Zola hangs up his boots
29/06/2005 - 12:03:02Former Chelsea and Italy playmaker Gianfanco Zola has quit football a week before his 39th birthday.
Zola had a good season in Serie A with Cagliari, leading to speculation he might play on for another 12 months.
However, the former Napoli and Parma star confirmed today he was quitting for good.
“It was not an easy decision, but I felt an ever stronger desire to dedicate myself to things that I have neglected over these years,” said Zola.
Zola, who made his announcement at a press conference at Cagliari's Assemini training base, ended his career on his native island.
He first came to prominence at Napoli where he had the tough assignment of stepping into the boots of Diego Maradona as playmaker.
Zola moved on to Parma and eventually to Chelsea where he made a great impact and became a fans’ favourite.
He returned to Italy with Cagliari in the summer of 2003 just days before Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the London club.
The Sardinian led Cagliari to promotion in his first season and in the campaign just finished he scored nine goals in 31 Serie A appearances.
“Quite some time has elapsed since the end of the championship but I needed a bit of time to think about things,” explained Zola.
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