurri are in the Quarter-Final of Euro 2016, and will face Germany tomorrow for a place in the Semis.
Having won the competition on home soil in 1968, the legendary former goalkeeper spoke about the match and the goalkeepers on show.
“Gigi is aging very well,” Zoff told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Dino Zoff hopes Gigi Buffon can emulate him by winning the European Championships and the World Cup with Italy.
The Azzurri are in the Quarter-Final of Euro 2016, and will face Germany tomorrow for a place in the Semis.
Having won the competition on home soil in 1968, the legendary former goalkeeper spoke about the match and the goalkeepers on show.
“Gigi is aging very well,” Zoff told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“He’s overcome the physical problems which basically made him miss the 2010 World Cup. He still has a way to go to reach me though.
“I hope he succeeds in winning this European Championship. I’m still the only Italian to have done the double, winning the 1982 World Cup after winning the continental tournament in Rome in 1968.
“Buffon or Manuel Neuer if it goes to penalties? I don’t think it’ll go to penalties, the match will be decided first.
“They are certainly the best, in this tournament and not just here. I won’t make judgements or comparisons though, they’re two champions with their own style.”
Zoff was also asked to compare this Italy side to the unfancied one which won the 1982 World Cup.
“That success was almost exclusively about one man: Enzo Bearzot [the CT]. He was consistent as an example for us players, in life as well as sport.
“On the day of the final in 1982 there wasn’t much to talk about, every one of us knew how to behave, what to do.
“Germany were strong, but the victory was the result of all the work we’d been doing over the years and which was often underappreciated from the outside.
“Is Antonio Conte like Bearzot? Never mind the comparisons, for me mean like Bearzot don’t exist anymore. That doesn’t mean I don’t hold Antonio in high regard though.
“As a player he was one of my Azzurri who got to close to the Euros, we lost in 2000 with just seconds to go. That remains my biggest regret as a Coach.
“We played very well in that tournament – except against Holland in the semi, where we were lucky and [Francesco] Toldo saved us – but the French were able to score right at the end, winning with a golden goal.
“There’s still a great relationship between Antonio and I.
“Nothing has surprised me about Italy, I expected it to be this way because I’ve been following Antonio’s work for years, starting with Juventus where he began a wonderful winning cycle.
“He’s using the best of our Italian school, of which we should be proud. I expected the win and performance against Spain.
“Now there’s a feat to be pulled off tomorrow, but if the Germans play like the Germans…
“Germany have kind of a sense of conceit, which ultimately enhances the quality of our football. It’s not just talking about precedents.
“I hope that the match, both psychologically and tactically, will go on that course. Then it’ll become very interesting for us. If you want to get to the end and win, you’ll have to face them sooner or later.
“We’ve always been competitive with our school, and we have to believe. Our school is a mixture of imagination and organisation, balance between different positions.
“That was confirmed by [Marcello] Lippi’s work in 2006, after our success in 1982. Of course football is changing, but the basic concepts remain.
“Go and look at the statistics from these Euros: goals come from set pieces or counter-attacks.
“So when we get the ball, it’s good to immediately look to hit the space in behind and anticipate the positioning of the opposition defence.
“If they want to call it catenaccio, they can, but it’s not like that. They should study the history of the sport and maybe look at the images of the past.
“Look at Italy-Germany from 1982. The first [Paolo] Rossi goal is a cross from [Claudio] Gentile which was attacked by Paolo and also [full-back Antonio] Carbrini, ready to score the goal. Two full-backs.
“At 2-0 it’s the striker, Rossi, who is back in his own half to retrieve the ball, and before it gets to [Marco] Tardelli the ball is passed between [Beppe] Bergomi and [Gaetano] Scirea in the German box – does that seem like a defensive team?
“Too often we talk about Dutch football, or Brazilian or English, and we forget the qualities of our Italian school and its attributes.
“We have the ability to create a group and a team, a lesson which we could take as people, more generally, because when we stand together we can achieve amazing results.”
Finally, the legendary goalkeeper was asked for his opinion about some of the other teams in the tournament.
“I like Wales,” Zoff replied.
“Croatia wasted their chance, because I get the impression the players were already thinking further ahead before beating Portugal.
“The real feat has been pulled-off by Iceland though. They’re real heroes, they wrote a page of footballing history against England.
“They showed good organisation and great fair play. Congratulations to them.”